THURROCK CONFIRM CONFERENCE STATUS

            A comfortable victory against a poor Hitchin side guaranteed Thurrock’s place in next seasons new league.

            Thurrock settled down early and were unlucky not to take the lead when Jimmy McFarlane headed wide from Collis’ corner. The team was very settled and looked comfortable on the ball. However, after ten minutes Thurrock were indebted to Paul Gothard who managed to tip a shot from point blank range onto the bar. The next twenty minutes were a dull affair with neither team able to get a grip on the game.

            That all changed on the half hour. Excellent work by Simon Martin in the box drew a bad challenge from one of the Hitchin centre halves and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. The Hitchin players then surrounded the referee and delayed the penalty kick. TK didn’t let this bother as he struck the ball hard and low. Wilmot in the Hitchin goal got his hand to the ball but it was hit too hard and the result was TK’s 35^th goal of the season in only 48 games. Thurrock really took charge after the goal, shrugging off the injury of Craig Davidson who was replaced by Ronnie Fletcher. In the 34^th minute Linger hit the underside of the bar with a volley after a well-taken free kick from Collis. A minute later Linger was clear and crossed deep to Bowes at the far post whose header came back of the far post with Wilmot clawing at air. Two minutes after that Hitchin were lucky to have 11 men left on the pitch. TK stole a yard on the defender and was clear. An arm came round his neck and pulled him down but the referee being 50 yards didn’t see it and neither of his officials were able to help him. Thurrock had turned on the style and were extremely unlucky not to have put the game beyond reach. In the last minute of the half another McFarlane header went just wide from Collis’ well-delivered corner.

            The second half was a much quieter affair with the first chance of the half falling to Martin. A good ball from TK saw him through on goal with just the keeper to beat. Unfortunately Wilmot stood up well and the chance was gone. A minute later the miss was nearly punished when the normally reliable Gothard dropped a corner but Lee Allen cleared well off the line. With just over ten minutes left Thurrock wrapped up the points. Another corner from Collis was met with a thunderous header from TK. Wilmot managed to get his hand to the ball only for it to land at the feet of Paul Linger who smashed the ball into the roof of the net. Thurrock were content to see the rest of the game out, with the excellent McFarlane marshalling a defence that hadn’t played together before. In the last minute a moment of magic from Lee Allen nearly iced the cake. Turning the defender inside and out he then shot from the corner of the penalty area, only to see it go inches over with Wilmot well beaten.

Man of the Match: Lee Allen

Thurrock: Gothard, Broom, Collis, Davidson (Fletcher 32), McFarlane (Capt), Howard, Bowes, Linger (Akurang 85), Allen, Kandol (Lee 84), Martin.