That all changed in the 15th minute when Kris Lee cleverly spun the Urchin's captain McCarthy and rifled a shot in off the underside of the cross bar. Thurrock were again pinned back and Gothard was called on to make an excellent save form a close range header, turning the ball around the post for a corner. Thurrock nearly doubled thier lead when McFarlane headed just over from a Collis' free kick.

The game turned nasty on 40 minutes as Kris Lee, battling for the ball on the half way line, appeared to be fouled. Dwayne Plummer took exception to this and got involved in a tussle with a Hornchurch player, the referee had no option but to send Plummer off and as he left the pitch he pushed the linesman who was attempting to shield him from the opposition bench. After working so hard against good opponents, Thurrock could easily have allowed thier heads to drop but they continue to battle hard with another shot being turned away for another corner. Akurang was booked for a mistimed tackle on Mathews just before the halftime whistle.

The second half saw Hodges replaced by Martyn Lawrence as Manager Colin McBride reorganised his troops. Thurrock again almost double thier lead after a woeful backpass sent Lee clear and he drilled his shot low and hard, only to see the ball rebound off the post. Hornchurch had lot of pressure but seemed unable to break down the resolute defence with Purdie & McFarlane winning just about everything. Mark Goodfellow replaced Collis just as Hornchurch were getting a foot hold in the game, winning corner after corner.

Simon Martin came on for Kris Lee, who had run himself into the ground, and it was Martin who should have settled the game when he beat Bayes in the Hornchurch goal only to shoot into the side netting.

Hornchurch continued to press but were unable to capitalise on thier territorial & numerical advantage and the nearest they came was when Goodfellow nearly headed into his own net from a dangerous corner.

Thurrock: Gothard, Collis (Goodfellow 60), Davidson, McFarlane, Purdie, Hodges (Lawrence 45), Plummer (Sent off 40), Heffer, Kirby, Akurang, Lee, (Martin 75)