Thurrock earned another important three points in the playoff push with a hard fought victory over a spirited Redbridge team. Neutrals may have expected Thurrock to win comfortably but the reality was far away from that. Fleet only made one change, with Martyn Lawrence coming in for the ill Mark Goodfellow.

Thurrock started brightly with Glenn Poole shooting over the bar with less than twenty seconds on the clock. The next fifteen minutes saw a stalemate with both midfields cancelling each other out with Ryan Kirby and Steve Heffer winning numerous tackles in the midfield. With twenty five minutes gone Richard Goddard made the tackle of the match. Redbridge looked to have broken clear with their centre forward and Goddard slid in, removed the ball and played it forwards. After half an hour Thurrock were dealt a severe blow. Martyn Lawrence went in for a 50/50 challenge and left it with an ankle injury. He had to leave the pitch and was replaced by Kris Lee, with Ryan Kirby moving to right back and David Lee dropping back into midfield. Redbridge scored minutes later, a goalmouth scramble led to confusion in the Thurrock defence and Ricky Dobson prodding home from close range. Thurrock seemed to start playing after that and created many chances before the half time whistle. Kris Lee worked well on the left hand side to send a dangerous cross over which was saved by James Riley after Cliff Akurang’s flick. A minute later Akurang broke through again, his shot was well saved and Poole saw his rebound blocked on the line. On the stroke of half time Thurrock got the leveller. Dave Collis played an undefendable free kick which Tresor Kandol headed towards goal, Riley saved but was unable to stop Kandol putting the rebound into the open goal. There was still time for Kris Lee to shoot over before the referee blew the half time whistle.

The second half started with a mass argument. A nasty challenge on Kris Lee led to Lee lashing out on the fouler with every player barring Billy McMahon involved in the ensuing melee. The referee booked two Redbridge players and also Kris Lee after a three minute stoppage. Ten minutes into the half a good header by Kandol led to a rare shot by Heffer, whose effort was well tipped round the post by Riley. Redbridge started to pile the pressure on, but were unable to create any clear cut chances. Redbridge’s number 8, Tristan Tovey was lucky to stay on the pitch after countless late tackles, especially after his booking in the earlier melee. With twenty minutes left Kandol broke through but turned onto his left foot and shot high and wide. Thurrock took the lead a minute later. Tremendous skill from Kris Lee brought him to the touchline and his pull back found Akurang with the simplest of tasks to tap home. The game was far from won and the equaliser would have come but for McMahon’s excellent save after a dangerous free kick. Minutes later Redbridge also hit the bar with a free kick and thankfully McMahon plucked the rebound out of the air under pressure from Redbridge forwards. Thurrock started to hit the home side on the break in the last ten minutes as they desperately searched for an equaliser. Jimmy McFarlane went close with a header from an excellent Collis free kick. Kandol was then bizarrely booked. He went into the box and was pulled down, to the supporter’s utter amazement the referee decided that he had dived and pulled out the yellow. With the full time whistle approaching the lead was nearly doubled. Akurang was sent through by Kandol but shot wide under pressure from the defence. The miss was irrelevant as the final whistle went moments later and Fleet were six points clear of sixth place, therefore cementing their place in the playoff places.

Man of the Match: Ryan Kirby

 Thurrock: McMahon, Lawrence (K Lee 33), Collis, McFarlane ©, Goddard, Kirby, Heffer, Poole, Akurang, D Lee (Parker 72), Kandol.