Thurrock emerged from the Easter weekend with no points from a possible six after defeat to an in-form Dorchester side. Their cause was not helped by a horrendous mistake by the linesman in the last minute.

Dorchester started brightly and Andy Woodman was called into action in the second minute to save a Groves effort and Jimmy McFarlane made an excellent last ditch tackle to prevent Groves going clear through. Thurrock started to come back into the game and Kris Lee’s 30-yard run beat the Dorchester defence but his cutback failed to find strike partner Danny Shipp. Minutes later Mark Goodfellow’s through ball was fired over the bar by Shipp when well placed. Adam Parker was bossing the midfield for Thurrock and he came close when firing wide from Lee’s knockdown. After half an hour Thurrock were lucky not to concede a penalty when Johnny Buffong clearly fouled a Dorchester forward in the penalty area.

The second half started slowly but exploded into life on the hour. Shipp got behind the defence and his cutback was missed by Glenn Poole sliding in at the far post. Thurrock were made to rue the missed chance when two minutes later Groves gave Dorchester the lead. A hopeful long ball behind the defence should have been dealt with by Woodman, but he was caught in two minds and Groves put the ball into the unguarded net. The lead only lasted two minutes and it came from the hard work of Parker. His tackle and cross was knocked down by Lee and Poole volleyed home past Bradshaw’s despairing dive. With five minutes left on the clock Goodfellow danced past two defenders and Poole shot over from the resulting cross. McFarlane went close with a 20-yard volley and then came the game’s turning controversial moment. Parker lobbed ball found Brayley 12 yards out with only the keeper to beat, but the linesman flagged for offside despite the Dorchester fullback playing him onside by a yard. Bradshaw cleared the free kick up field where Dave Collis gave away a needless free kick twenty five yards from goal. Barandiaran stepped up and curled the ball into the bottom corner to win the game.

Man of the Match: Adam Parker

Thurrock: Woodman, Goodfellow, Davidson, McFarlane©, Purdie, Buffong (Collis 70), Heffer, Parker, Poole, Shipp, Lee (Brayley 78)