Thurrock went out of the FA Trophy in a tight game with Essex rivals Dagenham and Redbridge. Dagenham started the brighter and Glenn Knight did well to save after his weak punch led to a Chris Moore shot. Thurrock started to come into the game more and Lee Hodges blasted over from 12 yards after Mark Janney’s excellent cross. The half was then devoid of chance until the half hour when Glenn Southam shot wide from 10 yards when it looked easier to score. The last chance of the half fell to Steve Harper who was sent clear, but his shot went well over the bar after the ball got caught under his feet.

The second half started slowly with both teams cancelling each other out. That changed on the hour when the referee decided to give a handball penalty against Steve Heffer, even though he had no chance of getting out of the way of the ball. Moore sent Knight the wrong way to give the home side the lead. Thurrock then stepped up a gear and Harper was unlucky to see his 25 yard thunderbolt come back off of the bar with Tony Roberts well beaten. Richard Goddard also saw a header go just over as Fleet pressed for a replay. With ten minutes to go Harper hit the side netting from a Lee Hodges free kick. With a minute to go Fleet earned a corner. The ball went to the far post and John Purdie smashed a volley that was blocked on the line. It was have been his first goal in over 300 Thurrock games. Dagenham went straight up the other end and buried the game when Southam scored from close range.

Man of the Match: John Purdie

Thurrock: Knight, Heffer, Goodfellow, Purdie, McFarlane ©, Hodges, Cross, Janney, Carthy, Goddard, Harper.