Thurrock 4,

Brentwood 1

NON LEAGUE: THURROCK boss Mark Stimson noted the need for his side to be wary of teams coming to Ship Lane and “raising their game” after his side pummelled Brentwood, but only with a classy, clinical second half display.

The Fleet boss said when teams see the top-notch facilities at the Purfleet ground, they will up their game, making it extra difficult for the home side.

And that was certainly the case on Saturday. Thurrock dominated the first half but looked a little impotent and unsure how to force a breakthrough against a determined Brentwood defence.

Lewis Perkins went close for Fleet in the 37th minute when his well struck shot fizzed beyond the far post, but otherwise, it was all a bit tame from the hosts.

The breakthrough eventually came after a smart passage of play which saw the Fleet midfield move the ball from left to right in the final third – like a well-rehearsed rugby attack – before Loui Hazelwood crossed low from the right.

And James Love was helpless to prevent the ball spinning off his shin and into the net.

The second half was a different story, however and Loui Hazelwood, the Thurrock full back was the man to offer inspiration. He waltzed in off the right wing before chipping the ball beyond Madden from 20 yards, only to see his effort rebound off the post. Seconds later, the ball was worked back to Hazelwood – still forward having hit the post – who was fouled as he hit a low shot. The right back got up and duly hammered the ball into the top right hand corner of Madden’s goal to double Fleet’s lead 10 minutes into the second period.

Town were back in it with 20 minutes to go, when Fleet failed to clear a ball into the box. It fell kindly to Martyn Stokes, who prodded home from six yards.

But as the game wore on with Brentwood unable to draw level, Thurrock took advantage. Sub Jordan Clark found himself in space 25 yards from goal and saw his well struck shot fly beyond Madden, wrapping up the three points two minutes into injury time.

And with just moments to go, Callum Ibe won a free kick on the right, which Jordan Clark whipped into the box for Stimson to head into the bottom right, sealing a pleasing display for his dad’s side.

Stimson said: “We’ve got to get in our heads that teams are going to come here, see the set up and the pitch and really raise their game. But once we adapt to that and go ahead, then we can go on and get more scores like today. “But we’ve got to earn and work hard to do that and make sure we don’t give teams anything. “If you give a team a goal at this level, they play on that and the game becomes more difficult but overall it was a good three points today.

“I thought Loui did well going forward, he’s more an attacking player than he is a defensive player but he did very well and we’re working on him defensively,” added Stimson.

Thurrock: Ottley; Hazelwood (Robert Clark); Santos, L Clark; l’Anson; Smith; Ibe; Spence (c) (Matthews); Warner; Perkins; Stimson. Subs: Robert Clark; Jordan Clark; Matthews. Gazette MoM: Loui Hazelwood.

For non league see the THURROCK GAZETTE