Thurrock 1, St Albans 1

THURROCK'S Achilles heel in an otherwise impressive 2008 has been matches against clubs in the Blue Square South relegation battle, and so it proved again on Saturday at Ship Lane.

The third-from-bottom visitors led for much of the match through Paul Hakin's goal after seven minutes and it wasn't until the last minute that Fola Orilonishe equalised to deny Saints all three points and the chance to get out of the relegated bottom three positions.

In September Fleet demolished Saints 5-0 on their own patch, but the Hertfordshire side gained some revenge by knocking them out of the Setanta Shield in December.

Since then Thurrock have enjoyed a fine sequence of results that took them to the fringe of the promotion play-off race and though that dream has faded, this was match that manager Hakan Hayretin will have expected to have won, despite an improved run of form by the visitors.

As a spectacle the game was spoilt by the very windy conditions. Neither side were able to take advantage with the wind at their backs. Most balls being over hit and running tamely for a goal kick or throw on.

It was the visitors who took the lead in the seventh minute. Hassan Sulaiman's cross from the right was headed down by Akanni-Sunday Wasiu for Hakim to score from close range.

Thurrock's first effort on goal came from Che Stadhart but his shot on the turn was wide of the left hand post.

At the other end Luke Thurlbourne's diving header from a Hakim cross was only just wide. Moments later Hakim was also wide when well placed.

On the half hour Saints keeper Paul Bastock saved well from Greg Lincoln while a timely tackle by Matt Paine on Hakim denied him a chance on goal.

The second half was almost a mirror image of the first half with this time St Albans over hitting their passes and Thurrock having the majority of the possession.

As the game wore on it looked as though St Albans would record their fourth consecutive victory in their fight against relegation. But in the dying moments of the game Orilonishe broke down the left, turned inside and shot past Bastock, the ball hitting the far post before crossing the line.

Orilonishe's shot was the first that either side managed in the whole of the second half.

Thurrock: David Blackmore, Lee Flynn, Kenny Clark (Alex Read 87), Tim Cole (Rob Swaine 48), Matt Paine, Bai Mas Lettejallow, Fola Orilonishe, Greg Lincoln, Che Stadhart, Craig Hughes (Daniel Tenkorang 61) , Matt Bodkin. Subs not used: Phil Anderson, David Bryant.

League Table, Up to an inc Sat, March 22

P W D L F A +/- Pts 1 Eastbourne Borough 35 22 8 5 76 29 +47 74 2 Lewes 35 22 7 6 68 29 +39 73 3 Hampton & Richmond Borough 35 17 11 7 69 46 +23 62 4 Eastleigh 35 18 7 10 68 50 +18 61 5 Bishop's Stortford 35 17 7 11 66 49 +17 58 6 Braintree Town 35 16 9 10 44 35 +9 57 7 Fisher Athletic 36 17 5 14 54 57 -3 56 8 Bath City 35 14 13 8 47 29 +18 55 9 Newport County 33 15 10 8 54 38 +16 55 10 Bromley 36 16 7 13 70 58 +12 55 11 Havant & Waterlooville 33 15 8 10 50 45 +5 53 12 Hayes & Yeading United 36 13 10 13 60 63 -3 49 13 Thurrock 34 13 8 13 47 53 -6 47 14 Cambridge City 35 12 10 13 60 58 +2 46 15 Basingstoke Town 36 12 9 15 49 66 -17 45 16 Bognor Regis Town 35 9 9 17 43 59 -16 36 17 Maidenhead United 34 8 10 16 44 53 -9 34 18 Welling United 36 9 6 21 35 61 -26 33 19 Weston-super-Mare 33 8 7 18 42 66 -24 31 20 St Albans City 35 7 9 19 36 65 -29 30 21 Dorchester Town 34 5 10 19 32 60 -28 25 22 Sutton United 35 4 8 23 26 71 -45 20