Fola saves a point for Thurrock

11:29am Sunday 23rd March 2008

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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