GRAYS ATHLETIC 4, TILBURY 2

IT’S ALWAYS a sweet feeling winning a derby. But for Grays Athletic the feeling was even sweeter than normal.

Victory over Tilbury meant they slashed Maldon and Tiptree’s lead at the top of the league to three points, having played three less and with ten to play.

Junior Baker hit two against his former club. The centre-back was imperious as he inspired his side to their ninth win on the trot, extending their unbeaten run to 14 games in the first Thurrock derby to ever be played outside the borough.

Jeff Hammond returned from injury to bag Blues’ other two goals in a six-goal feast at Rush Green. Tony Jacob and Aaron Waters were on target for Dockers, who hadn’t played for two weeks before last night’s game.

Paul Vaughan, the Tilbury boss, said afterwards he thought that showed as the game wore on. His side twice came from behind but once Hammond made it 3-2, and quite quickly 4-2, the visitors struggled to fathom the gusto needed to mount a comeback.

Hakan Hayrettin’s side were far from their best, but showed remarkable togetherness and tenacity to win the game after being pegged back on several occasions.

There was a feeling before the game, that if Blues are to falter in their race for the title, it might have been last night in a local derby against a rested Tilbury who had not lost in five.

The first goal came late in the second half as Kenny Beaney played three corners in from the left. Dockers just about dealt with the first two but the third, a high, looped ball caught Tilbury keeper James Marrable off-guard, falling to Baker who tapped in at the back post with 40 minutes gone.

Tilbury equalised almost immediately. Tony Jacob turned in a shot-come-cross by Conor Mead, with Grays looking a little sporadic at the back.

In the second half the game’s third goal came after a decent spell of pressure by the visitors, during which time Jack West, another former Docker, made a superb, last ditch tackle to deny Gary Henty – who re-signed for Dockers following an unhappy spell at Brentwood.

Two minutes later, Blues were back in front. Joao Carlos gathered the ball at the back post and made space for himself before his low shot was blocked. The rebound fell kindly to Baker who shot low past a number of defenders on the line to make it 2-1 after 56 minutes.

The home side then began to dominate but failed to create chances and kill the game off. Tilbury then won a penalty.

Jack Carlile went on a mazy run into the box, where he was felled by Baker. Despite pointing to the spot, referee Lee Vennamere decided against showing a card to Baker, who was booked in the first half.

Waters dispatched the penalty with aplomb, firing it into the bottom right of Johnson’s goal.

But minutes later, Hammond, who had looked very sharp all game, wriggled into the box. His shot from a low angle deflected into the goal, restoring Grays’ lead with 13 minutes to go.

This time, they refused to surrender it. Two minutes later, Craig Pope delivered a free kick from the right which took a nick off of Hammond’s head as it flew into the goal.

Blues fans were ecstatic. There’s winning a Thurrock derby and then there’s winning a Thurrock derby knowing the result will undoubtedly send another ripple of shockwaves north to Maldon.

Hayrettin was bullish after the game. Pleased but focussed, he told the Gazette: “We showed our resilience and got the three points we justly deserved. We were the better team in the first half.

“The games won in a row, the unbeaten run mean nothing. We need to take it a game at a time. This is one of the games where we had to claw back the points and what we’d done before tonight would have meant nothing if we didn’t win this one.

“Every game we play now we have to focus on what we have to do and how we do it. Everyone is focussed on the light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’ve never doubted for one minute that we didn’t have a chance to win this league.

“This was a massive game. Any derby is. We were up for the task, there was a period in the game where we lost our discipline a bit but we scored four great goals. They weren’t given to us.

“At 2-2, we knew the point would do us. But we told Jeff Hammond to play on the right of West, who I thought was immense tonight, and Jeff scored both goals from that side. That’s the best i’ve seen Junior Baker play since i’ve been at the club.”

Paul Vaughan, who was gracious in defeat despite being disappointed, said: “We got done by four set pieces really but I thought we looked a decent side but that’s the way it goes.

“As the game went on it got more aggressive but it didn’t get silly. We haven’t played for two weeks so we’ve come here on the back of not playing and concentrating and that’s what happens when we don’t play. Grays have played each week and their back four were concentrating.

“It’s just getting players back in the groove again. We’ll learn from that. But the weather’s effected our momentum.

“The positives are that we played very, very well and all we’ve got to do is cut out those silly mistakes. But Grays are good side.

“It was nice to see Gary Henty back and he did a good job in the midfield, he’s made an impact on the game. I don’t think it was a 4-2 game, but at the end of the day you’ve got to defend set pieces.”

Grays Athletic: Johnson; Pope, Kirby, Baker, Flynn; Bunce (Newby), Beaney, Lalite, Carlos (Marshall); Hammond (Sweeney), West

Tilbury: Marrable; Mead, Waters, Nightinghill, Gillman; Jacob (Daniel), Carlile, Henty (Francis), Wraight, Cutler; Aiken

Gazette MoM: Junior Baker