NON-LEAGUE: KRIS Newby fired East Thurrock United to their first friendly win of the pre-season on Saturday, writes Matt Abbott.

John Coventry’s Rocks beat Tilbury 2-1 at Chadfields to give their season preparations a boost, following a goalless draw and two defeats in their opening three friendlies.

Newby, the right midfielder, doubled the Rocks’ advantage over Paul Vaughan’s Tilbury on 26 minutes, after his side had taken the lead inside three minutes.

The Rocks went on to dominate the match and should have had more goals before half-time. The second half saw the Dockers improve significantly, but they left it too late to stage a comeback. Youngster Tom Wraight did slot home late on though, to give his side a consolation goal.

Grays Athletic continued their impressive season preparations with victory over a Dagenham and Redbridge XI on Thursday and an away draw to Blue Square Premier division side Braintree on Saturday. Braintree will be playing three leagues higher than the Blues this season.

Luke Marshall and Joe Sweeney bagged the goals for Grays against Dagenham and Tyrone Scarlett scored on his debut to give Hakan Heyrettin’s men a hard fought draw at gritty Braintree. In a Thurrock Gazette online poll on which of the borough’s clubs has most chance of success this season, Grays Athletic came out on top with 57 per cent of the vote.

Elsewhere, Thurrock lost their last two friendlies, suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Blue Square North side Bishops Stortford on Saturday and 2-1 to Witham Town just two days before, with Charlie Stimson converting from the spot in that game.

Aveley drew 1-1 in their most recent friendly away to Sittingbourne with striker Shane Oakley scoring his third goal in two games.

The start of the competitive season is now just over a week away, with the first games of the season being played on Saturday, August 18.