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WINNER: Chris Brown turns after heading Tilbury's winner late in the game. Picture by Adam Lowe.

Tilbury 2, Wingate & Finchley 1

TILBURY conjured up three vital Ryman Division One North points from a match of pure tedium and little quality.

Manager John Lawrence won't care a jot that this was an dreadful match, played out in blustery conditions on a bone hard pitch in front of only slightly more than the proverbial three men and a dog.

For him and his players, the abiding memory will be Chris Brown's stooping header from all of six inches late in the game that wrapped up a victory Tilbury just about deserved.

They were marginally the better of two awful teams with neither side capable of stringing one, never mind a series, of passes together.

But from Tilbury's perspective, who cares?

Many times this season they have produced heroic, battling performances laced with half decent football and come away with nothing.

This was about winning - pure and simple - and Dockers had enough drive to achieve their goal and keep the candle of survival burning brightly. And it flickered even stronger when results dribbled in from elsewhere.

You might as well forget the first half completely. Tilbury's Jay Taylor managed the only two shots of note for either side, the first grazing the outside of the upright and the second forcing a fumbled save from Gavin King but the only other thing of note was the copious amounts of claret that flooded from a head wound sustained by Dockers' burly midfielder Jamie Gray midway through the half.

After treatment the flow of blood from the top of his head was staunched by a huge amount of grease and he managed the rest of the match looking like the stripey-haired lead in Catherine Cookson's Mallen Streak.

That, for the uninitiated, is about good triumphing over evil and, while it wouldn't be fair to cast Wingate as villains, this was also a match with the right outcome.

In the tradition of the emotion-charged author, this too was a match of highs and lows and a story carved out of humble graft with one or two working class heroes.

Tilbury's striker Kurt Smith has been such a figure for Dockers this season. His goals have kept Tilbury alive and while he's been through a lean patch of late he remains a potent force.

Never more so than in the 58th minute when he got on the end of a ball prodded forward more in hope than expectation and produced a lob over King to open the scoring.

As ever with Tilbury this season, they have a habit of making things difficult for themselves and once more they concentrated on arguing with a refereeing decision than concentrating on play.

They were still disputing a 67th free kick on the halfway line when the ball was played in and Ahmet Rifat was left unchallenged on the edge of the box with time and space to pick his spot past Richard Wray's despairing dive.

Things looked bleak at that point, and even darker when Taylor conjured up the Chadfields miss of the season blazing high over the bar from two feet out in front of an empty net.

It capped an agonising match for Taylor, who went so close to scoring but ended up with only a booking - one of four for Dockers - that takes his season's tally to ten and he will now miss the Easter games against Waltham Forest and Aveley.

But for once there was to be a happy ending for the Tilbury faithful.

Their side continued to drive forward with the wind at their backs and with four minutes to go, from a half-cleared cross, Gray lashed the ball goal wards. It smashed off the underside of the crossbar and down, with no-one sure if it had crossed the line. Brown showed a presence of mind out of character with anything that had gone before to pounce in an otherwise static packed six yard box and head the ball over the line.

Wingate had nothing else to offer and the precious points were won, lifting Dockers away from Wivenhoe and Ilford who shared a goalless draw, and closer to safety.

With the bottom two still to visit Chadfields Tilbury's destiny remains in their own hands.

And though tough trips to Bury and Ware come up next, after that only a late season trip to Dartford presents a truly daunting prospect.

Relegation remains a real fear but maybe, just maybe, the victory Dockers battled so hard for today will prove the turning point.

Tilbury: Richard Wray, Sam Groombridge, Jay Taylor, Bradley Smart, Paul King (Danny Smith), Danny O'Connor, Chris Brown, Jamie Gray, Kurt Smith, Tom Poole (Chris Stowe), Luke Stanley. Subs not used: Nathan Philip, James Dwyer, Erkan Yusuf.

Other Ryman One North results: Arlesey Town 4, Witham Town 2; Brentwood T 2, Edgware Town 0; Bury Town 1, Dartford 1; Canvey Island 0, AFC Sudbury 1; Northwood 1, Potters Bar 1; Redbridge 4, Great Wakering Rovers 0; Waltham A 0, Aveley 3; Waltham Forest 3, Maldon Town 5; Ware 1, Enfield Town 1; Wivenhoe Town 0, Ilford 0.

Ryman Division One North, up to and inc Sat, March 8

8:53pm Saturday 8th March 2008

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