Isthmian Division North

Tilbury 1 v 1 Concord Rangers  

AFTER a frustrating result last weekend, when Tilbury lost a 3-0 lead at Newmarket and in the end were hanging on for a 3-3 draw, there were changes to the squad for Saturday’s (7 November) Isthmian North derby, with new signings Tyler Forbes and Timothy Okello both starting. 

Okello has joined Dockers from neighbours Aveley while Forbes is a familiar face, returning to Chadfields following a short spell with Waltham Abbey.

British Virgin Islands international Forbes netted 13 goals in 35 appearances last season.

Before the match tribute was paid to the fallen in a short act of remembrance.

When the action started the visiting Beachboys came close to opening the scoring after just 12 minutes when a corner towards the front post was met by Max Dorili. However, his close-range effort was denied by a brilliant save from Billy Lawlor.

Dockers came close with a chance of their own in the 32nd minute, as Brad Bennett’s cross found Rasheed Salau, who poked the ball just wide of the post.

The deadlock was eventually broken by the last kick of the first half, when Salau raced through, brushing off two defenders as he advanced into the penalty area. Salau then slotted the ball through the keeper’s legs to give Dockers the lead.

There was a lengthy delay to the second half due to the referee getting injured and being unable to continue the match. After a long search for a suitable replacement, Concord Rangers’ assistant manager, Liam Wilson, ran the line for the second half.

Salau should have doubled his tally when he got on the end of Forbes’ incredible cross from the right-hand side. However, the header flew just wide of the target.

The hosts were then reduced to 10 men when Sidibe was shown a second yellow card following a scuffle between the two teams, which also resulted in two yellow cards for the visitors.

In the dying moments, Joe Elliott was also sent off for Tilbury for handballing the ball off the line. Concord Rangers were awarded a penalty, which Charlie Allum converted to level the score.

That was all the action at Chadfields and Tilbury survived with a point.

SQUAD: Lawlor, Bennett, Rea, Reeve ©, Elliott, Okello (Stimson), Toussaint, Salau (Barlow), Nandi, Forbes (Taylor), Sidibe. Unused sub: Dadson.