Nationwide South
Tuesday 17th August
	Hornchurch	0 - 1	Thurrock
		H/T  0 - 1 Att:791	Lee 15'

Match Highlights

Hornchurch

Thurrock

	15	GOAL- Lee
	40	SENT OFF - Plummer
	42	BOOKED - Akurang
	45	OFF - Hodges ON - Lawrence
Carey - BOOKED	52
	57	OFF - Collis ON - Goodfellow
Wormull - OFF Taylor - ON	59
Shipp - OFF Purser - ON	66	OFF - Lee ON - Martin
Mustafa - OFF Elam - ON	76

Your average football fan is an eternal optimist, but this game proved that however well you prepare and however confident you are, there's always someone ready to spoil the party. It didn't really happen for us tonight, and although there was good approach play at times, what was missing was a really telling pass.

We started confidently enough and on ten minutes Simon Wormull blasted over from a Darren Caskey far post free kick. But within 5 minutes Thurrock took the lead. A long goal kick from Paul Gothard was headed down by Cliff Akurang and Kriss Lee made space for himself on the edge of the area and blasted home into the roof of the net.

Simon Wormull shot wide from the edge of the area five minutes later as we searched for an equaliser, and Gothard saved well from a Caskey free kick on 25 minutes. Gothard came to the rescue again ten minutes later, making a great reflex save from a Kirk Jackson header following a Steve Clark free-kick.

Then it looked as if Thurrock were about to press the self-destruct button.  Dwayne  Plummer was dismissed on 40 minutes after indulging in fisticuffs after an altercation with Damon Searle and two minutes later Cliff Akurang was booked after a late challenge.  Half-time wasn't far away though and with it a chance for Thurrock manager Colin McBride to calm his side down.

Sendings off are normally cheered by opposing supporters but in this case there is only one game plan for a team 1-0 up away from home - DEFEND. And this is what Thurrock did as if their lives depended on it. They nearly doubled their lead on 47 minutes when a bad back pass let in Lee whose shot beat Bayes but clipped the post, but they were generally content to defend deep in their own half.  We came at them in waves but very little got through to trouble Gothard.  A succession of corners for us in the last 10 minutes were comfortably dealt with, and Thurrock came close once again to extending their lead in the last minute when a defensive mix-up let in Martyn Lawrence who finally shot into the side netting.

Video Highlights

- 11 mins. Simon Wormull shoots over from a Caskey free kick (400KB)
- 15 mins. Thurrock's Kris Lee scores the winning goal (660KB)
- 20 mins. Wormull shoots wide from the edge of the area (380KB)
- 25 mins. Thurrock's Gothard saves from a Caskey free kick (250KB)
- 37 mins. A great save by Gothard from a Jackson header (360KB)
- 45+ mins. A Shipp shot well saved (310KB)
- 47 mins. Lee let in by bad back pass but his shot clips the post (270KB)
- 49 mins. Lee Clark sidefoots just wide from a good position (395KB)
- 79 mins. Lee Elam shoots across goal and wide from a good move (370KB)
- 83 mins. Wayne Purser heads just wide from a corner (250KB)
- 90 mins. Simon Martin nearly increases Thurrock's lead after a defensive mix-up (350KB)
 

Teams

Hornchurch Ashley Bayes Tarkan Mustafa Damon Searle Lee Matthews Paul McCarthy Shaun Carey Simon Wormull Darren Caskey Kirk Jackson Danny Shipp Steve Clark SUBS Jamie Stuart Wayne Purser Lee Elam Charlie Taylor Mark Westhead (GK)

- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 * 12 14 15 16 17

Thurrock Paul Gothard David Collis Craig Davidson John Purdie Jimmy McFarlane Lee Hodges Ryan Kirby Steve Heffer Dwayne Plummer Kriss Lee Cliff Akurang SUBS Simon Martin Richard Goddard Mark Goodfellow Martyn Lawrence John Buffong

Man of the Match Nominated by ...

Weather Conditions:  Warm cloudy. Rain towards end.
 

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