Goals galore in battle of the Rocks

By Peter Butcher

A LAST-MINUTE strike by David Bryant tonight (Tuesday) was East Thurrock’s eighth goal in two Ryman Premier games – and it earned them their only point from those matches.

They twice fought back to level terms after falling two goals behind at Leiston on Saturday only to end up on the wrong end of a 5-4 result.

And tonight they again found themselves 2-0 down at home to Bognor, hit back to lead 3-2 but eventually needed that last-gasp effort from Bryant to salvage a 4-4 draw.

Dan Thompson and Oliver Pearce scored in the space of seven minutes either side of the half-hour mark to give Bognor the edge in the battle of the Rocks, but it was level by half-time thanks to Reiss Gilbey and Kye Ruel.

Bryant put the Essex Rocks ahead in the 71st minute but late efforts from Harvey Whyte and Thompson seemed to have stolen it for their Sussex counterparts. Then Bryant struck again.

Whitehawk opened up a 11-point gap at the top with a 2-0 home victory over Kingstonian in a match that had been abandoned because of floodlight failure earlier in the season with K’s in a winning position.

Hawks made the most of their good fortune to come out on top in the rematch with a double from Danny Mills, his first in the 62nd minute and the clincher in added time.

That defeat cost K’s their place in the top five. They were overtaken by Lowestoft, who netted two unanswered goals to see off visiting Canvey.

Lee Smith converted a 73rd-minute penalty to break the deadlock and top scorer Jack Defty made sure with three minutes to go.

Hendon maintained their impressive recent form, coming out on top by the odd goal in three at Bury. Junior Morias scored early and Kevin Maclaren late for the Londoners, with Craig Parker’s reply not coming until the third minute of added time.

Carshalton stayed in the bottom two after going down 2-1 at home to Wingate, who put some daylight between themselves and the relegation places.

Ahmet Rifat and Andre Scarlett scored late in the first half to put the visitors in charge. Nathaniel Pinney continued his free-scoring form with a reply six minutes after the break but Robins could do no more.

They are now just one point ahead of bottom club Thurrock, who drew 0-0 at home to Hampton, and the Essex men have eight games in hand as they finally reached the halfway mark in their programme.

Where next?

Debut delight for Kavanagh TWO recent signings were the key men as Met Police moved to within two points of the Ryman Premier play-off places with a 1-0 home win over Margate tonight (Wednesday).
Williams praise for Robins CARSHALTON Athletic manager Tommy Williams praised his team’s spirit which saw them rise off the bottom of the Ryman Premier by leapfrogging opponents Thurrock, writes James Barrett.

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