Trawlerboys drop precious points

The Trawlerboys must now take full points from their away games at Thurrock on Thursday and Bognor on Saturday to prevent Whitehawk being in a position to clinch the title by winning at Leiston on Sunday.

To make matters worse for Lowestoft, their top scorer Jack Defty was carried off with what looked likely to be a season-ending leg injury and it was pleasing to see that Whitehawk were quick to send him their best wishes in a Twitter message.

Bury, in fact, were not far away from victory after Craig Parker’s 20th-minute penalty gave them a lead they would have extended but for the heroics of Trawlerboys keeper Andy Reynolds.

He kept his side in the game and was rewarded when Lee Smith equalised, also with a penalty, in the 85th minute.
Fourth-placed Concord moved closer to clinching their play-off berth after a 3-0 win at Leiston gave them an eight-point cushion.

Tony Stokes and Ben Greenhalgh gave them a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes, and Stokes struck again 15 minute from time, his 22nd league goal.

Canvey climbed three places to reclaim fifth position thanks to a Rob King penalty a minute before half-time which gave them a 1-0 victory at Thurrock.

East Thurrock remained sixth after drawing 2-2 at Cray. Sam Higgins gave them an early lead but Danny Phillips quickly put the Wands on terms and they went ahead through Leigh Bremner with 15 minutes left.

Higgins struck again in the 85th minute to earn the Rocks a precious point. They are a point behind Canvey with a game in hand, as are Met Police in seventh spot.

Margate’s misery continued with a fifth successive defeat, 2-1 at home to Kingstonian. They were five points clear of the field in fifth place after the Easter programme but have lost five in a row since then and slumped to eighth. With only two games left, their play-off hopes have almost vanished.

Goals either side of half-time from Dan Sweeney and Paul Vines put K’s in charge, and although Tommy Whitnell gave the hosts hope with 13 minutes left they could not salvage a draw.

At the bottom, Harrow edged closer to safety with a 0-0 draw at Hampton and Cray’s draw improved their prospects slightly, although they stay in 19th place.

Hastings remained next to bottom after they were beaten 2-0 at Hendon and finished with nine men. Lee O’Leary opened the scoring on 21 minutes and Isaiah Rankin claimed the second deep into added time. By then Hastings duo Danny Ellis and Tom Vickers had been sent off. Two unused substitutes, Jamie Crellin and player-manager Sean Ray, were also dismissed.