Fleet fail to make the most of opportunity

From the archive, first published Sunday 15th Apr 2007.

Thurrock 1, Bognor Regis Town 1

Only time will tell is this was two vital Conference South points dropped or one earned.

With the Conference football leagues about to be taken over and renamed by gambling firm Blue Square, perhaps it was appropriate that Thurrock should forgo the opportunity to put themselves in a relatively safe position.

Followers at Ship Lane this season are used to leaving the result to pot luck rather than their team's ability and this was another example of how not to make best use of a golden opportunity.

Thurrock started the game in ebullient mood.

Boosted by the presence of hundreds of local youngsters celebrating Fleet's new liaison with local junior football giants Grays Cosmos, for once there was a real quickness of thought and determined intent about their play in the opening stages.

Thurrock had the ball in the net as early as the tenth minute but Matt Paine's low drive was ruled out by fussy ref Gavin Muge for handball.

The referee went on to prove himself something of a pedant in football terms, never-more-so than on 15 minutes when he hauled back Thurrock to take a free-kick 20 yards out for a foul on Wes Thomas.

No matter that the bustling striker had shrugged off the attempted tackle and two other challenges before firing the ball past keeper Craig Stoner into the back of the net.

Oh no, Mr Muge had to have his say.

Fortunately there was a happy - and spectacular ending. Lee Flynn put the ball down and while defenders and attackers jostled for position around the penalty box he bypassed them all with a superb strike into the apex of crossbar and post that gave Stoner no chance.

It was a gem of a goal to delight the youngsters in the ground, the only shame being it was the highlight of the match inside its first quarter.

Thurrock might have extended their lead soon after when Greg Heald's pinpoint through ball opened up the goal for Thomas but he struck his low drive wide of the post.

And on 23 minutes Cliff Akurang's quick turn unsettled the defence and he fed in Thomas again, only for the marksman to be denied by Stoner at full stretch.

Thurrock's dominance continued when Leon Mackenzie went close with a header and Thomas's pace set up Akurang whose close range effort was somehow scooped over the bar, though at the other end Heald was grateful for the outstretched boot of Flynn which cleared a goal bound shot after the veteran defender had been caught dallying on the ball.

Debutant Thurrock keeper Matt Mann, deputising for sickness-stricken Max Aneke, was grateful for his defender's intervention on that occasion and he had similar cause to thank Danny Lunan just before the half time break for another good piece of defending under pressure from Bognor's Jamie Howell.

Having got to the halfway mark largely in control, Thurrock must have been expecting to go on and win and those expectations looked likely to be enhanced in the opening stages of the second half when Akurang outpaced the visiting defence and looked set to extend the lead only to see his shot balloon over the bar, though in fairness he could probably blame a bobble' for his wayward strike.

It was to prove an untimely miss as, from the resultant goal kick, Bognor got the ball up front quickly.

Their high-scoring striker Luke Nightingale looked to have a lot to do when he received it on the edge of the box with his back to goal but he engineered the space required to turn and get a shot in on goal and his effort curled just inside the post, past Mann's despairing dive, for a 51st minute equaliser.

From then on it was mostly downhill for Thurrock.

Their fragile confidence was clearly rocked and frustration crept into their game.

Mackenzie was booked for a petulant interlude that also saw Bognor sub Ben Watson cautioned and Thomas also ended up with a yellow for an unnecessary late tackle.

In between Thurrock introduced striker David Bryant for Mackenzie but he was asked to patrol a wide right midfield area operation far removed from the goal poacher's remit that brought him to Thurrock's attention from his previous club Aveley.

In the absence of manager Hakan Hayrettin, in Cyprus with his seriously ill father, assistant manager Jimmy Gilligan was probably playing his cards in line with a pre-arranged game-plan but his side were in need of some more imaginative moves.

They did come close with a couple of late attacks, most notably when Lunan went on a mazy run to the by-line, but he couldn't cut the ball back into the danger zone - a failure not uncommon at the end of several Thurrock attacks - and Stoner ended the match largely untested.

The point won could well prove to be invaluable, it will be put into more context after Monday night's home clash with Newport County, but as the youngsters streamed out of Ship Lane at the end they will have felt they ought to have seen Thurrock take all the points.

It's an experience veteran Fleet watchers have become used to at home this season.

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