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Brentwood 0 Tilbury 0

1:11pm Monday 30th November 2009


A BATTLING performance from Brentwood earned a point against in-form Tilbury on a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon at the Brentwood Arena.

Blues had been boosted by the return from injury of captain Steve Good, who replaced Nathan Fletcher in the starting line up. D arren Blewitt and Richard Priest were also brought into the side, and Jim Hasell retained his place in goal having recovered from the bout of food poisoning which forced him off against Romford in midweek.

Both sides went into the game on the back of some good results, and it was Tilbury who shaded the opening skirmishes. Despite their possession, they were unable to unlock a disciplined Brentwood defence and were limited to early long range efforts from Nathan Gordon and Joe Keith.

As the half progressed, Brentwood came more and more into the game, particularly down the left flank. On 15 minutes, Priest fired in a cross to Good which he headed just wide. Brentwood began to grow in confidence, and both Petrit Elbi and Joe Sweeney had efforts well saved by Tilbury keeper Andy Hall. In the 25th minute, Sweeney had two excellent chances in quick succession as he managed to get in behind the Tilbury defence, but was unable to convert either thanks to some great defensive work by Jamie Wallace.

The rest of the half became a real midfield battle, as Brentwood struggled to find the final telling ball and Tilbury found themselves limited to dead ball attempts from the left foot of Keith. Both sets of centre backs performed exceptionally, and it was no surprise that the match remained 0-0 at half time.

Desperate to find a spark, Tilbury brought on leading goalscorer Kayan Kalipha on the left wing, and again they started the half slightly stronger than their opponents.

A probing Kalipha cross had to be diverted behind at full stretch by Hasell, but the resulting corner came to nothing. The match remained scrappy until the 63rd minute, when another cross from Kalipha created Tilbury’s best opportunity of the match, but Gordon fired over from close range.

Once more, Brentwood grew stronger as the half went on, and Elbi and Sweeney continued to link up well without ever managing to create a clear-cut effort on goal. Tilbury began to fade, and a driving run from Ross Parmenter in the 75th minute played in Elbi, but he skewed his shot wide of the goal. By now, Reiss Noel in particular was ensuring that Tilbury attacks were few and far between, and Brentwood began to search for a winner to end their short run of consecutive draws. The last 10 minutes of the match were largely spent in the Tilbury half, yet thanks largely to a well organised defensive display from the visitors, Brentwood were unable to open up a clear opportunity. Substitute George Lay tested Hall with an effort from the edge of the area, but the game eventually drifted to a scoreless draw.

Brentwood Town: Hasell, Wilson, Glozier, Noel, Blewitt, Good, Okojie, Parmenter, Lee, Elbi, Sweeney (Joseph 89), Priest (Lay 81). Unused subs: Henty, Carlile, Pyne.


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