Tilbury 2-2 Walthamstow
Walthamstow came behind from two goals down to salvage a point away at Tilbury in a 2-2 draw in the Isthmian League North Division.
The game didn’t include much action until the hosts scored, but Stow did really well to fight back and return to E17 with a point.
The first big chance arose for the Dockers, but some heroic defending from Stow kept them out. Keiran Jones’ corner was aimed at Darren Phillips who headed back across goal to Tobias Braney but his attempt at goal was cleared off the line only as far as Jack Hayes but David Hughes denied him from close range.
Stow were slowly creating chances of their own but couldn’t capitalise when reaching the final third. Gassem Benelghazi’s ball out wide found Malachi Belboda who skipped past Medo Konte and got to the edge of the box, but his shot flew high and wide.
Tilbury came close to taking the lead on the 40th minute when Dan Trendall spotted Hughes off his line and attempted the extraordinary from halfway, but his shot flew wide of the post.
With four minutes until the break, Stow were given a penalty as Belboda was taken down in the box by Konte. Elliot Sartorius stepped up to take it but blazed the ball over the top of the crossbar.
The second half saw Tilbury continue to cause trouble from set pieces with Darren Phillips being the main target. His header was cleared off the line by Benelghazi, then his header fell for Carter who headed on top of the net and his attempt at goal was well saved by Hughes.
Eventually, Tilbury took the lead with 12 minutes left. Oli Spooner’s cross found Trendall unmarked in the penalty area, and he headed past Hughes to break the deadlock.
The hosts then got their second of the game five minutes later. A corner found Phillips whose first attempt was saved by Hughes, but he fired home on the rebound to double their lead.
Everything seemed to be fine for the home side until Stow got a goal back. Benelghazi received the ball on the left and turned away from Carter who had to go off injured after. His cross was cleared away but was picked up by substitute Brian Garzon who fired the ball off the post and in to reduce the deficit.
Stow now had the momentum and were looking for the equaliser, which they found via another penalty. Substitute Tyrone Baker laid the ball off for Jordan Peart who drove into the penalty box and was taken down by Jack Brocklebank which gave the referee no choice but to point to the penalty spot. Baker stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom corner levelling up the game.
Walthamstow are still without a win in six games but have picked up two points from their last two games, and make the long journey to Gorleston on Wednesday.
