Match report by Simon Williams. Photos by Amanda Protheroe.
Billericay suffered semi-final disappointment in the league cup on Saturday. After a first half in which a patched up team gave a good account of themselves, and Jo Flack missed a penalty, Billericay went down to two second half goals as Tilbury reached the final.
Town's team selection was dictated by who was available, with Lynvall Duncan, Neil Marron, Ashley Dumas and Billy Bricknell all starting. Bricknell limped off early in the game, however new signing Jon Docker had an encouraging debut, looking to provide the incisive passing that Town have missed in the absence of Jamie Dormer.
Tilbury started well, dominating possession, but gradually Town began to establish a foothold in the game with Luca Frankis, on for Bricknell, proving a handfull up front. Town really should have taken the lead from the spot when Frankis was brought down in the area by Joe Keith. Jo Flack, who scored from the spot against Canvey 7 days earlier, strode up but his penalty was well saved by Andy Hall. Tilbury's best chance of the half came when Manlee Brown got away from his marker, but his shot lacked power and a combination of Tony Tucker and Wayne Semanshia scrambled the ball away.
The second half was largely one-way traffic as Tilbury upped their game. Joe Keith saw an early cross roll along the top of the cross bar, then on the hour mark Greg Cohen hit the post when he shot through a crowd of players. The ball was eventually cleared behind for a corner, and in the resulting goal-mouth scramble, Dean Etchells was adjudged to have tripped Cohen and the referee pointed to the spot. Keith stepped up and, although Tucker dived the right way, gave Tilbury the lead.
Tilbury were well on top at this point and Tucker had to be on good form to keep out good efforts by Manlee Brown and his strike partner Rashid Kamara, but he was eventually beaten for a second time at the end of the ninety minutes when Brown put the tie beyond reach.
