by Paul Lerman

East Thurrock United 2
Wingate & Finchley 1
Ryman One North

A flu-ravaged Wingate & Finchley side lost their first game in six at the tough home of East Thurrock Utd.

The hosts had the better of most of the first half as they were well organised and rushed Wingate into making errors.

An early East Thurrock free kick on the edge of the area was struck well towards the top left corner but Gavin King positioned himself well to tip the ball over the bar.

Simon Peddie then volleyed skyward from close range as the resulting corner had fed through to him in an unchallenged position.

East Thurrock took the lead on the half hour mark, when Hakeem Araba converted a header on the end of an inswinging cross from a free kick by the right touchline.

The best chance for the visitors came from a long ball from Ahmet Rifat, which was knocked down by Leon Smith to Lewis Jones whose low shot beat the stranded goalkeeper but was excellently blocked by a desperate lunge from a defender.

Around the hour mark Wingate began to turn the screw for the first time in the game with a good spell of attacking possession. Rifat shot on the volley as the ball bounced around in the area but he hooked it wide, and Smith too hooked a shot narrowly wide of the left post.

However against the run of play East Thurrock doubled their lead when Max Cornhill received a deep cross from the left wing and slotted home after Wingate had stood off as a team inviting the attack.

The Blues did not give up and rallied in the final fifteen minutes. Rifat flicked the ball over the defensive line to Smith but with the ball dropping over his shoulder he struck early and fired over the bar.

A goal did follow in the 88th minute when a superb Sam Sloma corner curled in to the far corner, though it was too late as the home side wound the clock down well to see out the win.

Lineup: King, Weatherstone, Wright, Fowler (Sloma 80), Williams, Rifat (Bent 85), Cooper, Henry, Smith, Jones, Burrell (Chase 80). Sub: Norman, Laird.