3rd August 2024 | FA Cup Preliminary Round | Attendance: 130
Tilbury 4-1 Buckhurst Hill FC
By Mark Williams.
We exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle against Step 4 Tilbury, but I felt we gave it a real go. Losing Suley in the warm-up was a real blow, but Chaz came in up front with the returning George Thompson, and they both caused Tilbury a lot of problems. We went 1-0 up in 2 minutes with a penalty put home by George.
We then had Tilbury on the back foot and had 4 or 5 very good chances to extend our lead, but we allowed Tilbury back in, and they equalized. It looked like we were going into halftime level, but very poor defending allowed their left winger to cut through three players, giving Tilbury a halftime lead.
The second half was fairly even before we lost Ethan to a straight red when he raised his arms, leaving the referee no choice. Even with 10 men, we had very good chances, but if we are to do well this season, we need to be a lot more clinical. With all substitutions used and a couple of players needing to come off, we tired and allowed Tilbury two late goals, giving them a very flattering scoreline.
We will take the positives, though, and get back to league action next week. Thanks, as always, to the Hill faithful who made the trip.