Tilbury 0, Maldon & Tiptree 1

Maldon & Tiptree's recent improved run of results continued as Peter Taylor's men made it three wins in a row under the new manager's stewardship.

The overcast, grey skies at the Tilbury EMR Stadium perhaps reflected the mood of the home side, as their recent run of form had seen them slip into the bottom four of the Isthmian League North and veteran manager John Coventry was sacked after the previous match.

In contrast Maldon's fortunes have been upbeat as Peter Taylor continued the good work of predecessor, Adam Flint.

There were two changes to the Jammers' line up from the team that beat Hullbridge on Bank Holiday, with Joe Turpin returning to the starting line up in place of Toib Adeyemi and new signing, Callum Boylan starting up front in a move that saw captain, Scott Kemp drop back into midfield.

The windy conditions and difficult, bobbly pitch didn't help either side as they looked to make their presence felt in the opening exchanges.

New signing Boylan looked busy, and on four minutes he burst through the middle of the park, but as he got close to the Tilbury box, the ball got caught in his feet. It did break to Terrell Egbri who tried his luck from distance, but fired wide.

Maldon continued to the edge the opening exchanges without creating too many clear-cut chances. Kacy Parish had a shot blocked and a long range try from Harry Phillips  was routinely dealt with by Tilbury keeper, Christian North.

Tilbury gradually found their feet and on 20 minutes created their first real chances of note. Unfortunately for Tilbury, Chris Millar blazed high and wide from the edge of the box.  

The home side were growing in confidence and on 35 minutes, a cross from the right hand side just evaded Charlie Morris at the back post.

Less than a minute later, Maldon were indebted to goalkeeper, Tommy Dixon-Hodge, for a second match in a row, as he made a wonderful one-on-one save from Millar, throwing out a strong left hand to keep the scores level.

Five minutes later, it was the offside flag that came to the Jammers' rescue, as Martin Tuohy thought he'd put the hosts ahead, but his header was ruled out by the assistant.

That seemed to wake Maldon up and they finished the half strongly with Egbri cutting in from the left and forcing the keeper into a good diving save. The follow up was scrambled away for a corner from which Boylan saw his header blocked.

Half time arrived with a goalless score line, both teams feeling they could be ahead but in reality Maldon probably should have been.

The second half began with Tilbury making the early running, with Morris shooting straight at Dixon-Hodge. Maldon full back Benny Bioletti sought to change things though, and went on lung-busting, 50 yard run before being fouled on the edge of the box. Peter Mokwenye played the freekick short to Danny Nesbitt, but the Maldon centre back couldn't get the ball out of his feet and Tilbury cleared.

On his Maldon debut, Boylan was having a productive afternoon for the Jammers, winning headers, holding the ball up well and combining well his teammates. All that was missing was a that would put his team ahead.  

Maldon were starting to create the better openings. On the hour mark, Parish showed remarkable skill to control a wayward clearance before skinning his opponent and crossing for Egbri but he saw his shot blocked, as was the follow up from Mike Finneran.  

The deciding moment came on 85 minutes, when a through ball from Maldon's, Ronnie Bates found Lesley Duru in on goal. Making his way into the box, Duru was clipped by the onrushing Tilbury goalkeeper. It was left to Harry Phillips to dispatch the penalty high to the keeper's left for his first Jammers goal.

The Jammers' next league game is on Saturday, 14 January when they host Grays Athletic at Park Drive.