TILBURY boss Marc Harrison hailed his side after sealing a 3-1 derby triumph at Aveley.
A brace of goals from Oli Spooner, along with a solitary Lewis Smith strike, ensured the Dockers claimed all three points at Parkside.
Sam Bantick’s penalty on the stroke of half-time proved to be no more than a consolation for James Webster’s Aveley and Harrison was delighted to return to winning ways just seven days after a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Great Wakering Rovers.
“Aveley is a really tough place to go and we put in a fantastic performance,” said Harrison.
“I thought it was one of our best performances since I have been in charge of Tilbury.
“I really enjoyed it, particularly with it coming after what happened against Wakering the week before.
“The challenge is to continue playing like that for the last five games of the season.
“If the players want to keep their place in the squad for next season then they need to maintain those performance levels because I want consistency.”
Tilbury broke the deadlock on 28 minutes as Spooner fired home.
The Dockers doubled their lead six minutes later as top goalscorer Smith cut inside and found the corner of the net after being picked out by Kris Newby.
But Aveley were offered a route back into the Isthmian North contest as, on the stroke of half-time, Joe Burgess conceded a penalty.
Bantick stepped up and smashed the spot-kick home to halve the deficit.
Although the hosts started the second half the better side, they could not find a leveller.
Tilbury’s George Sykes was thwarted by Lamar Johnson but the visitors restored their two-goal advantage with 15 minutes remaining.
After his trickery had left two Aveley defenders in his wake, Smith’s impressive cross into the penalty area was met by Spooner, who doubled his tally.
Aveley continued to seek a way back into the match and would have given themselves hope were it not for a goal-line clearance from Dockers right-back Ryan Boswell and Rhys Madden making a magnificent save.
Sykes was frustrated late on as he saw an effort cleared off the goal-line before an injury time strike clattered against the post.
Tilbury face another stern test when they welcome another promotion-chasing side, in the form of Heybridge Swifts, to Chadfields on Saturday.
But Harrison is pleased to be playing against high-flying sides rather than others in mid-table.
“We’re playing a lot of the teams fighting for promotion at the moment, but that’s exactly what we need,” added Harrison.
“There’s no hiding in any fixture and we will give Heybridge and everyone else we play the same respect and performance as we gave at Aveley.”
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