THURROCK held on for a vital three points as they secured a 1-0 win over Needham Market at Ship Lane.

Remi Sutton scored the decisive goal on 33 minutes, while Mark Stimson's side were forced to play more than the final 20 minutes with 10 men following the dismissal of Adetayo Osifuwa.

The first chance of the evening fell to the visitors as striker Jamie Griffiths latched onto a long through ball and found himself one on one with home goalkeeper Jake Jessup. But George Winn recovered well and did just enough to allow Jessup to smother the loose ball.

Lewwis Spence had a shot blocked by Jake Dye soon after, while Ronnie Winn tested Needham Market goalkeeper Daniel Gay.

Fleet took the lead just past the half hour mark as Spence found the overlapping Sutton, who brought the ball down neatly before converting.

The away side reacted well and Jessup made a double save to deny Callum Harrison and Billy Holland.

Minutes before the interval, Thurrock almost doubled their lead.

Sutton found Ronnie Winn with a dangerous cross but the frontman's bullet header was stopped by Gay.

Osifuwa was shown his second booking after a late challenge on Jack Simmons, leaving Thurrock with a numerical disadvantage.

Needham Market piled on the pressure after the sending off, which forced Thurrock to protect their narrow lead. 

But Stimson's charges were able to cling on to their advantage and climb up to 19th in the Isthmian Premier League standings.

Thurrock: Jessup, Osifuwa, Sutton, Bruce, G.Winn, Morgan, Clark (Price 76’), Spence, Stimson, R.Winn (Antoine 77’), Oli (Vaughan 90’)