THURROCK celebrated their last ever home fixture as a club by claiming a 1-0 win over Kingstonian.
Lewwis Spence will go down in history as the last Fleet man to score at Ship Lane, as the skipper’s long range strike proved to be the difference between the two sides after Manolis Gogonas’ dismissal for the visitors.
Michael Pindy and Connor Hunte also saw red in stoppage time.
Thurrock fashioned a good chance early on as Spence’s impressive switch of play saw Ellis Brown clear of the Kingstonian defence. However, an impressive tackle stopped the right winger in his tracks and goalkeeper Rob Tolfrey was off his line before Ronnie Winn could latch onto the loose ball.
And with just 20 minutes played, the visitors were reduced to 10 men.
Gogonas appeared to kick out at Charlie Stimson and, following an extensive pause in the game, referee Jack Bloxham showed the defender a straight red card.
Fleet nearly made their one-man advantage count immediately when Brown was played through on goal, but Tolfrey made a smart save to deny him.
However, Thurrock did not have to wait long to break the deadlock as Spence’s thunderous 25-yard strike evaded Tolfrey and found the back of the net.
Brown sent a strike wide of the target as the hosts continued to pile on the pressure.
Stimson came close to getting his name on the scoresheet, but his header in first half stoppage time went just over the crossbar.
The K’s nearly levelled matters less than a minute after the interval as substitute Freddy Yao’s long range strike was pushed away by home custodian Ben McNamara.
Muhammadu Faal also stung the palms of McNamara as Kingstonian made a promising start to the second half.
Faal continued to cause problems for the Fleet defence and fired across the face of goal, but his hard work went unrewarded as a team-mate was not on hand to tap home from close range.
However, Thurrock should have doubled their lead on the counter attack.
Ronnie Winn brought the ball forward and played in Stimson, but the frontman could not capitalise on the one-on-one situation as Tolfrey parried the strike away.
Stimson passed up another presentable opportunity as his scuffed finish – after being found by substitute Michael Pindy – went wide of the target.
Timothy Ogunrinde scored in stoppage time only to be ruled offside.
Scenes turned sour when Hunte and Pindy both saw red, but one goal proved to be enough for Fleet and the club were able to pick up three points in their final home clash.
Thurrock: McNamara, Brown (Pindy 61), Sutton, G. Winn, Peter, Goode (Morgan 46), Clark, Spence, Stimson, R. Winn, Nouble (Ogunrinde 82)
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here