Grays Athletic really only have themselves to blame for falling to defeat in the Boxing Day derby with landlords Tilbury. Despite dominating possession for long periods, a lack of cutting edge up front and too often being wasteful with the ball was in direct contrast to the Dockers who used what they had to great effect.

The early chances fell to the Blues. In the first minute, Samir Ali crossed to Louie Remi who went close and then Matas Skarna found Ali, who shot over. Dan Trendall had the opening chance for Tilbury when he tried to lob Danny Sambridge from distance before Luke Hirst, for Blues, put an attempt just wide. Grays were piling the pressure on the Dockers goal and won a series of corners but still they couldn’t find a way through a resolute home defence.

And Grays were made to pay for not making their dominance count. WIth five minutes of the half remaining, on a rare foray into the Grays half, Sam Bantick fed Jamie Reynolds down the right hand side and his fine cross found Dan Trendall at the near post and his header beat Sambridge for a 1-0 lead.

Elliott Sartorius almost brought the scores level when his long-range shot was tipped over the bar by Dockers’ keeper, George Marsh. And similarly, at the other end, Oli Spooner forced Sambridge to do likewise.

But there was still time for it to get worse for Blues before half time. Referee, Mr Indyk, who had let virtually every challenge go unpunished all afternoon, decided that Sam Bantick had been downed in the area amidst a pile of bodies and awarded the penalty, which Jordan Clarke buried to make it 2-0. It was very harsh on Grays, who had been by far the dominant team in the half.

Half time : Tilbury 2 v 0 Grays Athletic

Grays came out looking to make amends and were soon on the scoreboard. Matas Skarna made ground down the left and crossed into the box. Keeper, North, was impeded by his own player, leaving Luke Hirst free to hook the ball into the net to make it 2-1.

Louie Remi then went on a great run and found Samir Ali who was downed inside the box, but this time, Mr Indyk chose to wave play on. And then the assistant referee conspired against Blues by raising his flag for offside when Remi had clearly run from several yards behind the back line. It was one of those days.

Blues fans would then have expected their side to go on and get something from the game but Tilbury were in no mood to give up what they had earned. Spooner, who had a fine afternoon went on a lung-busting run only stopped by a great tackle from Michael Finneran. And from the resulting corner, Tyler Brampton’s header flicked off his own crossbar. Danny Sambridge then came to Grays’ rescue with a brilliant double save from Kieran Jones and Trendall.

In the dying minutes, Louie Remi crossed and the ball just evaded sub Danny Gould, who soon hobbled off with a nasty looking ankle injury before Blues’ day was capped when Alex Moss received a second yellow card when mistiming a last-ditch challenge.

Over the 90 minutes, Grays showed more than enough to take something from the game but it is balls in the net that count and Tilbury were more clinical with the possession they had - and take the local bragging rights for the time being.

Final score : Tilbury 2 v 1 Grays Athletic

Grays Ath : Sambridge, Brampton, Skarna, Dariri, Finneran, Moss, Remi, Walker (87, Craddock), Hirst, Sartorius, Ali (86, Gould, 94, Henry-Rose)

Subs not used : Shamshoum, Carlos