Craig Cloke’s two headed goals made sure that Hythe Town would go into the draw for the second qualifying round of the FA Trophy at the expense of Tilbury.

The Essex side started the game in control and were given an early lead through Sam Cutler. A free kick on the edge of the Hythe penalty area was taken quickly by Nathan Ashton into the path of Cutler who was able to smash an impressive shot past Dan Eason in the Hythe goal to give the visitors the lead.

Hythe came back quickly though and just three minutes later they had equalized. Taser Hassan’s cross found Josh Burchell unmarked at the near post, the midfielder was able to steer his header past Chico Ramos to give the Kent side an equaliser.

Hythe nearly had another soon after, but Dave Cook’s cross was acrobatically caught by Ramos to prevent Shaun Welford from getting a chance to score.

Despite this, it wasn’t long until Hythe did get the goal they were looking for, Hassan’s corner was put into a large crowd, but it was Craig Cloke who jumped highest to give Hythe a 2-1 lead.

The conditions didn’t help either side, the ball was unable to roll well which lead to a lot of long passes in the air, it was one of these passes which ended up with Cloke getting treatment on the side-lines after he clashed with a Tilbury’s Ashton, however, Cloke was able to continue.

Tilbury were given very few chances by the impressive Hythe defence, but Danny Francis had the speed to get past his marker before attempting to hit a chipped shot past Easton, however, the goalkeeper was able to grab the ball before it flew over his head.

The visitors continued to pressure Hythe and they were given another chance soon after. A corner was cleared away, but James Zanelli was lurking on the edge of the area, his volley went just over.

Despite the pressure from Tilbury, it was Hythe who scored next and yet again, it was Taser Hassan with the assist, this time, his low cross was bundled in by Cloke, this was his second of the game. And it gave Hythe breathing space going into half time.

Considering the second half was goalless, there were plenty of opportunities for both teams, the first fell for Tilbury’s James Zanelli, however, he ran out of time before Ryan Cooper was able to make a superb sliding tackle, however, the defender came away from his tackle with a slight knock, but he was able to carry on.

If Tilbury were going to get a goal back it would need to come from a counter attack, they got an opportunity to break when Nathan Ashton’s low cross was put into the path of Harry Cook, however, the striker’s shot went wide.

Taser Hassan was given the opportunity to give Hythe a fourth goal, he was put through after a perfectly weighted pass from Dave Cook before slipping on the muddy pitch, leaving the ball to roll into the hands of Ramos.

Hythe will find out who they will play in the second qualifying round during Monday’s draw, until then they have been given £2,700 for getting through, as well as sitting in 17^th in the Ryman South and remain unbeaten at home since late August.

Attendance: 187

Hythe Town: Eason, Cooper, Osbourne, Kingwell, Cloke, Dolan, Cook, Burchel (White), Welford, Winfield (Collado), Hassan (Carey)

Subs not used: Blackman, O’Hara

Booked: Burchell, Cloke, Cook, White

Tilbury: Ramos, Mead, Daniel (Waters), Crooks (Weemes), West, Christou, Francis, Zanelli (Wixon), Cook, Cutler, Ashton

Subs not used: Pooley

Booked: Daniel