A solitary scrambled strike midway through the second half, with a hint of controversy, denied the hard working Thamesmead what would have been a deserved point against opposition who kept in touch with leaders Maldon and Tiptree with the three points.

The home side made one change from the previous game with Tom O’Connor returning to the starting eleven.  Sadly for O’Connor, his afternoon was over after only 17 minutes as he had to be helped from the field by both Mead physio’s in clear discomfort.

Both sides had good first half chances when Richardson hit the frame of the Thamesmead goal whilst Paul Vines brought an acrobatic save out of visiting keeper Cowler, before the visitors took the lead when Malton prodded home after keeper Ollie Bowles had saved from Rees.  In the build-up however, the Brightlingsea player appeared to have “fouled” Leon Smith, leaving the Mead defender in a heap on the floor.

Bowles then kept the Mead in the game with two stunning saves in quick succession – the Mead stopper first brilliantly pushed Turner’s thunderous free kick over with a strong left hand, before, from the resulting corner, showing incredible reflexes to keep out Gould’s deflected shot.  Harvey Brand almost rescued a point late on for the home side – and nearly embarrassed the keeper at the same time – with a spectacular drive that thundered into the Brightlingsea cross-bar but the visitors held on for the points.

For the Mead it was another afternoon of what might have beens but a vast improvement on the previous week’s disappointing display at Heybridge as they look ahead to their next game – another long trip to Norfolk, this time to face Dereham Town next Saturday…

THE MEAD – Ollie Bowles, Harvey Brand, Nathan Simpson, Bode Anidugbe, Lewis Knight, Leon Smith, Ellis Green, Tom O’Connor (Alex Teniola), Paul Vines, Ellis Brown, Jay Porter

Subs – Michael Ademiluyi, Laurent Mendy, Max Ovenden