Tilbury 2, Romford 1

A MATCH that Tilbury should have had well won by half time ended in nail-biting controversy and scenes of anger but the Dockers emerged with a Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy semi-final place.

It was a match memorable for several incidents, ironically which the participants would probably prefer to forget.

Tilbury, who were missing combative midfielder Michael Hart because of flu, were guilty of extreme profligacy in a first half that they dominated throughout. Chief offenders were Paul Cobb, currently going through a lean streak, and Simon Deakin.

Their series of misses came after Danny McGoldrick had put Dockers ahead on ten minutes. He was left with a simple tap in after Deakin's cross, after he had cut in from the right, struck a post. Port latched onto the ball as it came back out and though his shot was parried by Neil Finn, McGoldrick was on hand to finish the job.

The most notable of Dockers' misses came when Cobb volleyed over the bar from close range with the goal at his mercy.

That, and other misses, meant Romford still had plenty to play for in a second half played out in parts in driving, freezing rain. Cold it might have been, but Romford showed plenty of hot blood and for much of the half had the Dockers pegged page - though in truth Jimmy Cook was rarely tested in the Dockers goal.

Tilbury might even have extended their lead but Deakin screwed his shot well wide with only Finn to beat and that left a nervous finale for the home side to negotiate.

And they should have conceded a late equaliser with a just a few minutes remaining. Romford were finally rewarded for their attacking play with a breakaway that saw Des Gallen chasing a bouncing ball. As he entered the box he chipped the ball over the advancing Cook and was about to round him and score when he was felled by the momentum of the keeper's dive.

It was as clear a penalty as you could wish to see and few inside the ground wouldn't have expected young referee Bernie Morss to do anything other than point to the spot, with Cook the likely recipient of a red card. Amazingly Morss waved play on to the fury and astonishment of Romford's players, fans and management team, with manager Mark Reed going close to bursting a blood vessel as his wrath exploded.

Matt Frew's temper boiled over the a shocking tackle on Deakin that brought him a booking as Romford lost their cool and their defence went walkabout in the last minute as Tom Dosser, brought on in the closing stages for out-of-sorts Cobb, combined well with Deakin who produced a goalscoring finish from a tight angle.

There was sill time, in added time, for Romford finally to win a penalty, hotly contested this time by an angry Tilbury bench, which one-time Docker Jordan Tolan comfortably converted but as his shot hit the net Mr Morss blew for time, prompting angry scenes as he and his assistants were jostled by players and management for both sides in an unseemly finish to the match.

Afterwards the referee defended his decision not to award Romford a penalty by saying Gallen had dived. In truth that was a ridiculous assertion and one which he didn't back up at the time by booking the Romford man - not that Tilbury will mind as they head for the semi-final.