East Thurrock United 3, Tonbridge Angels 0

ON an atrocious pitch Rocks slipped and slithered their way to a convincing FA Trophy victory on Tuesday night and are now eyeing an attractive home tie and Thames derby with Conference side Gravesend and Northfleet on December 17.

Rocks had struggled to make any impression against their Ryman Division One rivals in the goalless first leg but the replay, delayed for a week because of problems with the floodlights at Rookery Hill, was a different affair with the home side dominating from the off.

It was a far more entertaining match too, with Rocks avoiding Angels' well-worked offside traps that made much of the first match a tedious stalemate. They opened their account after just 16 minutes when Danny Harris was in the right place to force the ball over the line from close range after Steve West's header across the face of goal.

They dominated the rest of the half, with Angels only managing two efforts of any note, both of which ended up well wide of goal.

And in the second half they capitialised on their advantage with goals from the much-improved Martin Tuohy and hard-working Danny Hazyzeldon to secure the victory.

Thankfully they are away at near neighbours Billericay for a Ryman Premier League Essex derby on Saturday which should give the mudbath of a pitch time to recover before the big Trophy tie.