Wroxham came home disappointed after a single goal being the difference that saw the Dockers win the first game of the new season writes Tom Wardle.

The day didn't start well for the Wroxham squad travelling down to Tilbury, a traffic jam in Norwich saw them arrive at Chadfields much later than expected. The home team were already warming up as the Yachtsmen arrived but kick off wasn’t delayed by the match official.

The opening 10 minutes proved to be a cagey affair for both teams, as expected for the first game of the season. Neither team were wanting to start the season with a defeat. There was little attacking threat from both teams and was a scrappy game in the midfield for the opening period.

The first chance of the game came around 20 minutes in. A header well wide of the net from Tilbury’s Harry Cook causing Elliot Pride no problems. Wroxham then began to get into the game. Jordan King played a through ball onto the forward running Matt Waters. He was unlucky with his effort, but wasn’t able to keep it on target.

Wroxham kept up the pressure mid-way through the first half with a series of corners, the second of which saw the ball come out to David Hinton on the edge of the box. He smashed the ball towards the top corner of the net but West Ham loanee keeper Clarke Bogard pulled off a very smart save to prevent the opening goal of the game.

Five minutes later, great movement from Nathan Stone got him into a 1v1 position but the forward skewed his shot wide of the post. Later in the half a good passing move between King and Stone resulted in King getting brought down on the edge of the penalty area. Hinton failed to hit the shot with much power but he still forced another smart save from Bogard.

The start of the second half saw Tilbury have a number of chances, one of which looked certain to go in, but Yachtsmen keeper Elliot Pride pulled out the save of the game to keep the scores level. After making a slow start to the second half, Wroxham had a chance to counter-attack with Matt Waters. He ran a long way but was unfortunate to see his shot skim the top of the net.

After 61 minutes the only goal of the game was scored. Tilbury's Francis Babalola went past two Wroxham players on the left hand side before being brought down by Jack Garrod. Tony Martin then hit an unstoppable free kick to the top left hand corner of the net giving Pride no chance of saving. The goal saw the introduction of debutant Steve Holder, who came on for Matty Waters to try to get something from the game. With five minutes left on the clock, a scramble in the box resulted in an effort lacking in real power from Jack Garrod saved from close range. Referee Saul Kay then blew to end proceedings for this afternoon.

Overall Wroxham learned a tough lesson to start the season after not finishing any of their chances and not being able to capitalise on their first half dominance.