Tilbury started pre-season with a good win at Ryman South side Herne Bay on a warm afternoon on the south coast of Kent. Manager Gary Henty sent a large squad of 18, which also saw 3 regular first team players, playing the whole 90 minutes in the heat. Midway through the half Joe Nightingill who was playing his first game since February headed against the bar as the Dockers started brightly. It took the home side until the 64th minute to have their first effort of the afternoon, but did take the lead on 68 when Elliot Cutts had the honour of scoring the first goal of the season at Winch's Field when he slotted home. The Dockers took just 6 minutes to equalise when a dubious penalty was awarded and Neil Richmond scored from the spot. Late in the game Francis Babalola and Ollie Hanlon both had good efforts saved by the home keeper, as the Dockers finished strongly. In the final minute Ruben Duarte made a run down the right and crossed for Francis Babalola who scored into an empty net. A few seconds later the referee brought proceedings to an end and the result saw the Dockers win their opening pre-season game for 5 years.

After the game Manager Gary Henty commented "Really pleased with the performance and work rate. The effort in training has come to fruition. We are already looking forward to our next pre-season game on Tuesday evening at Basildon United 7pm kick off at Basildon Post office ground.

Tilbury Squad:
Danny Fowler, Neil O'Sullivan, Bradley Webb, Jake Pooley, Danny Smith, Joe Nightingill, Matt Game, Jack Carlile, Francis Babalola, Emiel Aiken, Kurt Smith, Tony Martin, Neil Richmond,Ruben Duarte, Ollie Hanlon, Lewis Jaggs, Yusef Bello, Aziz Kanu and Will Baldry