After a fantastic win at Arlesey Town on Tuesday night, Wingate & Finchley followed this up by falling at the home of strugglers Tilbury, hindered by a horrible pitch fit for Sunday league football. The first half was a scrappy affair as neither side managed to pass the ball well and both defences stood firm. In fact the pitch forced Wingate & Finchley into an early change as Craig Ellis went off injured having caught his ankle in a divot. The home side had the best of the chances of the half as Jay Taylor flashed a shot wide from 18 yards, before he stiung the palms of Gavin King with a dipping ferocious drive that the keeper did very well to knock away to safety. Wingate & Finchley looked rejuvenated in the second half and began to create some fluid movements. Andy Edmunds went on a quick break down the left flank and crossed for Tashan Bradshaw-Brown at the far post. His header however was straight at the waiting goalkeeper. Tilbury took the lead in the 56th minute with a swift counter-attack. Kirk Smith found himself in space on the edge of the area between two defenders, and as King came out to close the angle he was promptly lobbed with a clinical finish. The deserved equaliser came just nine minutes later through centre-back Ahmet Rifat. A free kick was taken quickly by the right touchline and launched into the area. The ball was controlled down to the feet of Rifat who drove it unstoppably into the bottom right corner. Chances were still hard to come by for both teams, but Tilbury’s winner came with just eight minutes remaining. A header from a well weighted cross smashed against the underside of the bar and Sam Groombridge reacted quickest to tap the ball home from on the goalline to seal the win for the home side. Wingate & Finchley: Gavin King, Leon Skinner, Kieran Street, Craig Ellis (Danny Berg 19), Billy Amarteifio, Ahmet Rifat, Joe O’Brien, Jerome Boyce, Daniel Clarke (Bernard Collignon 78), Tashan Bradshaw-Brown. Subs: Theo Morris, James Gershfield.