HONOURS were shared in last night’s relegation battle at Ship Lane as Bromley and Thurrock fought out a draw.

Both goals came in the second half, although Bromley will rue the four or five good chances they had in the first 45 minutes when they dominated for long periods.

The visitors started slowly and Thurrock had three chances in the opening minutes, all of which went wide.

But after seven minutes a five-player passing movement ended with Albert Jarrett’s cross being blocked for a corner by a defender.

Anthony Thomas two minutes later rounded three defenders before being denied by a good save from Thurrock’s 18-year-old keeper David Hughes.

Thomas then played in Hakeem Araba, who just failed to get a touch as Hughes just beat him to the ball, before the custodian punched Jarrett’s free-kick straight to Thomas, who promptly shot wide of an open goal.

Thurrock fought back and Bromley’s keeper Joe Welch did well to hold onto Ahmed Dean’s free-kick underneath the bar.

Welch excelled himself in the 19th minute when he pushed around the post Dean’s shot after the winger had broken clear from Bromley’s defence.

Bromley were unlucky not to open the scoring on the half hour mark as Hughes did well to tip over Danny Waldren’s 30 yard free-kick.

Two minutes later Thomas seized on a long clearance, but Hughes was quickly off his line to block his effort well outside his area.

Bromley’s best chance of the half fell to Thomas on 33 minutes when Pierre Joseph-Dubois played a delightful pass inside the full back for Tutu Henriques to run onto.

Henriques took possession to the byline before squaring back to Thomas, who opted to blast wide when it seemed easier to roll a shot home inside the post.

Thurrock came out for the second half more determined and took the game to Bromley, forcing them to defend for long periods and it was no surprise that they opened the scoring on 57 minutes.

Araba lost possession on the edge of the Thurrock area and two passes later debutant David Knight held off Liam Harwood’s challenge before rounding Welch to roll a shot into an empty net.

Bromley replaced their three strikers Araba, Thomas and Jarrett with Gareth Williams and debutants Luke Medley and Michael Malcolm eight minutes later but it made little difference as Thurrock continued to create chances.

Knight shot over an empty goal before Welch was quickly out of goal to block the centre forward following a quick break, while Paul Terry’s goal-bound shot on the turn deflected off a defender for a corner.

Bromley’s first effort on goal in the second period came with nine minutes remaining when a Williams cross was headed into the ground by Joseph-Dubois to allow Hughes an easy save.

In their second attempt on 85 minutes Bromley levelled the scores when a corner kick was played short to Ali Fuseni, whose cross was firmly headed home by Michael Malcolm.

Luke Medley shot over from 20 yards in the final minute when it may have been better to pick out a colleague, but Bromley must consider this result as two points dropped rather than one gained based on their first half domination.

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Bromley: Welch, Henriques, Patterson, Fuseini, Swaibu, Harwood, Joseph-Dubois, Waldren, Araba (Malcolm 65), Thomas (Williams 65), Jarrett (Medley 65). Subs not used: Taylor, Ibrahima. Att: 218