FC Clacton bounced back from their drubbing at Stanway to record an excellent victory over 6^th placed Dereham at the Rush Green Bowl. Aaron Condon set the Seasiders on their way shortly after half-time with an exquisite chipped finish and Sean Hillier sealed the victory with an injury time penalty.

Clacton welcomed back Matt Cripps and Tom Austin with Joe Playle making an unexpected recovery from injury to play with Karl Andrade replacing Sean Hillier in the starting line up in a first half that proved to be a non-descript forty-five minutes.

Dereham had the best early chances with a shot from Sam Borrer being deflected narrowly wide. After twenty minutes Shaun Marshall in the Dereham goal made the first of a number of good saves as he tipped a James Dunkley header around his right hand post. Four minutes later Karl Andrade nearly gave the home side the lead when he nipped in between Marshall and a defender to nod a flick on just wide.

Just before half-time Marshall denied Dunkley again following a good move down the left and then in injury time Dereham full back Gary Starling saw a spectacular twenty yard shot dip just over Joe Playle’s bar.

If the first half was quiet the second half was an altogether more explosive affair and it started with a Clacton goal thanks to a moment of real quality. Seven minutes into the half a long clearance saw James Dunkley hassle and harry the Dereham defence into a mistake which led to Aaron Condon picking up the ball twenty-five yards out. The winger looked up, saw Marshall off his line and flighted a delicate chip that described a perfect arc over the backpedalling keepers leap to land in the net.

Midway through the half Dereham were indebted to Marshall for keeping them in the game with two excellent saves, first from a close range Joe Martin header which looked destined for the corner until Marshall flung himself to his left to tip it wide.  A minute later a Clacton corner saw Lee Peacock’s header looping goalwards before it was again tipped over by a flying Marshall. In a frantic passage of play Dereham could have equalised as a cross was fired across the face of the goal with no-one able to apply a finish.

The visitors were beginning to press for an equaliser and they saw Borrer fire over, another cross from Nicky Howell flash across the Clacton goalmouth and then Joe Playle was forced into a good save when sub William Smith fired in an effort from fifteen yards.

Any thought of a quiet finish to the game disappeared as the clocked ticked round to ninety minutes with a plethora of incident in stoppage time. First Dereham missed a golden chance to equalise when Playle spilled a Taylor Hastings shot only for Oliver Willis to contrive to fire the loose ball over the bar.

Then, with tempers fraying, there was time for a bout of handbags following a poor challenge on Aaron Condon that saw a number of players attempting to add their opinions to a debate that was already overcrowded (which is a polite way of saying some players got needlessly involved) and saw three players booked for their trouble.

And just when you thought nothing else could happen Lee Barrett burst into the box and was brought down by Jay Eastoe-Smith which saw the defender dismissed as the last man. Sean Hillier stepped up and for the second consecutive game smashed a penalty straight down the middle to seal the victory for the Seasiders to move them back up to 9^th in the league with games in hand on all of their nearest rivals.