THURROCK manager Mark Stimson was full of praise for Halstead Town goalkeeper Joe Fowler after his side were surprisingly beaten in the FA Cup.

Fleet were beaten 3-2 in the preliminary round to exit the competition at the first time of asking, and were 3-0 down before they mounted a second-half fight-back.

But Fowler was inspired to keep the Eastern Counties Division One team ahead and send them through.

“In the first half we defended against a strong wind and, all credit to them, Halstead took full advantage of this and scored two very good goals from distance.

“We came out for the second-half and looked to get back in the game but their goalkeeper pulled off one of many good saves on the day and, on a breakaway, we found ourselves 3-0 down.

“We kept going and pulled two goals back with 10 minutes to go. We had shots blocked, hit the woodwork and again their goalkeeper pulled off a save that rightly earned him man of the match.

“We wish them good luck in the next round.”