Both sides went into this game unbeaten in their last five matches, but there was little goalmouth action in the first-half to get the 61 attendees excited about.

Solid defensive performances limited the amount of chances for the two play-off hopefuls, with Arron Kay’s header coming the closest having struck the bar from Craig Bussens delivery.

Little changed in the second-half as chances were few and far between, and even more so when Emiel Aiken was brought off by Dave Ross and Ricky Eaton having nearly been sent off after a sinister tackle, despite being on a yellow card already.

Daniel Charge’s introduction brought encouragement to the home side as the prolific striker had been out for a handful of games for personal reasons in recent weeks, but he struggled to make an impact during his first game back.

The hosts suffered another set back after 59 minutes as Liam Thomas, who looked solid at right back, was forced off the field with what appeared to be a muscle strain.

The major talking point of the match came 65 minutes in, as the referee appeared to award Redbridge a penalty and showed a red card to the Dereham defender, but the away side breathed a sigh of relief as the linesman already had his flag up for offside.

As the game looked set for a bore draw, Shaun Bammant got to the byline before whipping in an accurate cross to find Dereham’s Sam Borrer, who nodded past David McCartney with just two minutes remaining.

It was a gutting blow for Redbridge, who had lost just once at home in the league prior to this match, and they were unable to salvage a point as Dereham took all three at the Oakside.

Redbridge: David McCartney; Eljay Worrell, Liam Thomas, Tyron Thomas, Daniel Smith; Gary Henty, Ben Bradbury, Jack Carlile, Daniel Tenkorang; Emiel Aiken, Abs Thompson. Subs: Aaron Matthews, Jack Sawyer, Patrick Damali, Daniel Charge, Stephen Good.

Dereham Town: Andrew Wilton; Olly Willis, Ryan Hawkins, Dan Morphew, Matt Howard; Michael Sommerfield, Arron Kay, Adam Smith, Shaun Bammant; Sam Borrer, Craig Bussens. Subs: Danny Beaumont, Connor Charisworth, Nicky Howell, N Simmons.

Match report by Josh Harris