London
APSA 1 Romford 2
Tuesday 2 October
League
Cup
Romford continued their Lazarus-like progress through the League Cup by securing the win they needed in this Thursday night fixture. Despite losing their opening two matches in the group stage, drawing the next, and then coming back from behind to win their next two they find themselves in the knockout stages of the competition.
The hosts had the better of the early exchanges. Danny Callaway had a free kick saved by Wayne Martin in the Romford goal, and he was also sharp enough to hack clear from Nilane Cisse and to save from the same player on 16 minutes.
London APSA’s first alarm came on 21 minutes when Des Gallen took advantage of an error by the APSA full back but saw his cross shot fly wide of the far post. He was also denied by the home goalkeeper Noor Shinwari on 24 minutes when his close range flick from a Brad Jones ball into the penalty area was pushed around the post. However, Romford did break the deadlock from the resultant corner, Paul Clayton claiming the goal when his goalbound header found the net despite the best efforts of a defender on the goal line.
Romford then dominated the rest of the half, with a number of goalmouth scrambles being cleared, but with few clear goalscoring opportunities arising. Towards half time Clayton did shoot over the crossbar, and a flowing move ended with Danny Rafis finding Jones, but his shot was pushed around the post by Shinwari. The goalkeeper also denied Richard Oxby from a long range shot and Gallen and Jones both had shots wide.
The feeling at the start of the second half was that a second goal would be required to make the game safe, but the inspired Shinwari again denied Jones by pushing behind his first time volley from a right wing cross. The second goal did arrive just before the hour. A long free kick was floated into the penalty area by Oxby from the left where Bradley Jones met it with his head to finally beat Shinwari again.
This goal seemed to galvanise the home team into action. They had a corner kick scrambled away from near the goal line, and Lionel Gibson had a shot over. Then Gus Tetteh, perhaps LAPSA’s best player on the night began to cause all sorts of problems on their right wing. On 75 minutes he deservedly halved the arrears when he found himself in space, and onside, on the right wing, took the ball on and beat Martin easily.
However, the balloon of optimism created by this goal was soon pricked when the hosts’ Nicholas Richards was sent off following an off-the-ball incident. It was disappointing to note that he had to be almost dragged off the pitch having been shown the red card, and that he seemed keen to continue the argument after the match.
Now playing against 10 men, Romford found the task of holding their lead somewhat easier, despite the seemingly now obligatory extended period of additional time. By finishing runners up in the group Romford now progress to play Enfield, who won Group A, on dates yet to be arranged.
This now means Romford are on a run of 5 consecutive victories, and this despite not playing to their full potential.
Romford: Martin, Mackin, Neville, Turner, Clayton, R.Oxby, Walsh, Rafis, Jones, Gallen, West. Subs: White (for Turner 28 mins), Clark (for Gallen 57 mins), Foord (for Oxby 70 mins), Pyne and Oyenuga (not used).
BETTER LABETTER LATE THAN NEVER A
N NEVER
Romford 2 Hoddesdon Town 1 (after extra time)
Romford progressed to the third round of the London Senior Cup on Tuesday evening in a match which finished just before 11pm. The kick off was delayed by over half an hour when traffic problems meant the late arrival of the visitors to the ground; and then a late equaliser from Hoddesdon meant that extra time needed to be played.
Romford can be pleased to overcome their visitors who have made a tremendous start to their league season. It would appear that this is based largely on a sound defence, although at times they did burst forward with skill and purpose.
In fact it was the visitors who started the brightest despite the trauma of their problematic journey, and Romford saw little of the ball in the opening quarter of an hour. Goalkeeper Wayne Martin had to be smart on 14 minutes to preserve parity when Spiers fired in a fierce shot which he parried, and then reacted quickly to snaffle the rebound at the feet of the inrushing Dier.
Romford’s first opportunity did not come until 17 minutes when Brad Jones first time shot from Richard Oxby’s neatly lobbed through ball went well wide. The same two players combined soon after, but Jones headed Oxby’s cross too close to goalkeeper Fitkin. Romford caused Hoddesdon some problems from corners, but apart from a couple of headers from Paul Clayton and Matty West did not seriously threaten to score.
At the end Martin saved a snapshot from Newbury, but an undistinguished half quite rightly ended goalless. Romford started the second half brighter, and took the lead on 58 minutes. Clint Foord had already seen a shot shave the post, but now Brad Jones excellently beat the offside trap to latch on to a sliderule through ball and took his time before slipping the ball past Fitkin.
The second half progressed with neither side creating too many openings. Lee Pyne had a shot from distance for Romford touched around the post, while the visitors looked most dangerous from corners. 90 minutes were on the clock when they were awarded another corner. This looked contentious as it appeared that Ricki Mackin had played the ball off the forward, but referee Tweedie, who otherwise had had an excellent match thought otherwise. Goalkeeper Fitkin came forward for the kick which may have caused some confusion in the defensive ranks. The kick was cleared to the edge of the area where centre half Knight fired the ball in low through a crowd of players.
The referee allowed every opportunity for the match to be settled in regulation time, but neither side could break the deadlock in the additional 9 minutes. Pyne had the best opportunity, but curled his shot wide.
Into extra time, and early on Martin pulled off the save of the match, superbly tipping a dipping shot from Spiers over the crossbar. However, it was Romford who took the lead in the fourth minute of extra time, and perhaps manager Mark Reed would take the credit for it as it was created and finished by the three substitutes. Danny Rafis and Ricki Mackin engineered a swift break from defence, the latter playing in Des Gallen who rolled the ball past the goalkeeper’s right hand and in off the post from just inside the penalty area.
Gallen could have extended the advantage on 100 minutes when he took advantage of a ricochet in the opposition penalty area, but this time his shot was saved low down by Fitkin.
Romford played out much of the rest of extra time without alarm until the final minute when a sense of déjà vu engulfed the ground. Hoddesdon were awarded a corner, Fitkin came forward, but this time, following a goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to the goalkeeper whose prodded shot went tamely wide.
So it was Romford who progressed to the next round and a home tie against Wingate & Finchley on a date to be arranged.
Romford: Martin, Truman, Neville, Clayton, White, Barry, Foord, West, Pyne, Jones, R.Oxby. Subs: Rafis (for Foord 58 mins), Mackin (for West 72 mins), Gallen (for Neville 75 mins), Walsh & Oyenuga (not used).
Romford 3 Cockfosters 1
17th November
FA Vase
On a damp and chilly afternoon Romford entertained Cockfosters in the 2 nd round of the F.A. Vase. Ben Turner returned to the defence after missing a few games through injury. The opening exchanges were a bit scrappy as both teams seemed to be sounding each other out.
The first real chance of the afternoon came on six minutes when Cockfosters won a free kick on the edge of Romford’s box. Steve Weldon hit a good free kick but Wayne Martin (deputising well for the still injured Neil Finn) was equal to it and saved well. That seemed to be the moment that sparked Romford because they started to play the ball around much better than in previous games. After eight minutes Richard Oxby found Ricky Mackin, but the keeper, Chay Morris saved his shot.
Brad Jones should have given Boro the lead when he goes round the keeper but before he shoots the keeper recovers well to push the ball away for a corner. The corner was delayed due to an injury to a visiting defender, but Scott Walsh’s corner kick seemed to be going out past the far post when Ben Turner reached it and headed the ball back across the goal for Paul White to head Boro into the lead after 14 minutes. Two minutes later another Weldon free kick causes consternation among the Romford defence but the ball is eventually scrambled away for a corner.
Another good chance for Boro came on 22 minutes when Des Gallen won the ball on the right then tried to flick the ball past the keeper but Morris saves well again. Wayne Martin had to be alert for after 24 minutes he had to race out of his area to win the ball then calmly passed the ball to safety. 35 minutes were on the clock when Paul White returned a favour to Ben Turner, it was he who headed a cross back across goal and there was Turner to head home. Romford were delighting their fans with some neat passing football and were controlling the game well.
With five minutes of the half remaining Ben Turner found himself with the ball in the box, there’s a bit of disagreement on what happened next, If you ask those who were watching Turner badly miss hit his shot but Ben will tell you it was a perfectly weighted pass to Brad Jones to put Boro 3 ahead. The half ended with Romford fully deserving their 3 goal advantage.
The second period started in similar fashion and a beautiful passing move involving Lee Pyne, Ricky Mackin and Des Gallen ended in a cross that Paul White headed just wide. A couple of minutes later a Mackin free kick was floated over and White again wins the header but as before it goes inches past the post. On 53 minutes Scott Walsh almost hits the most spectacular goal of the season as he spots the keeper well off his line and hits the ball from just in side the visitors half but a furiously back peddling keeper gets the ball before it crosses the line.
Romford were dominating the game but were being kept at bay by the impressive Cockfosters keeper Chat Morris, He saved well again when Mackin flicked the ball past a defender on 62 minutes and parried the ball away. Two minutes later Brad Jones is put through and as Morris advances Jones hits the ball over him then sees his shoat swerve agonisingly inches wide of the far post.
Back at the other end Cockfosters almost pull one back when a shot is deflected wrong footing Wayne Martin who is relieved to see the ball roll past his post. Martin is called into action again when Dave Pigden gets through and sees Martin block his shot. It is then Gallens turn to be thwarted by Morris as he bursts through only for the keeper to save at his feet. Lee Barker sends in a powerful shot with 6 minutes remaining but Martin saves well again. A minute later Cockfosters finally make a breakthrough when Danny O’Conner hits a shot hat gets a deflection, and then the unfortunate Walsh hitting his attempted clearance into his own goal.
Cockfosters almost scored again but Paul Clayton was on hand to clear the danger from almost under his own bar. The final whistle blows on a well deserved Boro win, with strong performances from Mackin, White, Turner and Martin.
Martin, Mackin, Clayton, Turner, White, Walsh, Rafis, R Oxby, Pyne, Gallen, Jones. Substitutes: Truman (on for R Oxby) Barry (on for Jones) Neville (on for Turner) Foord & Oyenuga not used.
Romford 1 Wingate & Finchley 5
Romford suffered their heaviest defeat of the season in this London Senior Cup third round tie to a strong looking Ryman league side.
Romford started promisingly enough when Danny Rafis shot over early on, and when they had a shout for a penalty when a cross from young debutante full back Aaron Beveney appeared to strike a defender’s arm in the penalty area. However, after 13 minutes it was the visitors who were awarded a penalty when Ricki Mackin tripped Andy Edmunds, Joe O’Brien making no mistake from the penalty spot.
The lead lasted only two minutes. A long deep cross from Beveney found Clinton Foord unmarked around the penalty spot, and he looped his header over the goalkeeper and in.
This was really Romford’s only chance to speak of in the first half. The visitors could and should have eased ahead long before they did. Daniel Clarke found space in the penalty area, but his low ball across the box was just too far ahead of Ahmed Rifat, while Dean Nyman should have done better than blasting the ball over when well placed.
This all changed with two goals in the 33rd minute. First, Joe O’Brien found himself clear of the defence, and slipped the ball neatly past Danny Mulrooney in the Romford goal. Then Romford lost possession straight from the kick off, Clarke made good ground on the right and his deep cross was converted by Andy Edmunds beyond the far post.
Matters could have been worse for Romford in the first half with their goal at times leading a charmed life. They escaped an almighty scramble when it appeared that only a touch from a visiting striker would have put the ball home. Nyman also crossed dangerously into the box, Clarke missed his kick, but O’Brien, following up put his shot in which was well saved by Mulrooney despite a deflection.
Romford did have a couple of half chances following the half time respite, Foord firing into the side netting from a narrow angle and goalkeeper Gavin King clutching a header from his own defender following a Mackin free kick, but the general pattern of the second half was much the same as the first. Mulrooney kept the deficit at two goals when he pulled off a brilliant close range block from Clarke and another more routine save from Nyman.
The inevitable happened on 61 minutes. A long ball forward by Wingate & Finchley saw Mulrooney race from his goal to get to the ball before Clarke. He scrambled the ball away but only as far as Joe O’Brien, who neatly lobbed the ball over Mulrooney and into the gaping net. This completed his hat trick which he was happy to celebrate to the away fans behind the goal, all three of them!
Romford did have a little to cheer on 82 minutes when Mackin played in substitute striker Jack Marsden. His shot was deflected wide for a corner by King. The resultant corner found its way out to Richard Oxby, who shot wide through a crowded penalty area.
By this time Mulrooney had already pulled off a replica point blank save to deny Edmunds. On 86 minutes a neat passing move put Nyman in the clear, but his fierce shot rebounded from the post into the grateful arms of Mulrooney. A goal for Nyman would have been no more than he deserved as his pace and trickery had been a thorn in Romford’s side throughout.
Wingate & Finchley put the icing on their cake in the 87 minute when Andy Edmunds converted an incisive through ball for his second goal. There was still time for substitute Tashan Bradshaw-Brown to have a shot saved and to shoot wide, but the visitors had to settle for five goals.
Wingate & Finchley progress to play Cray Wanderers in the next round, while Romford now have just their league programme and the Thamesside Trophy to look forward to for the rest of the season.
Romford: Mulrooney, Beveney, Neville, Clayton, White, Barry, R.Oxby, Rafis, Jones, Foord, Mackin. Subs: Fairbanks (for Beveney 68 mins), Marsden (for Foord 75 mins), Ozerek (for Neville 82 mins), Oyenuga (not used).
Romford 1 Eton Manor 4
Romford went into this fixture having won only one of their previous eight matches. Eton Manor have perennially been Romford’s bogey side. So it was no surprise that the visitors ran out comfortable winners in this Essex Senior League contest. This, despite the fact that Mark Reed had freshened up the side with two new signings making their debuts.
The opening exchanges did not foretell the mauling to come with both sides coming close to scoring. As early as the fifth minute Neil Finn was called on to save from Kunle Adeoye, who on the night could have scored considerably more than the two he did net. Soon after at the other end Chris Barry played a ball through to debutante Leli Bajada, but a good saving tackle by Courtney McLean prevented him getting his shot away.
Romford took the lead on 15 minutes. Badaja tried to link up with Brad Jones, his pass taking a somewhat fortunate deflection off a defender to leave Jones in the clear. He finished neatly past a static goalkeeper.
The lead lasted 5 minutes. A simple ball forward from a free kick found Adeoye near the byeline. He was allowed enough time to turn, look up and play the ball in to Neil Barrett whose toe-ended shot squeezed past a wrongfooted Finn. Boro would feel that the goal was eminently stoppable.
Romford looked for a while the most likely to score again. One flowing move took play from one penalty area to the other and ended with Kevin Neville’s shot finding the side netting rather than the goal. Jones also had a shot over, and Bajada screwed another shot wide of the post.
As the half wore on Eton Manor began to look more dangerous in attack. Finn pulled off a good save from Adeoye down by the post, and the same striker blasted the ball over the bar when played in from midfield. However, it was honours even at half time, which was probably about right.
Things changed considerably within five minutes of the restart. On 46 minutes Kunle Adeoye burst through the defence to collect a pass from midfield, which he despatched with ease under Finn. Then on 49 minutes Eton Manor broke from defence, Jordan Childs made good ground on the left and hit a fierce cross shot. This was parried by Finn, but he succeeded only in pushing the ball on to the onrushing Kunle Adeoye who bundled it home.
Eton Manor were impressive defensively in the second half, holding a high line and causing the Romford forwards to stray offside on a number of occasions. Indeed there was an instance of a through ball from Romford’s defence finding five Romford players in offside positions. For their part, Romford were defending much deeper, which allowed the Eton Manor forwards to run at them, often outnumbering them, and it was only thanks to a combination of the visitors’ profligacy and some last ditch defending that the home goal was not breached again.
Romford did have a couple of chances to reduce the deficit, each stemming from right wing crosses. First, Chris Barry’s delivery was just taken off Jerry Lyons’s head before he could attempt a score on his debut, and then later Richard Oxby’s inswinging cross met a gaggle of Romford players’ heads at the far post, but goalkeeper Andy Hall saved well.
Romford’s hopes of salvaging the match were dashed in the 77th minute. Chris Lockwood had replaced Jerry Lyons to swell the number of Romford debuts for the evening to three. He made good ground on the left to collect a pass from Bajada, took the ball on and shot past Hall, only to see the ball roll agonisingly past the post. Almost immediately play switched to the other end and Jordan Childs found space in the penalty area to fire in a shot past Finn.
With few other games being played due to the wet weather conditions this could be looked on as one of Romford’s games in hand over the teams around them, and so a lost opportunity to move up the table. Eton Manor, however, move up to sixth place, which is well deserved as they appear to be one of the strongest teams Romford have played this season.
Romford: Finn, Oxby, Neville, Clayton, White, Barry, Lyons, Rafis, Bajada, Jones, Mackin. Subs: Lockwood (for Lyons 67 mins), Cornhill (for Mackin 77 mins), Heed (for Barry 77 mins), Foord & Oyenuga (not used).
Martin Lawrence
Enfield 1893 3 Romford 3
After the first leg of this League Cup quarter final matters remain on a knife edge. Romford managed to secure a draw despite being reduced to ten men for over half the match sharing six goals with the unbeaten league leaders.
Although this was the Enfield home fixture this match was played at Rush Green due to problems with the floodlights at Enfield’s shared ground. However, it was Enfield who started like the home side taking the lead after only 4 minutes. A long ball from defence led to a misunderstanding between Romford defender Paul White and goalkeeper Wayne Martin, with the former heading the ball over the latter and into the net for an unfortunate own goal.
Martin did better soon after when saving from midfielder Paul Oshin, who had burst into the box well to support his attackers. Enfield’s Wes Borghys also spurned a good opportunity on 14 minutes when he shot wide from a good position after he had collected the ball from a weak Romford clearance.
Romford equalised somewhat against the run of play on 16 minutes. Until then their only opportunity was a shot from Richard Oxby which goalkeeper Ashley Harris saved easily. However Oxby was the instigator of the goal, his cross from the right causing problems in the Enfield defence. Lee Pyne seemed to have spurned the opportunity, but Bradley Jones was on hand to net from a tight angle.
The game was now really open – the archetypal end-to-end match. Des Gallen had a piledriver deflected wide for Romford and also shot over, whilst Enfield’s Neil Hughes was twice close to breaking the deadlock. On 24 minutes he collected a long ball out of defence and his shot beat Martin but rebounded away from the angle of post and crossbar. On 27 minutes his free kick up and over the wall was well saved by Martin who turned the ball behind for a corner.
Romford themselves hit the woodwork on 31 minutes when Pyne’s shot hit a prone defender and looped up on to the crossbar and over. The 34th minute was symptomatic of the play. Jones had a header from a corner saved by Harris, who immediately transmitted the ball to the opposite end where Hughes was denied a shot on goal by a last ditch Scott Walsh tackle. From the resulting corner Mark Whittington’s shot was blocked, Romford broke away and the move ended with Gallen shooting over.
However, the fizz was taken out of the game by the sending off of Romford’s Ben Turner on 36 minutes following an off the ball incident. The dismissal was made on the advice of the referee’s assistant, and although it appeared that the Enfield player was equally as culpable as Turner, only one card was shown.
To accommodate Turner’s dismissal Romford sacrificed Gallen for the second half, playing only one forward. Not surprisingly Enfield took the game to Romford, Graeme Butler hitting a free kick into the side netting, Harris being denied by Martin and Sherwin Stanley having a shot kicked off the line. However, Pyne did well supporting the lone striker Jones, and he twice went close to breaking the deadlock. However, it was Ricki Mackin who gave Romford the lead on 54 minutes, popping up in the area to turn in Oxby’s cross with the aid of a deflection.
Petrit Elbi replaced the tireless Jones as the lone striker on 62 minutes, but it was difficult for Romford to gain any forward possession. The defence held out until the 65th minute when the dangerous Sherwin Stanley equalised. However, this was in contentious circumstances. Firstly, a free kick was awarded against Paul Clayton when he clearly won the ball cleanly in a tackle. Then when the ball was played in and fell to Stanley in the penalty area there appeared to be an element of offside, to the extent that White was cautioned for his protestations.
Parity reigned only for 7 minutes. Richard Oxby capped a fine display by hitting a wondrous shot past Harris from 30 yards after a free kick was tapped to him by Walsh. This was a shot worthy of winning any match, but Neil Hughes spoilt that particular script by equalising within a minute turning in the rebound after Martin had pulled off an excellent save from Sean Clarke.
The rest of the match was very much scrappy and fragmented, not doing justice to the excitement which had gone before. The feeling was that if Romford had had a full complement of players they would have been able to support Elbi a bit more and create some chances, but, by the same token, they were able to restrict the Enfield attacks.
So things are now all set up for the second leg in the New Year, when it is hoped that Romford will be allowed to compete with the full 11 men for the whole 90 minutes, in which case the result may be slightly different.
Romford: Martin, Oxby, Turner, Clayton, White, Walsh, Pyne, Rafis, Jones, Gallen, Mackin. Subs: Alder (for Gallen H/T), Elbi (for Jones 62 mins), Neville (for Mackin 70 mins), Fairbanks & Grey (not used).
Barking 2 Romford 0
Romford fell to defeat in this Essex Senior league match, their first Boxing Day fixture for a number of years. They can look back on a series of key events during the match which perhaps contributed to their undoing – a lapse of concentration just before half time, a controversial penalty early in the second half, and yet another red card for Ben Turner.
Romford started the brighter, creating most of the first half opportunities. Even an early injury to Des Gallen, who had to replaced by Martin Heed, did not disrupt this flow. Petrit Elbi made the most of a starting place by being a constant menace to the Barking rearguard during this period. It was he who had the first shot on 16 minutes, which was saved by home goalkeeper Clark Wells.
Elbi then made a strong run to the byeline, pulled the ball back to Brad Jones, but he failed to get a firm enough connection to turn the ball goalwards. Elbi then nearly latched on to a through ball, but his first touch was too heavy allowing Wells to close him down. On 26 minutes Jones set Elbi clear on the right but his low shot was saved down by the foot of the post. In the aftermath a defender was adjudged to have to passed the ball back to the goalkeeper. However, Romford failed to capitalise on the indirect free kick with Scott Walsh blasting the ball high and wide.
Before half time Elbi had two other efforts on goal, Wells saving one, whilst his lob on 43 minutes cleared both Wells and also the crossbar. Romford had been playing neat passing football at times with little being seen from Barking aside from one shot by Victor Oyegbehin deflected wide after some poor handling from Boro keeper Wayne Martin.
So it was against the run of play when Barking scored in first half stoppage time. Ben Turner was pulled up for a foul on Barking’s right. This produced a yellow card for him, which took some time to administer as there was a prolonged conversation between him and the referee. This may have contributed to a lapse of concentration in the Romford rearguard as they allowed the delivery to reach Criag Greenwood on the edge of the penalty area who hit a superb curling shot into the top corner of the goal, giving Martin no chance to save.
Not surprisingly the flow of play at the start of the second half was opposite to that of the first. Martin saved from Greenwood on 50 minutes, but on the hour came the second of the key moments of the match. A long ball out of defence was chased by Barking forward Chris Taylor, Romford defender Turner and goalkeeper Martin running out from his goal. This resulted in a collision between all three, which the referee deemed worthy of a penalty. Tom Mottram converted easily.
Twice Romford nearly reduced the deficit. On 66 minutes Walsh’s cross from the right found Jones 10 yards from goal, central and unmarked. However, he headed weakly straight at Wells who saved easily. Then on 70 minutes Heed hit a shot similar to Barking’s first goal from almost exactly the same position, but Wells pulled off a superb flying save to push the ball over the crossbar.
From the corner came the third of those key moments as Turner was deemed to have gone for the ball with his hand deliberately, attracting his second yellow card. Despite the fact that Romford should by now be well versed in playing with 10 men, with Turner’s departure went their hopes for rescuing the match. The rest of the match was a scrappy affair characterised by a conveyor belt of free kicks to Barking and yellow cards to Romford players. It seemed that if any further goals were to be scored it would be by the home team, although the closest they came was when Sam Denniss could not keep his header down from a right wing corner.
The match ended with another extended debate between the referee and a Romford player, this time Jones, who perhaps can count himself lucky for not seeing red having already been booked. All round it was a very unsatisfactory morning for Romford who failed to capitalise on their first half superiority, and paid the price for a lapse in concentration and a lack of discipline.
Romford: Martin, R.Oxby, Turner, Clayton, Neville, Walsh, Foord, Mackin, Jones, Gallen, Elbi. Subs: Heed (for Gallen 13 mins), Barry (for Foord 73 mins), Fairbanks (for Walsh 86 mins), Tubey and Mulrooney (not used).
Romford 0 Barkingside 0
(after extra time)
Barkingside win 4-3 on
penalties
Romford missed out on their last chance of silverware for the season when they were knocked out of the Essex Thamesside Trophy by fellow Essex Senior League side Barkingside. Once again, their failure in a penalty shootout was their undoing after two hours of football failed to produce a goal.
In truth the match was not one which will linger long in the memory. The sides appeared evenly matched and by and large cancelled each other out. The first half, in particular, was a sterile affair with chances at a premium.
To say that Romford came closest to scoring during this period would be to suggest that there were a number of goalmouth incidents. However, Lee Newcombe in the visitor’s goal did not have a save to make. Paul White and Danny Rafis both hit shots over the bar midway through the half and Chris Barry had a shot blocked on 32 minutes. For their part, the closest Barkingside came to breaking the deadlock was when Paul Kavanagh, one of several former Boro players in their lineup, had a speculative shot from just outside the centre circle when he spotted goalkeeper Danny Mulrooney off his line. The ball drifted just wide. Also Steve Barlex should have done better just before half time when he planted a free header straight into Mulrooney’s arms.
Romford started the second half in a positive frame of mind. Within seconds of the restart they had worked the ball to Brad Jones in the penalty area. He appeared to be brought down, but the referee waved away the vociferous appeals for a penalty, telling Jones to get to his feet.
Romford dominated both possession and territory throughout the second half without creating many clear cut opportunities. There were plenty of goalmouth skirmishes without the final touch being administered. The closest of these was on 52 minutes when White headed a corner goalwards and both Jones and Chris Lockwood had close range shots blocked.
The closest to a goal throughout the match came from Barkingside on 62 minutes, however. Barlex hit a blockbuster shot from well outside the area. Mulrooney’s save was equally as good leaping up to his left to parry the ball. The pace on the shot meant that the ball continued goalwards over Mulrooney’s head, but he had the agility and presence of mind to recover and push the ball over the crossbar as it was about to enter the goal.
The match went in to extra time goal-less, and really neither side looked like breaking the deadlock. Play was error strewn as tiredness crept in, and both defences were on top. Five minutes from time Jones did force Newcombe to a save down by his post as he shot from a tight angle having been played in by Rafis, while at the other end Matt Frew called upon Mulrooney to save a free kick from just outside the penalty area.
The inevitable penalty shootout ensued. Jones went first for Boro, scoring down the centre. Frew equalised. Mark Karikari and Jamie Langton exchanged successful kicks before the first miss, Lee Cornhill hitting the crossbar. This was copied by John Langton. Then Rafis, 3-2, Mark Steadman 3-3. The crucial moment came when the kick from Romford substitute Kevin Neville was superbly turned aside by Newcombe. Julian Ashby did not even look like missing the decisive penalty to make it 4-3 to Barkingside.
Romford can take comfort from the fact that they more than matched the league leaders in this encounter. They certainly appear more solid, defending thoughout the side even if this has sacrificed a little of their attacking capability. In the four games under the new management team they have still not conceded a goal (penalty shootout aside), and have still to pick up a yellow card.
Romford: Mulrooney, Port, Ozerek, Truman, White, Clayton, Barry, Rafis, Jones, Lockwood, Heed. Subs: Karikari (for Lockwood 58 mins), Cornhill (for Truman 90 mins), Neville (for White 116 mins), Tubey & Oyenuga (not used).
Romford 1 Concord Rangers 1
Romford rescued a point against high flying Concord Rangers with an equaliser from the penalty spot deep into injury time in this feisty league match. Concord had been reduced to nine men by this time, with Romford themselves down to ten.
The visitors can perhaps count themselves unlucky not to have put the match out of Romford’s reach before this, however. They created the greater goalscoring opportunities particularly in the first half, but a combination of good goalkeeping by Neil Finn and profligate finishing limited them to just one goal.
Romford started strongly with the impressive Manzi Mbala causing the visitors’ defence many problems. It was an open end to end game without many clear cut chances being created until Dan Trenkel found himself one on one with Finn in the 16th minute. Finn did well to rush out of his goal causing Trenkel to rush his shot which went over. Soon after Finn repeated his dash from the line this time to smother at the feet of Danny Heale.
On 23 minutes Trenkel should have done better when, having cut inside Kevin Neville on the right he hit the ball straight at Finn when he had a clear shot at goal. On 25 minutes Romford had a double escape, first when a John Easterford header was headed off the line by Neville, and then when Finn made a full length save to push Nick Cowley’s header around the post.
It was not all one way traffic with Romford competing well in midfield areas. Martin Heed had a long range shot saved, and Mbala did well to fashion some space for a shot after being found by Bobby Port, but his 20 yard effort did not dip under the crossbar.
The latter stages of the half were characterised by a number of offside decisions against Concord, leading to increasing frustration on their part and a number of yellow cards for dissent. They almost broke the deadlock just before the interval, but Kevin Mulley’s glancing header from a right wing free kick went just over.
The second half opened to a similar pattern to the first. Heale latched on to a ball played through from midfield, but shot over, and soon after Cowley had a double miss when his shot from outside the penalty box was pushed round the post low by Finn. From the delivery Cowley managed to stab the ball over the crossbar from inside the six yard box.
A foretaste of the ill feeling to come occurred when there was a pushing match between the two benches. Perhaps if the officials had been more rigorous in ensuring that the non-playing staff were confined to their own technical areas this problem would not have escalated. In any event this seemed to galvanise Romford into action. Mbala made good ground on the right, beating three men but he shot disappointingly into the side netting when other teammates seemed better placed. Then a seemingly rehearsed corner routine saw Heed’s corner glanced wide by Scott Truman.
The match at this time was a rumbustious affair with few chances. However, in the 77th minute the deadlock was broken both in terms of goals and red cards. Concord’s Michael Begg was played in down the left, and his superb cross to the far post left Danny Heale the simple task of netting from close range. Then, during the extravagant celebrations Romford’s Paul Clayton clashed with Cowley, as a result of which both players were shown straight red cards.
The referee was still not finished with his cardwork. Concord’s Gary Ogilvie, who had been cautioned in the first half for dissent, committed a foul on Mbala and saw a second yellow card, and thus red.
Into time added on and Finn did well to save from substitute Jimmy Webb with his legs to keep Romford in the match, but when Mbala headed a deep cross from Neville wide it appeared that their chance to equalise had gone. However, they hauled themselves forward once more and during a scramble in the penalty area it appeared that substitute Ade Onileyan was brought down. There was a considerable delay while the referee dealt with the Concord protests, issuing a yellow card to Concord player/manager Dan Scopes who had only just brought himself on as substitute with a view to running down the clock. Manzi Mbala kept a cool head amidst the mayhem around him, despatching the penalty easily past a static goalkeeper.
Even though there were by now 96 minutes on the clock there was still time for Concord to cause a scare at the other end, but Romford held out to spark scenes of jubilation on the part of the home team, and petulance on the part of the away team. Many of the visitors left the pitch refusing to shake hands with their opponents and gesturing to the spectators. This was an unfortunate end to what had been a hugely entertaining game. It maintains the new management team’s unbeaten record and is further evidence that Romford can now match the teams higher in the league.
Romford: Finn, Port, Neville, Truman, Clayton, Cornhill, Heed, Rafis, Jones, Mbala, Lyons. Subs: Barry (for Cornhill 67 mins), Onileyan (for Lyons 77 mins), Gammons (for Jones 90 mins), White & Martin (not used).
Romford 2 Enfield 1
For the second midweek in succession Romford put a dent in their opponent’s league title aspirations. The previous week they held Concord Rangers to a draw, and now inflicted only Enfield’s second league defeat of the season.
Enfield started much the livelier. Their first chance arose on 12 minutes when winger Deniz Mehmet made good ground on the right and whipped in a cross which bounced off Danny Jones and wide of the post. Then on 18 minutes Enfield’s Ricardo Armado had a short free kick played to him on the edge of the area and he hit a fierce free kick through the wall which flicked the post on its way out for a goal kick.
Romford were playing with three out and out strikers which meant that Enfield always had to be wary on the break, but also meant that some solidity was sacrificed in midfield. This enabled the visitors’ strong pacy forward line to break out of defence on accasion and put Romford’s rearguard under pressure. That is not to say that Romford were without success up front, but they did not really threaten a goal until 29 minutes. Then Manzi Mbala flashed a low ball across the face of the goal, which Bradley Jones just failed to get a touch to. It was deflected for a corner, though. The corner was cleared, but the ball played out to Martin Heed who cut inside and forced goalkeeper Steven Wright into his first save.
Romford broke the deadlock on 34 minutes, slightly against the run of play. They were awarded a free kick on the half way line. Enfield’s Jack Coombes was booked for dissenting the decision. Paul Clayton swung the ball into the penalty area, it was met by Mbala who headed back across goal to Bradley Jones. His connection was not the cleanest, but the shot went up and over Wright before dipping under the crossbar.
Danny Jones had a chance to put Enfield back on terms before the interval, but he did not use all the time available to him when he received the ball in the penalty area and shot wide.
That Enfield were behind at the interval would have irked them, and so they started the second half with renewed vigour. Armado hit a shot which was deflected and curled around the post, while Danny Jones found himself in space on the left hand side of the penalty area but pulled his shot wide of the far post.
The tide turned with Romford’s introduction of Ricki Mackin on 54 minutes. Almost immediately he played the ball in to Mbala who found himself one on one with Wright, but the goalkeeper did well to save with his legs. However, on 56 minutes Ricki Mackin himself extended Romford’s lead, hitting an unstoppable low shot from fully 30 yards through a crowded penalty area.
Many teams would have shut up shop at this stage, but Romford continued with three strikers and seemed more intent on adding a third goal than keeping a clean sheet. Bradley Jones was twice denied, once by an offside flag and again by a good save by Wright. Enfield themselves had a series of free kicks, corners and long throws which by and large were dealt with by Romford’s defence. Goalkeeper Neil Finn was called upon to save from substitute Sean Clark.
The Romford rearguard held out until the 90th minute when yet another Enfield corner was cleared to centre half Wesley Barghys. He hit a dipping shot over Finn which the goalkeeper got a hand to, but could not prevent from entering the net.
It was only then that one of the striking triumvirate was sacrificed with Jerry Lyons replacing Ade Onileyan. There was just time for Mark Whittington to spurn the chance of an equaliser, but insufficient time for Lyons to touch the ball.
This win took Romford to fifth place in the league and extended their unbeaten sequence under the new management team to seven matches (penalty shootouts excepted). Even more impressive is the fact that four of those matches were against the top four teams in the league which augurs well for the rest of the season.
Romford: Finn, Port, Ozerek, Clayton, White, Cornhill, Heed, Rafis, Jones, Mbala, Onileyan. Subs: Mackin (for Heed 54 mins), Lyons (for Onileyan 90 mins), Neville, Gammons & Martin (not used).
Clapton 1 Romford 2
Romford’s recent good form continued at the Old Spotted Dog Ground with a deserved, but controversial, win in the Essex Senior League. Trailing at half time Romford equalised with a goal that owed much to the prevailing weather conditions, and snatched victory with a goal that had more than a hint of offside about it.
The early exchanges were somewhat equal, with very few goalmouth chances in the first 25 minutes. Des Gallen shot wide and too high in this period for Romford, and Chris Barry had a long range shot easily saved by Mark Parker in the home goal.
Clapton had set themselves up as a strong defensive unit with their back four and midfield four very close to each other, and moving out as a unit. This meant that any Romford attack was stifled at source as it was difficult to for the midfielders to pick a through pass. However, it also meant that Clapton’s attacking options were limited as they were playing with the wind at their backs. Their long through balls to the striking duo were either overhit due to the prevailing wind, or found one of the front two in an offside position.
Danny Mulrooney was only called into any serious action once before the half hour, but then Clapton took the lead. The blustery conditions played a part in this as a long free kick from the left touchline appeared to be taken towards goal by the wind before being pushed up and on to the crossbar and over by Mulrooney. From the resultant corner Craig Leader found space in the penalty area to power a header home.
This prompted Romford into a better spell of attacking football. On 34 minutes Brad Jones met a Richard Oxby cross from the left which was comfortably saved by Parker, and shortly after Lee Pyne’s cross caused some pandemonium in the home defence with three successive shots by Romford players being blocked by last ditch defenders.
Danny Hayes thought that he had extended the home side’s lead on 41 minutes, but was denied by the assistant referee’s flag which appeared to go up very late. This was not the last of Clapton’s grievances against the officials.
Immediately following this incident Romford raced to the other end. Pyne did well to make room on the left, but his ball into the penalty area past the goalkeeper was just too far ahead of Jones who could not make up the ground to knock the ball into the empty net. Pyne was seeing a lot of the ball at this stage, but he could not quite engineer the equaliser, his shot on the stroke of half time being turned around the post by Parker.
Romford commenced the second half with renewed vigour. Dele Akinyemi headed over from Oxby’s corner and Jones fired Gallen’s low cross wide. Romford equalised on 56 minutes. If the credit for a goal could be given to the elements then it would stand to the credit of the wind, but the records will show the scorer as Richard Oxby whose left wing corner entered the net without further intervention despite the best endeavours of a defender on the goal line.
Oxby then blasted a shot over, and Ricki Mackin almost scored with a long range free kick from wide left, which seemed to be de rigueur for the night. Clapton were not entirely without chances, with Mulrooney making a fine save with his feet in a one-on-one with Armstrong, who also shot wildly over when well placed.
It was Romford who were making the running at this stage, forcing a series of second half corners. Substitute Manzi Mbala drifted a shot wide of the post having been played in by Barry, and Parker being none too convincing when saving a shot from Pyne. The equaliser came on 84 minutes. Jones picked up the ball some 25 yards from goal and hit a shot which was horribly scuffed. However, it found its way to Danny Rafis who seemed to be alone in the six yard box with goalkeeper Parker. Parker saved the first shot, but could do nothing to keep out the second effort from the rebound, much to the annoyance of the home contingent, convinced that Rafis was offside,.
Clapton hurled themselves into a frantic attacking furore in an attempt to correct this perceived injustice. Mulrooney saved from Jack Sawyer, and Romford survived by fair means and foul. Paul White was sent off three minutes into stoppage time for an apparent tug on the shirt of a Clapton forward when he was evidently the last defender. From the resultant free kick, taken a good 15 yards ahead of where the alleged offence took place, Sawyer’s superb curling shot bounced off the angle of post and crossbar, thus preserving Romford’s advantage.
The teams left the field with Clapton arguing about the injustice of the winning goal, but Romford pleased to have taken all three points. The win was deserved, certainly on the showing of the second half where the team coped with the blustery conditions better than their opponents, although the manner of their goals was somewhat fortunate.
Romford: Mulrooney, Oxby, Ozerek, White, Akinyemi, Barry, Mackin, Tubey, Jones, Gallen, Pyne. Subs: Rafis (for Tubey 61 mins), Mbala (for Gallen 72 mins), Omleyan (for Pyne 84 mins), Port & Oyenuga (not used).