Barkingside 1 (1) - (1) 1 ROMFORD Attendance 93 - Cricklefields

With much of the squad unavailable for various reasons Romford, who were down to the bare bones got off to a great start when on six minutes Reece Cosson whipped in a dangerous free kick that Nathan Cooper headed towards goal. The Barkingside keeper made a bit of a mess of things and Jack Barry pounced to put the ball in the back of the net from the tightest of angles. Despite Romford's dominance in the opening period Barkingside soon got an equaliser when former Romford player Lewis Francis was on hand to score on ten minutes as the visitor's defence failed to clear a corner. The first moment we realised how out of his depth the referee was, was when on fourteen minutes and despite being way behind play, he booked Romford winger Callum Ibe for diving when he was clearly fouled whilst racing down the left wing and could not avoid hitting the deck. The same player was booked again six minutes before half time for what was a mild and in no way dangerous foul. The Barkingside defender had learnt his lines though, and made such a meal of the tackle that the referee fell for the playacting and showed Callum Ibe the red card.

Romford were now up against it but adjusted tactically and showed great spirit in the second half and went closest to scoring when Reece Cosson's free kick came back off the post, but by now both teams were stopped playing much football as the referee kept blowing his whistle for tiny or imagined infringements, some of which both sets of player and fans could not understand. Aaron Omand stood firm, making regulation saves when called upon and up the other end Nick Reynolds' turn and shot was well saved. Neither team did enough to win the game on the bumpy, uneven pitch but it will be more remembered for the official's performance than anything else.

BARKINGSIDE (1) 1 FRANCIS 10,

ROMFORD (1) 1 JACK BARRY 6,

ROMFORD: AARON OMAND, JACK BARRY, TYLER HAYES, REECE COSSON, NATHAN COOPER (JAMES ISHMAIL 85), GEORGE COCKLIN, JAMIE DICKS (ABS SEYMOUR 85), ROBBIE NORRIS, NICK REYNOLDS, TOM RICHARDSON (SAMUEL KEMP 85), CALLUM IBE.

YELLOW CARDS, CALLUM IBE 14, 39, JAMIE DICKS 30, ROBBIE NORRIS 79,

RED CARDS: CALLUM IBE 39