Dereham Town 2 (0) - (0) 1 ROMFORD Attendance 206 - Aldiss Park

Aaron Omand in the Romford goal was on fine form early on, saving four Dereham chances inside the first ten minutes as the hosts dominated the opening exchanges but Romford eventually started to get the ball forward and create some chances. They did get the ball into the back of the net on thirty five minutes but Jack Barry's header was correctly ruled out for offside before on forty-three minutes the Boro skipper crossed to Nick Reynolds who flicked the ball over his marker's head before volleying just above the crossbar. Right on half time the Romford striker out muscled his man and raced into the box before being brought down, but to everyone's amazement the referee only gave a yellow card to the Dereham defender despite him clearly being the last man. With neither of Romford's normal penalty takers on the pitch the chance fell to Matt Toms who hit the ball high to the left, but it did not have enough power on it and the keeper guessed right to palm the ball away.

Seven minutes into the second half and Dereham earned a penalty of their own when Lewis Sturman was fouled in the box by Jack Barry after a skilful run. Michael Clunan scored from the spot and the same player got the chance to repeat his actions when James Ishmail fouled the Dereham forward in the seventy-first minute which he accepted, beating Aaron Omand in the opposite corner to his first effort. Romford rallied and did finally get a goal back when George Cocklin picked out Nick Reynolds who smashed the ball home, but it was too late and the Boro could not muster another good attack before the final whistle left them empty handed on the long trip back home.

DEREHAM TOWN (0) 2 CLUNAN 52 PEN, 71 PEN

ROMFORD (0) 1 NICK REYNOLDS 90

ROMFORD: AARON OMAND, JACK BARRY, TYLER HAYES, MATT TOMS, JAMES ISHMAIL (SAMUEL KEMP 74), GEORGE COCKLIN, REECE COSSON (JAMIE DICKS 60), ABS SEYMOUR, NICK REYNOLDS, REECE TRANTER (TOM RICHARDSON 74), CALLUM IBE SUBS NOT USED ROBBIE NORRIS

YELLOW CARDS: MATT TOMS 21, CALLUM IBE 84