This was an old school football match between two evenly matched, competitive teams, with no quarter asked or given. Add in a performance from referee Tony King, who sensibly let the game flow, and we had a game that was not quite a classic, but which was absorbing and entertaining. There was scarcely a foul in the 90 minutes - certainly not any bad ones – and four of the six yellow cards doled out by Mr King were for time wasting or kicking the ball away.

With the sides so evenly matched, it was little surprise that we did not get a feast of goals. Tilbury won the game with a 56th minute goal from Sam Carter who headed home a corner during a spell of domination from the visitors at the start of the second period. With Michael Turner having departed for Sittingbourne and Darren Phillips suspended, Boro’s back line included Amaree Robinson-Jones at right back with Jamie Hursit moving to pair with Scott Doe in the centre. With Junior Luke in his usual role on the left, they performed excellently to keep Tilbury at bay. Unfortunately for Boro, Tilbury’s back four was doing a similarly good job in limiting efforrs at their goal.

Early exchanges were cagey with limited chances. Charlie Morris had a shot blocked and put the rebound wide, while Tilbury’s Roman Campbell had a shot comfortably saved by Jake Anderson. Tilbury then won a corner that was cleared by Boro with the visitors appealing in vain for a penalty.

Hassan Nalbant carved out an opportunity for himself but saw his shot blocked, while at the other end, Daniel Trendall was denied a shooting opportunity by good defending after he had run threateningly at the Boro goal.

Quite the best chance of the half fell to Boro after 36 minutes. Hassan Nalbant ran strongly at the Tilbury defence and cut the ball back for Ash Siddik, who hit a fierce shot over the bar. The half closed with a booking for a foul by Nalbant, who might have felt that Mr King’s policy of letting the game flow worked against him in his tussles with the Tilbury centre backs.

The second half opened with Hassan Nalbant breaking clear on the left but putting his shot over the bar, while Tilbury’s Alex Clark tried a speculative shot from long range that went well wide of Anderson’s goal. Tilbury then netted what proved to be the game’s only goal, after which chances were few for either side. In fact, there were more bookings than chances as Junior Luke was yellow carded for a foul and Amaree Robinson-Jones was cautioned for kicking the ball away, which was also the reason that Tilbury’s Trendall and Martin were booked, while the visitors had Alfie Fry booked for time wasting.

The goal apart, the best second half chances were a shot that went over the bar from Robinson-Jones after he had latched on to a half cleared corner, and a low shot by Campbell for the visitors that Anderson saved with his feet.

Anderson came up for a couple of late corners as Boro sought an equaliser, while Charlie Morris had a late free-kick deflected by the Tilbury wall. A goal was not to come however, and Tilbury took revenge for Boro’s win at Chadfields in August, which remains the last time The Dockers were beaten in any competition.

Romford: Jake Anderson, Amaree Robinson-Jones, Junior Luke, Jamie Hursit, Charlie Morris, Scott Doe, Lee Hursit (Kris Newby, 58m), Jacob Wiggins (Jaiden Babalola, 75m), Hassan Nalbant, Ash Siddick (Mike Faulkner, 65). Unused subs: Danny Hurford, Bruno Gomes

Report by Mike Woods