ROMFORD 2 (1) - (3) 3 Cray Wanderers Attendance 77 - Ship Lane

The hosts started well and in the third minute a George Woodward corner was met by Matt Frew but his header was cleared off the line, then four minutes later the ball fell kindly to Lee Weemes in the penalty area but the striker scuffed his shot wide of the goal. Romford were closing down well while Cray passed it around slowly at the back but did little at the top end, and it was the Boro who took the lead thanks to a goalkeeping error. Luke Stanley was fouled thirty yards from goal and Woodward took the free kick and crossed the ball in but it was over hit and should have been a comfortable take for the keeper. However he fumbled the ball after allowing it to bounce and Jake Giddings was on hand to poke it home and score his second goal in as many games, in the twenty-seventh minute. Romford would have hoped to build on this start but they found themselves pegged back within two minutes when Cray earned a free kick and Ben Payne found himself unmarked in the box and headed the ball past Richard Wray in the Boro goal. Cray now showed why they are top of the league as they quickly took the lead when from a corner, more poor marking allowed Nathan Fox to head home in the thirty-first minute, and then got a third in first half stoppage time when a shot from distance by Aryan Tajbakhsh beat an unsighted Wray down low in the corner of the goal.

Romford were forced into a substitution at half time with Tom Potter replacing the injured James Zanelli at right back, but neither team created anything clear cut until Wray tipped over a free kick that was heading into the top far corner in the fifty-seventh minute. Romford started to push forward more and Woodward had a free kick saved before the Cray keeper did well to close Chinedu McKenzie down when he got a sight of the goal in the seventy-ninth minute and then the same player shot over the bar from a tight angle a minute later. Cray had a great chance to finish the game off with eight minutes to go but their forward header a glorious chance wide before Romford themselves missed a great chance when Weemes set up Potter but the defender pulled his shot wide of the far post. Romford did get a goal back in the last minute of normal time when McKenzie smashed home a cross from Chris Taylor but the Boro could not create another chance and Cray left with all three points.

ROMFORD (1) 2 JAKE GIDDINGS 27, CHINEDU MCKENZIE 90

CRAY WANDERERS (3) 3 PAYNE 29, FOX 31, TAJBAKHSH 45

ROMFORD: RICHARD WRAY, JAMES ZANELLI (TOM POTTER 45), GEORGE WOODWARD, MATT FREW, MOSHOOD OLAFUNMISHE, DANNY COSSINGTON, JAKE GIDDINGS (CHRIS TAYLOR 76), CHRIS BARRY (ROBBIE FARRELL 64), LEE WEEMES, CHINEDU MCKENZIE, LUKE STANLEY SUBS NOT USED MICHAEL GOOCH, NICK REYNOLDS