ROMFORD 2 (1) - (0) 3 Thamesmead Town Attendance 74 - Ship Lane

A first half that was devoid of chances due to two well marshalled defences sprang to life in the fortieth minute when Romford captain Nick Reynolds controlled the ball and sent a twenty-five yard shot towards goal that was tipped wide by the visitor's keeper, but from the resulting corner George Woodward's cross fell kindly to Sam Coe who ran on to the ball and volleyed low and hard into the corner of the net. With two first half injuries, one for either side there was three minutes added time and in the final seconds the home keeper Michael Gooch rushed from his goal to tackle a player and whilst he was on the ground the ball hit his arm. The linesman almost level with the incident did not signal for an infringement, but the referee from well behind the play produced a red card even though Romford had covering defenders between Gooch and the goal. With no reserve keeper on the bench Nick Reynolds once again was forced to don the number 1 jersey and two minutes later he slid out to collect a ball comfortably, but behind him a Thamesmead man threw Tom Potter into the metal advertising boards and to the outrage of the home players, bench and supporters he only received a yellow card from the referee who had already made a handful of mistakes and looked well out of his depth trying to run a game at this level.

Ten minutes into the second half a great passing move from Romford saw Woodward, who was playing in a more advanced position than normal get behind the Thamesmead back line but the keeper was quickly out and blocked his left foot shot with his legs. But that did not matter, as four minutes later the Boro doubled their lead when Besfort Sadiku stole the ball in midfield and beat a man before finding Chris Barry who slipped it into Woodward to fire home. Despite the man advantage Thamesmead were not really threatening and it was a surprise when they grabbed a goal back when the ball kindly ricocheted into the path of Ben Glasgow who ran into the box and fired past Reynolds in the sixty-fifth minute. Romford still looked the better team with Sadiku going close and it was heart breaking when in the eighty-ninth minute a cross from the left found Paul Vines four yards out and he fired home. Due to another injury eight minutes added time went up on the board and in the ninety-fourth minute Ryan Boswell was clearly fouled, but this was ignored by the referee and a deep cross was headed back into the box where Vines was on hand to convert and grab three undeserved points for Thamesmead. Romford will be happy with their efforts and performance against a team from the top half of the table but will take a long hard look at the refereeing performance that cost them a valuable win in their fight to avoid relegation.

ROMFORD (1) 2 SAM COE 41, GEORGE WOODWARD 59

THAMESMEAD TOWN (0) 3 GLASGOW 65, VINES 89, 90+4

ROMFORD: MICHAEL GOOCH, RYAN BOSWELL, GEORGE WOODWARD, MATT FREW, TOM POTTER, CHRIS BARRY (CHRIS TAYLOR 90+5), TOM ANDERSON, ADEYINKA COLE, NICK REYNOLDS, SAM COE (JOE SCOTT 90+1), GREG AKPELE (BESFORT SADIKU 29) SUBS NOT USED LIAM BURGESS, MOSHOOD OLAFUNMISHE

YELLOW CARD: MATT FREW 63,

RED CARD: MICHAEL GOOCH 45+3