The battle of the Boros ended with honours even as Chinedu McKenzie's 84th minute goal salvaged a point for Romford and maintained their unbeaten home record, but had Nick Reynolds been able to convert either of two late chances that came his way, Romford could have been celebrating a three-point haul. Romford's first chance came as early as the third minute, when Ryan Mallet's pass found Ryan Boswell on the right and he was only denied by a good block, and five minutes later Boswell's good turn and run earned a corner from which James Ishmail's header was deflected over the bar.

It was somewhat against the run of play that Haringey took the lead with a contentious penalty after 15 minutes. Mallet was unable to capitalise when Harry Palmer in the Haringey goal lost possession, but a swift clearance put Dean Fenton through and although Callum Chafer was first to the ball, his clearance rebounded off the Haringey forward, and in the ensuing chase, Chafer was harshly adjudged to have brought down his opponent. Chafer was booked and Adrian Markus converted the spot kick to put Haringey ahead.

Romford retaliated, with Jonathon Adebayo firing over and Ryan Mallet's cross drifting just wide of the far post, before the dangerous Dean Fenton shot over the Romford crossbar. Just after the half hour mark, a low cross from McKenzie was well held by Palmer in the visitors' goal before Jamie Dicks could pounce, and two minutes later McKenzie had the ball in the net after Boswell had set up David Manu for a shot that Palmer pushed aside, only for the strike to be ruled out for offside.

Haringey's Anton Blackwood became the first player to get his name in referee Killip's book when he brought down Manu in the 37th minute , before Mark Lord incurred Mr Killip's wrath for disputing a decision and was dismissed from the dugout. The half closed with Chafer denying Markus the opportunity to double the away side's advantage.

Romford's second half performance had Haringey on the back foot for long periods, but it seemed for a long time that there would be no reward. Haringey keeper Palmer, who was lucky not to receive a card for persistently wasting time, punched clear in an early Romford attack before a 49th minute header from Blackwood went narrowly over the Romford crossbar. Ryan Mallet twice went close, once chipping over and then shooting wide before Jonathan Adebayo was shown a yellow card for a foul.

The heavens opened as the hour mark approached, leaving surface water in parts, but as the rain abated, Paul Martin shuffled his pack, with Manu replaced by Will Green and Chris Taylor coming on for Adebayo, but Romford's pressure, although it forced a number of corners, seemed destined to fall short of an equaliser. Until the 84th minute, that is. Paul Preston's ball in from the left was held up for McKenzie and he drilled a low shot past Palmer to level the scores. Two minutes later and Reynolds, who had replaced Hayes Thomas, was put through but took the ball too wide and his shot did not unduly trouble Palmer, before Reynolds again went close, glancing a header from Dicks' free-kick wide of the post. And McKenzie might have won it in injury time when he shot wide after being put through by Dicks.

The point lifted Romford out of the bottom three and the determination shown in this performance suggests that they will soon be climbing away from the lower reaches of the table, if only they can find a little more fortune in front of goal.

Team: Callum Chafer, Hayes Thomas (Nick Reynolds 84), Paul Preston, Tom Potter, James Ishmail, Jonathon Adebayo (Chris Taylor, 74), Ryan Mallet, Jamie Dicks, Chinedu McKenzie, Ryan Boswell, David Manu (Will Green 69). Unused subs: Charlie Portway and Matt Toms

Match Report By Mike Woods