Cheshunt 3 (1) - (0) 1 ROMFORD attendance 155

On this chilly April afternoon Romford gave a debut to youth team keeper Michael Gooch and rested Jack Barry and Kurt Smith from the starting eleven.
The Boro dominated possession in the opening stages and forced some corners but Cheshunt's Josh Hutchinson & Sam Bantick had the first chances of the game, however both players shot well wide. Joe Bingham created the first Romford chance but his half volley went straight to the keeper.
In the 19th minute Joe Oates made a great run through the Cheshunt defence and his pass let Wola Odedeyin through on the right but his pull back failed to pick out a Romford forward.
Romford's defence had been solid and kept Cheshunt to long distance shots that mostly had gone over, but in the 31st minute Ryan Wade picked the ball up thirty yards from goal and struck a great shot into the top corner.
After the goal it took Romford a while to get going again but good play from Nick Reynolds and Hussein Isa let the former get off a shot that was deflected over.
Michael Gooch made a smart stop to keep out Bantick just before the ref blew for half time.

Romford began the second half brightly and earned a corner but it was easily taken by keeper Obey Murefu and his quick kick out was not dealt with by Jamie Dicks leaving Ryan Wade clean through and he calmly slotted past Gooch to double Cheshunt's lead.
Paul Martin immediately made a change bringing on Jack Barry to replace Joe Bingham and straight away he broke down the left after good work by Mackin but his cross come shot was tipped over the bar.
On the hour Kurt Smith came on for Nick Reynolds and made a nuisance of himself and earning freekicks. From one of these Isa whipped in a ball but Jack Barry headed just wide.
Just as Romford started applying some pressure Cheshunt went even further ahead when a ball in to the box was turned into his own goal by a Boro defender.
Despite the three goal deficit Romford mainly lead by Barry and Smith created more chances but their shots were blocked or saved and it was Smith challenging for the ball that caused a moment of controversy when his late challenge earned an ugly reaction from Andrew West who was shown a straight red by the ref.
With the man advantage Romford piled on the pressure and Joe Oates had a shot cleared off the line. A goal remained elusive until the 87th minute when Smith was released through the centre and collided with the Cheshunt keeper, the ball fell to Oates who curled the ball into the bottom corner to get his second of the season. In injury time Smith and Isa linked up again but once again the shot was saved by Murefu before the ref brought the game to an end.

ROMFORD: Michael Gooch, James Ismail, Jamie Dicks, Paul Clayton, Matt Toms, Ricky Mackin, Joe Bingham (Jack Barry 48), Wola Odedeyin, Nick Reynolds (Kurt Smith 59), Hussein Isa, Joe Oates.