ROMFORD (0) 2 - 1 (0) Tilbury Attendance 109

Boro could well have taken the lead in the 9th minute when in a sustained attack Lewis Francis, Kurt Smith and Abs Seymour all had close range shots blocked near the goal line by the Tilbury defence.
On 14 minutes a good change of direction by Ben Jones put in Abs Seymour but his hard drive was straight at James Marrable in the Tilbury goal. This was then followed by a couple of Tilbury shots that safely cleared the Boro goal.
As the steady rain got heavier the game settled down into an energetic midfield battle with both teams dealing well with the greasy surface.
On 30 minutes a long, high free kick from the left wing by Joe Oates was fumbled by Marrable under pressure and about to be headed home by Boro skipper Jack Barry, but the ref took the easy modern day option and blew up for a non existent foul. Seven minutes later good work by Abs Seymour and Ben Jones put Kurt Smith through but brave, last ditch defending by Tilbury's Daniel blocked the shot as he collided with the post. Just before half time Daniel and Ben Jones received harsh yellow cards after a mild tussle near the corner flag.
The heavy rain continued after the interval, but on 50 minutes Boro came very close again when a low cross by Lewis Francis eluded the whole Tilbury defence but also the outstretched legs of first Kurt Smith and then Abs Seymour. Tilbury countered with a fierce free kick from the left that was tipped past the post by Aaron Omand, but from the resulting corner Michael Sammut won the ball and charged upfield before finding Kurt Smith on the right who cleverly changed direction and passed inside to Lewis Francis who toe ended the ball into the far corner of the net.
More chances followed for both sides, but on 71 minutes Tilbury skipper Nightingale got the equaliser with a spectacular overhead kick.
Going into the last 10 minutes Boro Manager Paul Martin gambled with a treble substitution...Aime Blessing, Nick Reynolds and George Woodward replacing forwards Kurt Smith, Ben Jones and Lewis Francis who had run themselves into the ground in the heavy conditions.
Aaron Omand had to make another good save and Michael Sammut was booked for a high kick, but on 88 minutes the changes paid off when Aime Blessing won a corner and Abs Seymour's kick was met by George Woodward soaring above the Tilbury defence to power home an unstoppable header and his first Boro goal.
There was one last fright for Romford as Tilbury's Wraight headed just past the post before they could celebrate a third successive victory.

ROMFORD 2 LEWIS FRANCIS 53, GEORGE WOODWARD 88
TILBURY 1 NIGHTINGALE 71

ROMFORD: Aaron Omand, David Ottley, Joe Oates, Jack Barry (C), Jamie Dicks, Paul Clayton, Michael Sammut, Abs Seymour, Kurt Smith (Nick Reynolds 80), Ben Jones (George Woodward 80), Lewis Francis (Aime Blessing 80)
UNUSED SUBS: Atu Ngoy, James Ishmail.

YELLOW CARDS: Ben Jones 45, Michael Sammut 84

Match Report by Phil Redwin