Dereham Town 4 (2) - (2) 2 ROMFORD Attendance 205 - Aldiss Park

The Boro started the game on the front foot with George Woodward firing a free kick just over the bar on three minutes. A long throw by Nick Reynolds in the sixteenth minute found Reece Tranter and his cross was headed wide by the onrushing Jamie Dicks. Romford did finally open the scoring on twenty-eight minutes when a long ball found Reece Tranter who, with the help of a deflection managed to find the top corner after a nice turn in the box.
Jamie Dicks nearly doubled the lead three minutes later after winning the ball in midfield but his dipping shot was well saved. Suddenly Romford found themselves on the back foot and the hosts managed to grab an equaliser when Craig Bussens bundled the ball home after a goalmouth scramble in the thirty-fourth minute. Dereham were now well on top and took the lead when Bussens scored his second after good wing play and a cross found him unmarked on 45 minutes. However, in first half stoppage time Tom Richardson was kicked off the ball resulting in a penalty to Romford and a red card for Dan Morphew. Joe Oates stepped up and dispatched the spot kick into the top left hand corner.
Romford had had trouble beating ten men opponents recently and this once again proved a problem as five minutes after the restart Dereham won a soft penalty and Ryan Hawkins slotted home. Romford were trying to attack but created very little in the way of clear cut chances. The best fell to Reece Tranter after a defensive mix up but his shot from thirty yards towards an empty goal was cleared off the line by the defender who managed to scamper back in time. Then another Romford attack was broken down and a quick counter left Bussens with an easy chance to complete his hat trick, which he did on sixty minutes. Jack Barry twice went close for Romford before Joe Oates received two yellow cards in a matter of minutes making the game ten a side and Dereham easily saw out the final moments.

DEREHAM TOWN (2)4 BUSSENS 34, 45, 59, HAWKINS 50 (P).

ROMFORD (2) 2 REECE TRANTER 28, JOE OATES 45+3 (P)

ROMFORD: AARON OMAND, JACK BARRY (RYAN IMBERT 84), GEORGE WOODWARD, SCOTT TRUMAN, JAMES ISHMAIL, JOE OATES, JAMIE DICKS, ABS SEYMOUR, NICK REYNOLDS, TOM RICHARDSON, REECE TRANTER (JORDAN THOMAS 61) SUBS NOT USED ATU NGOY, DAVID OTTLEY, MATT TOMS.

YELLOW CARDS: JACK BARRY 50, JAMES ISHMAIL 73, JOE OATES 86, 87.

RED CARD: JOE OATES 87