By this time last season Boro had played six Essex Senior League games, but the visit of Great Wakering Rovers to Mayesbrook Park tomorrow will be only the fourth of the current campaign, and the first in the month of September. By comparison, Romford have played eight ties in various cup competitions in 2026-27 with a minimum of three more to come, although Tuesday night’s defeat at the hands of Rayleigh Town means no more in the BBC Essex Senior Cup.

With four points won from the three Essex Senior League games played so far, Boro are currently 13th in the table while visitors Great Wakering Rovers are 18th with only two draws to show for the five league games they have played.

Previous Meetings:

With 46 previous meetings between the sides, Great Wakering are far and away the team that Romford have faced most since 1992. In the list of Boro’s most frequent opponents, after Great Wakering all of the next four ply their trade at least one level above Boro, and of the sides currently in the Essex Senior League, Hullbridge Sports are the next most common opponents with 38 meetings.

In the games between the sides so far, honours are fairly even with Romford having won 22 and Great Wakering 19, with five drawn.

In four matches played against Great Wakering since the 2024 FA Vase Final, three have ended in our opponents’ favour with one drawn. That draw was in last season’s Essex Senior League encounter at Burroughs Park which ended 2-2. After a goal-less first half, Flynn Hamilton gave Boro the lead after 55 minutes only for Harry Talbot to draw Rovers level with 20 minutes remaining. Henry Hart restored Boro’s lead after 72 minutes but Harrison Topliss equalised after 81 minutes when he scored from the rebound after Brad Davison had saved his penalty kick. Romford might have taken all three points but late chances saw Gabriel Ipanga hit a post and Riley Garrick head wide in stoppage time.

The return game at Mayesbrook Park ended with Rovers running out 4-0 winners, although matters might have ended differently had Romford not been reduced to 10 men just before the interval when Rhian Fowler tangled with a Wakering forward and was adjudged to have denied a goal scoring opportunity. To add to Romford’s frustration, the red card was overturned on appeal. The game was goal-less at the time, but after the interval Rovers exploited their numerical advantage to score four unanswered goals. Compounding Boro’s problems, Christian Adu Gyamfi was sent off for a second yellow card late in the game.

Both games in 2024-25 ended in Rovers wins, 1-0 at Mayesbrook Park and 2-0 at Wakering.

Last Season:

When Romford earned a point at Burroughs Park last season, Rovers were fifth in the league table and had beaten Play-Off contenders Woodford Town and SOUL Tower Hamlets in their previous two games. They went on to finish the season in third spot but hopes of promotion to the Isthmian League were dashed when they lost on penalties in their Play-Off Semi-Final against Buckhurst Hill.

This Season:

So far this season, Rovers have found the going tough after the departure of a number of players during the summer with Ben Search, Harrison Topliss, and Luke Hirst among the players to leave; all three have joined Heybridge Swifts. They have made a number of signings this week however, including two ex-Romford players, goalkeeper Rob Budd, and Brian Moses, a forward who made a handful of appearances for Boro in 2024-25.

Rovers began their league campaign with a 2-0 defeat at Frenford and have subsequently also lost at Halstead Town and West Essex. The two points that they have earned so far have come from draws at Ilford and at home to Harwich & Parkeston.

In both the FA Cup and FA Vase, Great Wakering were beaten in their first games. In the FA Cup Takeley beat them 2-0 at Burroughs Park, and in the FA Vase they lost 4-1 at home to Biggleswade United having received a bye in the First Qualifying Round.

The BBC Essex Senior Cup is the only competition in which Rovers have met with success. Having won 3-2 at Hackney Wick in the First Round, they beat Dunmow Town on penalties in the Second Round this week after the 90 minutes had ended 1-1.

Rovers have not found goals easy to come by so far this season, with former Boro winger Ezra Agyiri joint leading scorer with two to his name.

This weekend’s fixtures:

There is one league game this evening and eight tomorrow, plus one FA Cup tie in which the league’s only remaining representatives, Woodford Town, take on Isthmian League North side Mulbarton Wanderers, who were runaway winners of the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division last season.

Heybridge Swifts meet Clapton Community for the second Saturday running, the two sides having met in the FA Vase last week in a game that Swifts won 2-1. As second placed Halstead Town are without a game, leaders Frenford have a chance to extend their advantage at the top as they take on Benfleet.

Friday 18th September:
7.45pm Hutton v Barking

Saturday 19th September:
3pm Clapton Community v Heybridge Swifts
3pm Frenford v Benfleet
3pm Harwich & Parkeston v Soul Tower Hamlets
3pm Ilford v Hackney Wick
3pm Romford v Great Wakering Rovers
3pm Sporting Bengal United v Basildon United
3pm West Essex v Hullbridge Sports
3pm White Ensign v Saffron Walden Town

FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round:
3pm Woodford Town v Mulbarton Wanderers