Romford’s run of four consecutive away trips comes to an end tomorrow with a visit to Sawbridgeworth Town. The three preceding away matches have resulted in only a single point earned in a 1-1 draw at Stanway Rovers, arguably the most difficult of those three games.

Despite their lowly position in the table – they currently lie 18th with 24 points from 32 games – Sawbridgeworth’s recent form is better than Romford’s with Sawbo having collected five points from their last six games compared with Boro’s four. Although their last six games have included three defeats, those losses have been against decent sides. They were beaten 3-1 at home by White Ensign (who required two stoppage time goals to take all the points), 3-1 at Woodford Town, and 3-2 at Barking, where the home side’s winner came in added time after Sawbo had led 2-0 at one point.

Sawbridgeworth drew in midweek, 3-3 at home against Little Oakley, and again there was a late goal, this time for Sawbo, who came back from 3-1 down at one point. Sawbo also recently drew 1-1 at home with Stansted and beat Frenford 1-0.

Previous Meetings:

There have been 35 meetings between the teams over the years making Sawbridgeworth joint 8th in a list of teams that Boro have faced most since 1992. Of these, 25 have been league games – all in the Essex Senior League - and of those, Boro have to date won 14 with 6 drawn. The first meeting between the clubs was in 1992 when a crowd of 207 at Hornchurch Stadium saw a 2-2 draw.

Romford met Sawbridgeworth in two Essex Senior League Cup Semi-Finals during the 1990s. In 1994 Boro were removed from the competition after the first leg, having fielded an ineligible player and in 1995 the two-legged Semi-Final ended all square on aggregate. Sawbo won the replay on penalties.

Boro have already played Sawbridgeworth twice this season, in the Essex Senior League clash at Mayesbrook Park, Romford ran out comfortable 5-1 winners. Brendan Ocran scored twice for Boro with the other goals coming from Praise Ogbebor, Kennedy Feyi, and Arnold Mengi. The sides also met in a Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy tie at the same venue. Kennedy Feyi was again on target, as was Amaree Robinson-Jones, as Boro won 2-1.

Romford’s last visit to Sawbridgeworth was during the 2022-23 season, when goals from Tom Richardson and Scott Doe earned a 2-1 win.

This Season:

After 47 years of continuous membership of the Essex Senior League, Sawbridgeworth were moved sideways into the Spartan South Midlands League at the start of last season. They were reinstated o the ESL at the start of this campaign. Their sojourn in the SSML ended with a 19th place finish and they were spared relegation to Step 6 only by the resignation of St Panteleimon.

This season has seen Sawbo occupy one of the bottom four places in the league almost continuously. They opened the season with a run of five defeats (four in the league and one in the FA Cup) in which they failed to score a single goal. They then lost an extraordinary game against Stanway Rovers when they were beaten 7-4 on their own patch. A 1-1 draw against Saffron Walden Town back in December lifted Sawbo out of the relegation places and they have occupied 18th place continuously since then. They are currently three points ahead of 19th placed Stansted, but The Airportmen have two games in hand.

There was no cup success for Sawbridgeworth this season. They were beaten 5-0 by FC Romania in the FA Cup and lost 4-1 at Brantham Athletic in the FA Vase, while having been beaten by Boro in the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy, they lost 2-1 at FC Clacton in the Errington Challenge Cup.

Sawbridgeworth have conceded 91 goals in their 32 league games to date – only FC Clacton have let in more – but have netted 46 goals, of which Elijah Grant has contributed 10. What is remarkable about that statistic is that Grant only joined Sawbo in February, scoring a hat-trick in just his fourth appearance in a 4-3 win at Ilford. His ten goals have come in only eleven games.

Non-League Day:

Tomorrow is Non-League Day and all Essex senior League clubs are supporting Prostate Cancer and raising funds and awareness. Every 45 minutes a man dies of Prostate Cancer. Clubs are being allowed to have a shirt no 45 this weekend. This is ours:

Romford FC are proud to support the charity and raise awareness

The Essex Senior League is offering fans a Non-League Day Passport giving access to four games over the weekend for the price of £30. There are two games tonight with eight fixtures at staggered kick-off times on Saturday afternoon and evening. Details are below:

Home Ground and How to Get There:

Sawbridgeworth’s home ground is Crofters End, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, CM21 0DE

It’s a straightforward trip by road, being 36 miles from Romford. Take the M11 to Junction 7, then the A414 towards Harlow and through to Sawbridgeworth.

By public transport, the nearest station is Sawbridgeworth on the line from Liverpool Street to Bishop’s Stortford. The ground is a 20 minute walk from the station but be aware, engineering works mean that a rail replacement bus service is in operation from Broxbourne.

This weekend’s Essex Senior League fixtures:

Friday 21st March:
7.45pm West Essex v Barking
7.45pm Woodford Town v Ilford

Saturday 22nd March:
3pm Athletic Newham v Frenford
12pm Benfleet v FC Clacton
3pm Buckhurst Hill v Hullbridge Sports
3pm Great Wakering Rovers v White Ensign
3.30pm Little Oakley v Stanway Rovers
3pm Sawbridgeworth Town v Romford
3pm Stansted v Halstead Town
7.45pm Takeley v Saffron Walden Town

Romford Under 14 EJA:

After last Sunday’s cup defeat at the hands of Aveley, Boro’s youngsters will be looking to bounce back with a visit to Bowers & Pitsea on Sunday lunchtime.