East Thurrock Community FC (0) 1, Romford (0) 5 – Tuesday 8th July 2025 – Pre-season Friendly

Ellis Devereux netted a hat-trick as Boro picked up their first pre-season win, but it was his former White Ensign team-mate Bradley Davison who impressed in the first half with two memorable saves, including a penalty stop.

The hosts also had a shot that cannoned off the outside of a post in a first half that saw East Thurrock create the better opportunities, while Boro’s best first half chances were two headers from Scott Doe – one from a corner, one from a free-kick – that were narrowly off target.

East Thurrock went ahead six minutes after the interval following a quick break that ended with chip over Davison, but Boro were level after 59 minutes when a forward ball was headed on to Owen Bellamy who cracked a shot past the home goalkeeper.

Ellis Devereux made it 2-1 to Boro after 63 minutes, deftly heading home a chipped cross from the left and Dhillon Sandhu-Nelson scored Boro’s third after 69 minutes, rolling the ball past the advancing keeper when found with a ball in from the left.

The East Thurrock keeper fell foul of the new 8 second rule to concede a corner from which nothing accrued after 72 minutes, but Devereux was just off target from another corner with ten minutes left. He did get on the scoresheet again after 81 minutes however, running onto a through pass to score, and with two minutes remaining, he completed his hat-trick with a well taken penalty.