Romford huffed and puffed, but failed to blow Ilford’s house down, falling to defeat by a solitary goal scored for the visitors by Paul Cox in first half stoppage time.

The game started in a blur of activity; 100 mph stuff from both teams that was more frantic than composed. Ilford goalscorer Cox was an early entry in referee Alistair Potter’s book, bringing down his Romford namesake George in the 11th minute, but Kris Newby - in his last game before starting a three game suspension - fired the resulting free-kick over the bar.

Joshua Osude – on loan from Grays Athletic – impressed with his pace and directness on the right, and a typical run in the 15th minute drew a vital save from Ilford keeper Tim Pitman. Osude then retrieved a lost cause on the right, setting up Newby for a shot that was narrowly off target, before then latching on to Jake Anderson’s long clearance to have a shot that Pitman was again equal to.

In a first half littered with fouls, free-kicks and stoppages, there were few chances, but as the half drew to a close, Ilford went close with a low shot by Caleb Kofi Adomako that required Anderson to dive low to his right to concede a corner after 40 minutes. And it was from a corner in the second minute of added time from which Ilford went ahead, Cox firing home from close range after the corner had been headed down.

Romford made wholesale changes at the start of the second half with Jacob Wiggins, Jake Gordon, Camilo Restrepo, and Bleron Ademi replacing George Cox, Lewis Smith, Martin Tuohy, and Tambeson Eyong, and Boro continued to mount pressure on the Ilford defence. The visitors defended doggedly however, and on the occasions when their defence was breached, Boro found Pitman in inspired form.

After 50 minutes, a superb through ball by Jacob Wiggins found Osude arriving in the penalty area at pace, only to be denied by a brave save by Pitman; both players went down and required lengthy treatment following their coming together.

Pitman was again in significant action on the hour, saving spectacularly from close range, but although he was undeniably the busier of the two goalkeepers – Anderson was virtually a spectator in the second half – Boro’s pressure and corners (of which there were many) all came to nothing.

Play became more and more fragmented as the half progressed with frequent stoppages; the Ilford physio certainly earned his money, being called into action several times to deal with injured players, and the disjointed nature of the play meant limited chances. The best for Romford fell to Osude, who somehow screwed the ball wide after Newby’s excellent cross from the right had been blocked and run loose.

Boro slip to fourteenth off the back of this result, and whereas earlier in the season looked rapier like in attack, tonight they were much more like a blunt instrument: Some tinkering under the hood required by Steve Butterworth and Dan Spinks, perhaps.

Romford: Jake Anderson, Tambeson Eyong (Bleron Ademi, 46m), Danny Hurford, Kris Newby (Tyrese Sibanda, 87m), Scott Doe, George Allen, Joshua Osude, George Cox (Camilo Restrepo, 46m), Martin Tuohy (Jake Gordon, 46m), Lewis Smith (Jacob Wiggins, 46m), Emmanuel Robe.