Three important saves by Sawbridgeworth keeper George Edgeworth made Romford’s margin of victory thinner than it might have been. Add in some offside decisions that foiled some promising Boro attacks, but which VAR might have had a look at if it existed in the Essex Senior League, and the closing stages ended up nervier than they might have been as the home side sought an equaliser.

In Boro’s last competitive visit to Sawbridgeworth, the FA Cup tie back in 2020, the home side went ahead after just four minutes, and they did it again in this game as David Etcheri picked the ball up in midfield and struck a powerful shot into the top corner of Matthew Cafer’s net. Just a minute later, and Sawbo’s Jake Knight tried his luck from similar range, but on this occasion, Boro were relieved to see the ball rise over the bar.

Boro were level after thirteen minutes however, as Bleron Ademi’s crossfield pass found Tom Richardson, who reached the ball before home defender Marcus Dowdeswell, rounded Edgeworth and rolled it into the net. Sawbo’s appeals that Richardson had been offside fell on deaf ears, which may have the catalyst for Dowdeswell deciding to kick a lump out of Richardson off the ball later on, an incident possibly not seen clearly by referee Matthew Pointer, who chose to show the home player a yellow card only.

Jake Gordon headed straight at Edgeworth from Lewis Smith’s free-kick after twenty minutes, and Sawbridgeworth created a dangerous opening with no one able to get on the end of Zac Davison’s low cross three minutes later.

Ryan Scott then headed a free-kick across goal to Camilo Restrepo, whose shot was off target, but after thirty-three minutes, Boro hearts were in their mouths as referee Pointer had a big call to make. A back pass that fell short on the soft and muddy surface saw Cafer come off his line and collide with Lewis Wicker, who went down in a heap and required treatment. Fortunately for Boro, the outcome was a drop-ball, not a penalty.

A minute from the break, and Boro had their noses in front. Following a corner on the left flank, Smith and Restrepo combined to deliver a cross to the far post where the unmarked Scott Doe placed a side-foot volley back across Edgeworth and into the net. There was still time, in the fourth minute of added time, for Sawbridgeworth to fashion a chance, when Danny Palmer shot wide from the edge of the box.

There were yellow cards for Boro’s Adalberto Pinto and, rather dubiously, George Cox as the half wound down.

The second half opened with another Boro yellow card – for a foul by Jake Gordon – and the resulting free-kick was delivered into a crowded penalty area, but fortunately went straight through to Cafer.

After a couple of offside decisions had thwarted useful looking Boro attacks, Gordon finally broke clear and squared for Richardson, who was denied a second goal of the afternoon by Edgeworth’s block after 58 minutes. After 62 minutes, Edgeworth denied Boro again, saving from Restrepo after he had been found by Richardson’s low cross.

Edgeworth excelled himself with a third top quality save after 69 minutes, once again denying Richardson, this time after he had been set up by Alex Balisani.

In the gathering gloom – one of the floodlight pylons refused to come on – the home side’s quest for parity saw them push Boro back for long periods, but they created nothing of real note until the 86th minute, when Danny Hurford missed his attempted clearance, leading to him bringing down his opponent on the edge of the box. Knight’s free-kick flew harmlessly over the bar and that was that.

The final whistle was marked by the heavens opening with a downpour that might have put the game in doubt had it occurred a couple of hours earlier, but which fortunately held off long enough for Boro to mark the start of 2023 with three points.

Romford: Matthew Cafer, Bleron Ademi, Danny Hurford, George Cox (Alex Balisani, 61m) Ryan Scott, Scott Doe, Jake Gordon (Tambeson Eyong, 88m), Adalberto Pinto, Tom Richardson, Lewis Smith (Jack Glenister, 82m), Camilo Restrepo (Emmanuel Robe, 73m). Unused sub: Jake Anderson