A late goal from Enfield’s leading scorer Louie Johnson was all that separated the teams on an afternoon when Romford defended determinedly and to the extent that goalkeeper Jake Anderson had only to make one save of any note in the whole 90 minutes.

The home side were on the front foot from the very first minute with Samrai Gebrai, having himself won a free kick from Scott Doe’s challenge, firing in a free kick from the end of the box that was deflected for the first of a series of corners. For all their early pressure however, Enfield struggled to break down Boro’s back line and Anderson’s one notable save came after ten minutes when he dived to his left to push a low shot away from goal.

It wasn’t until the 22nd minute that Romford had a sight of the Enfield goal. Charlie Morris, Finlay Dorrell, and Camilo Restrepo combined well to set up Morris for a shot that went wide of Jarvis Monk’s net. A foul on Monk earned Hassan Nalbant a yellow card after 32 minutes, but the Enfield goalkeeper was a spectator for the remainder of the half as his side created – and missed – a number of chances.

The chances that Enfield created failed to trouble Jake Anderson as first Louie Johnson’s shot with the outside of his right foot flew wide, then Gebrai fired extravagantly over the crossbar after a mazy run, and Aaron Greene similarly failed to hit the target with shots in the 34th and 44th minute; the first flew over the bar and the second was well wide.

Adalberto Pinto drew a foul from Enfield’s Junior Mubiayi in midfield in the opening stages of the second half that earned the Enfield defender a yellow card, and Kris Newby joined him in referee Royan Campbell’s notebook, also for a foul, also in midfield after 63 minutes.

Although Enfield continued to enjoy the lion’s share of the possession, the better chances of the second half fell to Boro. After 59 minutes a snap shot from the edge of the penalty area by Finlay Dorrell required Monk to dive full length to push the ball away for a corner, and after 66 minutes a long throw from Junior Luke caused some chaos in the home penalty area, but when the ball fell for Henry Hart he could only hook his shot over the bar.

Hassan Nalbant set off on a diagonal run after 81 minutes that ended with him firing a left foot shot against a post and it looked at that stage as though Boro had done enough to earn a point, but with 86 minutes played, the home side snatched a winner. Solomon Ofori got free on the left and cut the ball back from the goal line to Johnson, who sidefooted home from twelve yards.

The result was somewhat harsh on Boro, who defended resolutely and allowed Enfield relatively few clear cut chances, while carving out a few decent efforts of their own.

Romford: Jake Anderson, Henry Hart (Toby Barlow, 71m), Junior Luke, Kris Newby, Michael Turner, Scott Doe, Charlie Morris, Adalberto Pinto, Hassan Nalbant, Finlay Dorrell, Camilo Restrepo (Jacob Wiggins, 85m). Unused subs: Jack Glenister, Jamie Hursit.