Romford (0) 2, Saffron Walden Town (2) 4 – Wednesday 30th July 2025 – Essex Senior League

Saffron Walden will clearly be a force to be reckoned with in the Essex Senior League this season but they must consider themselves lucky to have ended this game with all three points and a full complement of players.

The turning point came in the aftermath of Boro’s second goal when Walden keeper George Coton struck Harrison Georgiou in the face. The Laws of The Game are unambiguous; this should have been a red card.

With a numerical advantage and facing a team without a recognised keeper between the sticks, Boro would have fancied their chances of salvaging a point or even winning the game, yet referee Emre Arslan amazed everyone by showing Coton only a yellow card. To add insult to his injury, Georgiou was also cautioned, as was Boro’s Darnell Bromfield. Add a contentious penalty awarded to the visitors and a valid penalty claim for Romford waved away, and all in all, this was a frustrating evening for Boro.

Two former Boro players combined to give Walden the lead after only five minutes when Toheeb Elegushi prodded the ball home from Sam Deering’s chipped pass, although Boro were claiming a foul as Harrison Georgiou was dispossessed in midfield in the build up. Elegushi tried his luck with a shot from the corner of the box that Brad Davison fielded after nine minutes, and shortly after that, Davison had to turn away a low shot from Salin Nassor as the visitors bossed the early stages. The ensuing corner ended up in the net but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Davison.

Owen Bellamy had Romford’s first chance of note, cutting in from the left after being found by Malaki Hyman’s pass, but Coton cut out the cross. Walden had the ball in the net a third time after 20 minutes but an offside flag cut short their celebrations, and then when Ezra Agyiri’s cross was spilled by Coton, there was no Romford player on hand to take advantage.

Romford were now recovered from the shock of conceding an early goal and Ellis Devereux, well found by Christian Adu Gyamfi’s ball from the left, was just unable to bring the ball under control before the visitors cleared. Owen Bellamy was set free on the left on the half hour but he spurned the chance to square the ball to Devereux, opting to shoot instead; Coton saved.

Two minutes later a low shot from Jeff Cobbiah found the net to double Walden’s lead, but they needed the sort of good fortune that Romford did not enjoy to preserve their lead with Boro creating three good chances in the last three minutes of the half. Agyiri’s shot hit a post with the aid of a deflection with Coton grateful to scoop up the rebound; Owen Bellamy’s shot from outside the box whistled past the post and then Christian Adu Gyamfi headed in a cross by Teddy Desmond only to be denied by an offside flag raised against one of his team mates.

Ellis Devereux pulled one back two minutes into the second half when he scored with a low shot from near the penalty spot after Bellamy had cut the ball back from the right, and a minute later, after Walden keeper Coton had turned Bellamy’s shot round the post, Harry Elsey headed just wide from the resultant corner.

The visitors restored their two goal advantage with a 54th minute penalty converted by Kaleel Green, awarded after the referee spotted an infringement when Deering’s free-kick was lofted into the Romford penalty area.

Substitute Fabio Co, having seen his header clawed away by Coton, laid the ball back to Devereux who netted his, and Boro’s, second after 57 minutes, which led to a significant delay – which was not reflected in the time added at the end of the match – while the referee consulted his assistants on appropriate punishment for Coton hitting Georgiou, lectured the captains of each side and administered three yellow cards.

Teddy Desmond was denied by Coton, who dived at his feet as the Romford player made inroads into the penalty area, Jake Gordon burst through the visitors’ defence and set up Co for a shot that was blocked, but Walden netted a fourth after 81 minutes when Owusu converted a loose ball after Davison had blocked Deering’s shot.

There was still time for Boro to be denied a penalty as Harry Markatis was tripped as he weaved his way into the penalty area with referee Arslan waving play on. A moment later and the referee brought proceedings to an end that was somewhat premature considering the time lost through various second half stoppages.

Romford: Bradley Davison, Malakai Hyman (Teddy Desmond 34'), Guy Norton, Darnell Bromfield (Harry Markatis 61'), Harry Elsey, Ola Sosanya, Ezra Agyiri (Fabio Co 54'), Ellis Devereux, Christian Adu Gyamfi, Harrison Georgiou (Jake Gordon 60'), Owen Bellamy. Unused sub: Ross Elsom