Basildon United (2) 3, Romford (1) 2 – Saturday 7th March 2026 – Essex Senior League

A game that Romford could ill afford to lose ended in defeat nonetheless, leaving Boro just two points above the Essex Senior League relegation zone. Had Athletic Newham not squandered a two goal lead to draw with Woodford Town and had West Essex not lost against Great Wakering Rovers, then Boro would have ended the day in the bottom two.

Boro fell behind after just seven minutes as Ellis Sullivan headed a free-kick against the Romford crossbar and Alfie Osbourne reacted first to fire home the loose ball. Boro responded well, creating openings before equalising through Flynn Hamilton. First, after nine minutes, Darnell Fuller put Christian Adu Gyamfi through but Basildon keeper Enos Duah was quickly off his line to smother the ball and then after 20 minutes Teddy Desmond was well found by Freddy Cooper but could not keep his shot down and the ball went harmlessly over.

Flynn Hamilton had Boro on level terms with 22 minutes played, running onto Nick Reynolds’ long forward pass, twisting and turning into a shooting position and firing past Duah. Parity lasted only four minutes however, as Basildon won the ball in midfield and after a swift interchange of passes, Ellis Sullivan found space on the left side of Boro’s penalty area and sidefooted home.

After 33 minutes Adu Gyamfi was again set free, this time by Joe Damrell, but again Duah came out to gather and after 39 minutes Darnell Fuller was on the end of Cooper’s pass in a similar position to the one from which Hamilton had scored, but this time Duah was equal to the shot.

A rare clear cut chance for the hosts required Brad Davison to make an excellent diving save from Ladi Okunwobi’s shot in the 41st minute and the half ended with Joe Damrell possibly fortunate not to go into the referee’s book for a half-way line challenge that must have looked worse from the sidelines than it did from the official’s position.

The second half continued in a similar vein to the first with Basildon keeper Duah again coming quickly off his line to deny Romford substitute Henry Hart, who had been put through by Adu Gyamfi and then Hart set up Fuller for a full-blooded shot that unfortunately for Boro, was hit straight at Duah.

Basildon extended their lead with a 56th minute penalty. Emmanuel Shana got goal side of Joe Damrell and as the Boro defender chased back, he clipped the Basildon player and referee Yaron Woolf pointed to the spot. Okunwobi stepped up and rolled the penalty into the net.

Thereafter Boro had numerous chances to pull one back. Darnell Fuller hit a post with Greig Stewart’s well struck shot from the rebound blocked on 59 minutes and two minutes later Stewart had another shot deflected wide. After 67 minutes an excellent low cross by Henry Hart was diverted wide by a Basildon defender, and after 75 minutes Adu Gyamfi broke through despite having his shirt pulled but his shot was blocked by Duah. Almost immediately, Boro created another opening when Adu Gyamfi met Damrell’s low ball, but when Henry played it back into the box, no one in a blue shirt could capitalise.

With time running out, Boro finally got one back when Basildon defender Luke Moyler hauled down Henry Hart as a free-kick was floated in, conceding a penalty and receiving a red card in the process. Flynn Hamilton confidently converted the spot-kick but Boro’s hopes of completing a full comeback were dashed when Mr Woolf called time immediately after Basildon had kicked off, with a scant five minutes added time played at the end of another disappointing afternoon.

Romford: Bradley Davison, Joe Damrell, Teddy Desmond, Jake Barlow, Liam Boxall, Nick Reynolds (Henry Hart 46'), Greig Stewart, Freddy Cooper (Louis Mathias 71'), Christian Adu Gyamfi (Jake Gordon 78'), Flynn Hamilton, Darnell Fuller. Unused subs: Harry Elsey, Lewis Browne

Report by Mike Woods