ROMFORD 2 (0) - (0) 2 Dereham Town Attendance 74 - Ship Lane

The first half was a bit of a stop start affair with the whistle happy referee hindering a free flowing game but Romford should have gone into the break ahead. Top scorer Chinedu McKenzie brought out a smart save from Dereham stopper Will Viner in the sixth minute from a tight angle and three minutes later only a fantastic goal saving block denied James Age after a McKenzie dummy had allowed Will Green to scamper down the left wing and pick out the debutant. In the fourteenth minute Romford won a corner that was crossed by Jamie Dicks to the far post where Nick Reynolds volleyed towards goal but there was a defender well placed on the goal line to clear. Finally Viner made an unbelievable save from a point blank Reynolds header which would have been ruled out for offside, but neither player knew that. At the other end the men from Norfolk did not really threaten too much in front of goal apart from looking dangerous from the corners they forced.

Boro did finally open the scoring just after the restart when Dicks won the ball and played a neat one-two with Ayo Olukoga and then raced clear, before bearing down on goal and firing low past VIner and into the net. Dicks had a free kick saved four minutes later before against the run of play Dereham were level, when from a short corner David Hinton got the rub of the green as he rode two Romford tackles and still ended up with the ball in front of him before poking it into the net past Callum Chafer in the fifty-fourth minute. Romford deservedly regained the lead eight minutes later when Ryan Mallett won the ball in midfield and his delicate chip put Reynolds clean through, and he slotted home to go just two goals behind club legend Danny Benstock as top marksman since the rebirth of the club in 1992. Mallett was unlucky when his powerful header from a Dicks's corner was cleared off the line and a Reynolds flick at the near post went just wide of the far post. Time was running out but Romford still had to be alert and Hinton struck the post from a long range effort. Viner made another good stop from McKenzie and the forward took too long with another chance, before heartbreak for the hosts in the third minute of injury time when Dereham broke down the right wing and crossed to Will Sainsbury-Logan who made no mistake. However Romford can still take lots of positives out of the game and remain unbeaten at home as they take a break from league action for a week of cup football against Ryman League Premier Division opponents.

ROMFORD (0) 2 JAMIE DICKS 47, NICK REYNOLDS 62

DEREHAM TOWN (0) 2 HINTON 54, SAINSBURY-LOGAN 90

ROMFORD: CALLUM CHAFER, RYAN BOSWELL, JAMIE DICKS, MATT TOMS, JONATHAN ADEBAYO, RYAN MALLETT, AYO OLUKOGA, JAMES AGE (DAVID MANU 85), CHINEDU MCKENZIE, NICK REYNOLDS (ASHER MODESTE 77), WILL GREEN SUBS NOT USED ASHLEY BANKOLE & RICHARD WRAY

YELLOW CARD: RYAN MALLET 41, ASHER MODESTE 88