Bury Town 3, Romford 1

Two goals inside five first-half minutes put league leaders Bury Town in the driving seat in this game, and despite Boro pulling a goal back in the second half, the home side ran out deserved winners, adding a third to their tally in the game's closing stages. The result tells only part of the story, however as Romford matched Bury for long periods of the game, but were left to rue some missed opportunities in front of goal.

With Timi Babalola having moved on - although not so much to pastures new, having joined Boro's landlords Brentwood Town - and Michael Agboola absent following his injury at Grays in midweek, Boro showed a number of changes from that Velocity Trophy game with Jimmy Cox, Luke McLeavy, Inesh Sumithran, and Danny Nesbitt returning to the starting line up. McLeavy was to last only forty-five minutes, however as injury forced him to make way for George Woodward at half-time.

Both sides had early sights of goal, with the Romford defence needing to be alert to clear a Bury corner and then Jack Riddell making a good save to his right, before Jimmy Cox - cautioned for a foul inside the first sixty seconds - scooped a shot over and Giovanni Palmer stung the palms of Bury keeper Daniel Barden with a shot from the edge of the box. Palmer then shot wide after again being played in on the left, while at the other end Riddell saved well from Cemal Ramadan, and then Danny Cossington made an important interception at the expense of a corner. And from that 18th-minute corner, Bury broke the deadlock when Joe White forced the ball home at the near post.

The home side doubled their lead five minutes later. Riddell denied Ryan Horne with a good block, but the Boro defence failed to complete the clearance and Jake Chambers Shaw drove the loose ball into the bottom corner. Romford retaliated with Danny Cossington and Inesh Sumithran combining, but Jimmy Cox was just unable to divert Sumithran's low cross into the net. Cossington then went close with a header from Sumithran's cross, but the Boro defence survived a strong Bury appeal for a penalty after Riddell and Sumithran were called into action to clear a Bury corner.

The home side finished the half in the ascendancy, hitting both bar and post in quick succession, while White nearly added to his goal tally with a header that was just wide.

Despite facing the wind and rain after the break, Romford gave as good as they got in the second forty-five, with Inesh Sumithran getting on the end of a pass from Cossington but having his effort blocked by Barden in the home goal. But Sumithran was not to be denied just before the hour mark when he met George Woodward's cross with a header that gave the keeper no chance. Bury keeper Barden then made a hash of a routine clearance, presenting the ball to Cox, but the Boro forward was unable to get enough purchase on his shot, and the home keeper recovered to field the ball.

Jack Riddell was next called into action, flinging himself to his right to push away a fierce long-range effort, but he was unable to prevent Bury nabbing a third goal ten minutes from the end as Max Maughn fired home after Boro had failed to stop Ryan Jolland running in from the left. There was still time for Boro to have reduced the arrears, but Jimmy Cox chose placement over power with his last-minute effort, and Barden saved.

This defeat again showed how fine are the margins between winning and losing, and although Romford more than played their part in an entertaining game, the bottom line is that Boro came home pointless and remain at the foot of the table.

Romford: Jack Riddell, Luke McLeavy (George Woodward, 46m), Danny Nesbitt, Danny Cossington, Inesh Sumithran, Giovanni Palmer ( Nathan Joseph, 75m), Charlie Little, Malaki Toussaint, Reece Tranter (Ethan Kessell, 65m), Jimmy Cox, Rashaad Ogun. Subs not used: Antonius Anastasios, Toby Barlow.