Grays Athletic 4, Romford 0

The final scoreline may have been a tad harsh on Boro, but there’s no doubt that Grays deserved their win, which took them to the top of the table, a position it’s not difficult to believe that they may occupy come 23rd April next year.

Against a side who had scored twelve goals in their opening four league games, conceding early was definitely something that Romford would have wanted to avoid, but with only four minutes played, Grays were ahead. A long ball found Danny Gould on the Grays left, and his low cross was met by the prolific David Knight, and his shot found the bottom corner of Brandon Bullman’s goal.

Romford were dealt a further blow with just ten minutes on the clock as central defender Daniel Aldana hobbled off to be replaced by Jacopo Gatti, with Sam Dickens taking Aldana’s place alongside Germain Dua in the Boro back four.

Dickens was involved in the next two incidents of note, one at either end but unfortunately for Boro, with wildly different outcomes. Immediately after Aldana’s injury, Dickens let fly from range with a shot that Grays keeper Danny Sambridge could only beat away; the loose ball ran to Christian Adu Gyamfi, but the in-form Boro striker was unable to convert.

Then, after 27 minutes, in attempting to block a speculative shot from Grays full-back Ryan Sammons, Dickens could only watch in horror as the ball deflected past the stranded Brandon Bullman for Grays’s second goal.

Romford had a chance to get back into the game in the opening minute of the second half when a through ball picked out L’heureux Menga, but his effort was deflected wide of goal by a Grays boot for a corner which came to nothing.

A long ball through the Romford defence appeared to have handed David Knight a golden opportunity to make it three after 51 minutes, but Bullman blocked his effort at goal, and when the loose ball fell to Anointed Chukwu, the Boro keeper was relieved to see one of his defenders block the follow up shot.

Bullman denied Chukwu with a good save a minute later, but it was only a temporary reprieve as in the 55th minute the unmarked Jack McQueen powered home a header from a corner.

Steve Carvell had a shot for Romford that rose just over the bar, but Grays had a good chance of their own when Joe Paxman shot wide when well placed. Carvell then delivered a corner onto the head of Sam Dickens, but his goal bound header was tipped over by Sambridge.

A good run by Jesse Olukolu ended with a dangerous cross that Grays cleared only as far as Aundre Whorlas-Spencer, whose cross from the opposite flank was headed over by Christian Adu Gyamfi.

Grays put the seal on the win with a fourth in the 87th minute. Callum Watts beat Sam Dickens in the race of a long pass and fired home across Bullman.

Jacopo Gatti’s free-kick that flew over Sambridge’s crossbar was the closing action of the game as Romford fell to defeat on their travels for the first time in the league this season, and this result – and others this week – leave Boro in twelfth place, and with six points, six fewer than leaders Grays, but six more than bottom club Heybridge Swifts.

Romford: Brandon Bullman, Malaki Toussaint, Aundre Wholas-Spencer, Sam Dickens, Germaine Dua, Daniel Ortiz-Aldana (Jacopo Gatti, 11m), Steve Carvell, Billy Hayes, L’heureux Menga (Usoman Tunkara, 56m), Christian Adu-Gymafi, Jesse Olukolu.
Unused subs: Patrick Campbell, Chaka Barnett, Carlos Simeon.