Romford 0, Dereham Town 4

Predictably, second placed Dereham Town left Mayesbrook Park with all three points, but Romford turned in a much better performance than they had in the defeats at the hands of Great Wakering Rovers and Heybridge Swifts.

The visitors were quickest out of the blocks and had two good chances inside the first five minutes. First, Toby Hilliard shot tamely at Carlos Simeon when put through, and then he was denied twice in quick succession, first by Simeon, and then by Josh Exley-Banks, who kicked his shot off the line.

A fine pass by Patrick Campbell put Sheri Artmeladze in with a sight of goal, but his shot flew over the bar after 12 minutes, but five minutes later, Dereham drew first blood. Adam Hipperson fired in a low shot swerving shot that Simeon did well to parry, but only into the path of Hilliard who buried the rebound.

Dereham’s Castellan headed over from a corner, but Boro then came close to an equaliser when Chaka Barnett cut in from the left and his cross-shot forced Elliot Pride into a diving save at the expense of a corner, from which Artmeladze fashioned a shooting chance but missed the target.

Artmelaadze then drew an excellent save from Pride with a shot that the keeper was grateful to divert for another Romford corner.

Dereham doubled their lead from the penalty spot after 41 minutes. Hipperson embarked on a strong run down the left that came to an end when Bleron Ademi’s challenge in the box sent him to the ground. Hipperson drove the penalty low past Simeon.

Eight minutes into the second half and Boro’s most recent signing, Darnell Kithambo tried his luck with an overhead kick that was narrowly wide, but it was the visitors who looked more likely to score, and after 63 minutes Simeon had to make a good save from Hipperson, with the rebound fired over the bar by Bammant.

Hilliard shot over the bar after 67 minutes, but after 69 minutes he increased Dereham’s lead, showing good control on the goal-line before driving a shot into the roof of the net. Bammant made it four after 76 minutes with an unopposed header from Hilliard’s cross.

Simeon had to be alert to save from the suspiciously offside looking Logan, and then Linford headed a corner over the Boro crossbar, while at the other end Jesse Olukolu had a shot deflected wide, and then an inviting cross by Barnett had the Dereham defence clear the danger at the expense of a corner.

For Romford, having adopted a more direct style of play than has been the norm this season, there were some signs of encouragement as they created more chances than in the previous two fixtures put together. But, having now lost four on the trot with just one goal scored and sixteen conceded, next Saturday’s trip to Basildon United is fast becoming a must win match.

Romford: Carlos Simeon, Josh Exley-Banks, Chaka Barnett, Sam Dickens, Patrick Campbell, Abdul Shogbeni, Sheri Artmeladze (Mohammed Raza, 81m), Bleron Ademi (Jesse Olukolu, 65m), Christian Adu Gyamfi (David Luzolo, 70m), Jacopo Gatti, Darnell Kithambo. Unused subs: Amadu Kanu, Brandon Bullman