Welcome to Romford

Welcome to Romford.

This is my hometown, situated in the north-eastern suburbs of London. Historically a market town in the county of Essex, now it forms part of the London Borough of Havering, and is the home of 30,000 or so people, of whom I have been one for my 27 years on this planet.

Of course, Romford is best known for its historic market, which is still active today but is nowadays overshadowed by the Liberty Shopping Centre, one of the biggest of its kind in London. We also have loads of entertainment facilities, a thriving nightclub scene, and one of the few remaining greyhound tracks in the capital.

In recent years, we've had plenty of musical talents grow up in these parts. Electronic music band Underworld are almost synonymous with Romford, and the town has even been mentioned in some of their songs, including their most famous hit

. Jo O'Meara - previously known as the talented one out of S Club 7 before she teamed up with a couple of bigoted pigs on a certain reality TV show - is a Romford girl, and so is... erm, Jessie J.

Arguably the most famous music act to come out of Romford, though, is Five Star - the quintet of Pearson siblings were massively successful in the mid to late 1980s.

We also gave the country Michelle Dockery from Downton Abbey, and Richard Madeley, for which I can only apologise.

Other famous people to have come from Romford include the England international footballers Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Jonjo Shelvey, and of course the legend that is the Romford Pelé, Ray Parlour.

However, despite being almost a hotbed for young English midfielders, our town has never enjoyed much success with its local team.

Romford FC is currently in its third incarnation, which was formed 20 years ago in 1992. They currently play in Division 1 North of the Isthmian League - that's in the eighth tier of English football.

That means the Boro, as the club is nicknamed, are four promotions from the Football League, and seven from the promised land that is the Premier League. Romford FC have never even dreamt about playing in the professional leagues... but now, with a new manager in place, they are more ambitious than ever and are determined to one day make it into the big time.

Why do I say that?

My name is Christopher Fuller, and I am the new manager of Romford Football Club.

Long-time reader, first-time writer. Feel free to give me any feedback you may have on my debut story.

I am running FM13, and using an edited version of magicmastermind's FMUpdates EEE database.

I have loaded 'playable' leagues for England (Level 8), France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Russia, Scotland, Spain and Wales, as well as several 'view-only' leagues. Other leagues will be added, or made playable, as the save progresses.

I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it.

Okay, without further ado, I'll crack on...

Christopher Fuller (CFuller)

23 June 2014

I was born in the Harold Wood area of Romford on 11 April 1985. My mother and all of my grandparents came from various parts of London, but my father was born and bred in Romford, and it was there where he and his wife brought up their family.

My sister came along in November 1986. Unsurprisingly, as brother and sister, we fought like cat and dog when we were very young, and we never shared any common interests, but our relationship has improved greatly as we've matured.

One of my biggest interests growing up was football, and that was started by the 1996 European Championship, hosted by one of the best England teams in living memory. However, it wasn't until I was 12 years old that I started watching club football. Arsenal were the one team that caught my eye the most, and when I later discovered that my father was a Gooner in his younger days, my allegiance was cast in stone.

As a young football fan, 1998 was the happiest year for me as Arsenal won the League and Cup double. My big idol from that era was Dennis Bergkamp, but as a player, I wanted one day to be part of the Gunners' back four, following in the footsteps of Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn... and the great Tony Adams, who like me was born in Romford.

However, I twigged at the age of 14 that I neither had the ability nor the physique to cut it as a professional footballer, and I also realised that I was quite scared of tackling anyone, which isn't exactly a good trait for a wannabe right-back! The sum of my playing career in football was a few bit-part appearances for the school team, where the total number of times I touched the ball can't have been much more than single figures.

There was no chance of me lifting the World Cup with England or winning the Premier League with Arsenal as a player, but I still wanted to be involved in football. Coaching first became of great interest when I started playing a football management simulation on the family computer in the late-1990s. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called.

My other dream was to be a football journalist. I left school in 2001 with GCSEs in Mathematics and English, and after five more years in higher education, I was hired as a junior reporter for the Romford Recorder. Some time later, I was given the job of reporting on Romford FC's matches, and it was while doing this that I built an affinity with my local team.

During my time with the Recorder, I became well-known for asking some very cutting questions and having forthright opinions about how the Boro should be playing. In January 2012, after a particularly heavy 5-0 home defeat to Enfield Town, my interviewing style angered manager Paul Martin to the extent that he basically told me, "If you think you know so much about managing a football team, why don't you have a go?" I've removed any colourful language, as there may be kids reading this.

Although Martin's comments were undoubtedly sarcastic, I took them very seriously. When Paul handed in his resignation after an average campaign in which Romford only finished 13th in the Isthmian League Division 1 North, I sensed an opportunity. After filing a report on his departure in the Recorder, I sneakily sent in a job application to the club without informing my employers beforehand.

In late June, I was interviewed for the manager's post by the club's chairman, Steve Gardener. As one would expect, I was very nervous, but my determination and my desire to put my hometown football club on the map seemed to impress the chairman.

In a way, I was also quite fortunate that there weren't a great deal of people interested in the vacant post. When Mr Gardener phoned back on 2 July to inform me that I'd got the job, I was delighted, and immensely proud.

Despite having no coaching qualifications or experience whatsoever, I had gone from interviewing the manager of Romford Football Club to actually BEING the manager of Romford Football Club.

Welcome to FMS, new writers and good new stories are always welcome .

I do hope you carry on what looks like a fascinating story idea, as always my top piece of advice to new writers is: Have fun, enjoy it. If you enjoy writing it, we will enjoy reading it. It really is that simple.

Right, advice dispensed, carry on.

Welcome to FMS CFuller, a good start to your story and will be looking forward to reading more. I echo everything that chester says...enjoy what you write and it will show through in your story.

Welcome to FMS, new writers and good new stories are always welcome .

I do hope you carry on what looks like a fascinating story idea, as always my top piece of advice to new writers is: Have fun, enjoy it. If you enjoy writing it, we will enjoy reading it. It really is that simple.

Right, advice dispensed, carry on.

Welcome to FMS CFuller, a good start to your story and will be looking forward to reading more. I echo everything that chester says...enjoy what you write and it will show through in your story.

Thanks for the comments, chester and Mark. I actually started writing this story just over a year ago, and I'm still really enjoying it, so I can assure you both that there will be loads more to come.

It was 3 July 2012 - my first day in charge of Romford Football Club. I had been hired on a 12-month contract worth £300 per week.

I quickly settled into my new office at the club's stadium in Ship Lane, situated in... er, Aveley. That's about half an hour's drive away from Romford.

I'll explain. Since the club was reformed in 1992, we've had a very nomadic existence. In 2001, we left the Sungate stadium in Collier Row - very near where I live, actually. From there, we moved to Rush Green for several years, and since 2008, we've been based in Aveley. For the last four seasons, we groundshared with the local team, but as of this term, we play at Ship Lane - the home of Thurrock.

I hope you're still with me on this.

Obviously, it's important that a football club called Romford eventually returns to its hometown, and I hope to be the manager that takes them home. In fact, it's just one of my long-term objectives for the club:

• Win promotion from the Isthmian League Division 1 North
  
• Secure the club's financial future
  
• Build a new stadium in Romford and move the team there
  
• Turn Romford into a fully professional club
  
• Win promotion to the Football League
  

Okay, those last two objectives might be at the very least several years away from becoming reality, but at least I'm thinking ahead!

Soon, it was time for me to be formally presented as Romford's new manager at a hastily-arranged press conference. There were a handful of local journalists there, including one from my former employers - the Romford Recorder. It certainly wasn't anything like the media scrum that usually occurs whenever José Mourinho suggests that he might return to Chelsea at some point in the next quarter of a century.

The questions came in thick and fast, and so did my answers:

"Christopher, is this your dream job?"

"Of course. It's a dream come true to become the manager of my hometown club. I am very proud and very honoured to be sitting here right now."

"Romford have finished mid-table in every season since they returned to the Isthmian League. Are you the right man to lift them out of mid-table mediocrity?"

"I think, in time, I will be. Romford fans shouldn't expect promotion this season, because this season will be one of transition, but I'm confident I can move Romford up the table and secure a top-half finish. From that point, we will look to push forward."

"What are your long-term plans for Romford Football Club?"

"We've been happy to settle for mid-table for far too long, but I want to change that attitude. I want to be the man that takes this club up the leagues, and hopefully one day into the Football League."

"Will the league be your top priority this season?"

"We'd like to have a good run in one of the cups, of course, because there is so much prize money to be made, but the league has to be our main focus. We don't want to get dragged into a relegation battle, especially not at this level of the football pyramid."

"How will you approach the game from a tactical point of view?"

"I really enjoy attacking football, but you can't afford to play like Barcelona in the Isthmian League, otherwise you'll get slaughtered. With that in mind, I'm going to be a bit more cautious and methodical with my tactics at first, though I won't go into specifics at this moment in time."

"One final question, Christopher. If this doesn't work out for you, will you think about coming back to the Recorder?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that question from my old colleague. "I'd like to stay positive, Lee," I told him.

I was all smiles after my first press conference, but now it was time to really get down to business. I was about to have my first meeting with the players that I would soon be leading either to glory or to failure.

Excellent start! Will be reading along!

After a half-hour drive to our stadium, and a low-key press conference, I arrived at the club's 'training ground' to meet my players face to face for the first time as manager.

To be honest, it felt more like a scene out of 28 Days Later than a football club's training session. Even by semi-professional standards, we were very short on personnel. I had inherited a squad of twelve players - only just enough to put out a full team!

GOALKEEPER: Neil Finn (age 33)

DEFENDERS: Micky Haswell (age 28), Matty Toms (age 22)

MIDFIELDERS: Hussein Isa (age 24), Ricki Mackin (age 29), Joe Oates (age 18), Andy Oxby (age 28), Billy Radley* (age 18), Chris Sullivan (age 24)

FORWARDS: Nicky Reynolds (age 24), Toran Senghore (age 22), Kurt Smith (age 22)

* on loan from Billericay Town until 30 December

Yes, you read that right. We only had two defenders, and one goalkeeper. That's some defence.

The club's backroom didn't look particularly great, either. I had inherited an assistant manager, Daryl Armstrong, whose catchphrase seemed to be, "Yes, boss", as well as James Harbottle, a physio who thinks a hernia is a type of migraine, and scout Clive White, who couldn't spot talent if it ran up to him shouting expletives.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to get rid of all three of them, Steve Gardener informed me that they were all tied up under contracts for this season. Brilliant.

I had just two weeks to assemble some sort of squad, and perhaps bring in some extra backroom staff, before our first pre-season game. That wouldn't exactly be a piece of cake, considering our financial restraints.

We don't have any sort of transfer budget, which is unsurprising for a semi-professional team. We do, though, have a wage budget, albeit a small one at £310 per week. That was pretty much all being used up when I arrived, as we were playing £305 per week to just two players.

One of those players was Billy Radley, our on-loan winger from Billericay Town. We were paying half of Billy's £10-per-week wages. £5 is a reasonable weekly wage for an eighth-division player. £300 is not, though, but that was what we were paying goalkeeper Neil Finn.

Finn was our longest-serving player (he's been here since around 2000), our most experienced player (at 33 years of age), our only player with Premier League experience (he once played for West Ham United in 1996), our goalkeeping coach, and not to mention the namesake of a famous singer. But he was also a big drain on the club's finances. There were far better professional players in the Conference Premier that earned less than him.

In summary, Neil Finn had to go as soon as possible. His days at the Boro were numbered.

As soon as I finished my first training session as Romford manager, I immediately set about searching for new players. Using whatever means possible, I identified dozens of possible new signings, and managed to contact many of them. (I've got a lot of time on my hands now that I've left the Recorder!) Alas, only a few of them were willing to consider non-contract terms. Even fewer turned out to have any skill whatsoever upon closer inspection.

Eventually, six days after starting my new job, I managed to get someone on board. He was a goalkeeper - but not an immediate replacement for Finn. Joel Wilkinson, a 16-year-old free agent from Cambridge, is likely to be our backup goalie for this season and is very much one for the future.

Before long, the squad began to fill up as defenders Daryl Bourgeois and Anthony Chapman arrived on permanent deals along with midfielder Callum Crawley. We also managed to snare left-back Tom Stephen from near neighbours East Thurrock United, and Hemel Hempstead Town kindly lent us right-back Danny Hutchins, formerly of Tottenham Hotspur and Yeovil Town, until the New Year.

I also signed six players on trials: goalkeeper Matt Mann, midfielder Tom Wade, defensive duo Sonny Harker-Smith and Ryan Myers, and strikers Declan Attenborrow and Sammy Winston. That meant we had a full complement of 23 players in our squad for our first pre-season friendly of the season.

Sadly, though, there was one departure. Micky Haswell attracted interest from four clubs who wanted to give him part-time contracts. We couldn't afford to hold onto our 28-year-old left-back, and so he packed his bags and headed for divisional rivals Waltham Abbey.

Eventually, the moment that I was waiting for arrived. On the evening of 17 July, exactly a fortnight after I officially took the reins at Romford, I got my first ever taste of life as a football manager.

Excellent start! Will be reading along!

Thanks! The next part of the story is on its way!

Our first pre-season friendly was a high-profile one against Kingstonian - one of the more recognisable names in non-league football. Our opponents were famous for reaching Round 4 of the FA Cup in 2001 and having legendary commentator Martin Tyler as a first-team coach, but their Conference heyday was a distant memory and they now grace the Isthmian League Premier Division.

17 July 2012: Romford vs Kingstonian

My reign as Romford manager didn't exactly get off to a great start, as Toran Senghore conceded the first foul after just five seconds! We slowly got our act together, though, and Kurt Smith went close with a free-kick in the sixth minute. Five minutes later, Smith's shot was spilled by the Kingstonian keeper Rob Tolfrey, and Senghore reacted quickly to fire the ball home and send the Romford fans - who gathered in their tens - delirious! We had a 1-0 lead, but it was inevitable that Kingstonian would hit back, and on 34 minutes, they did just that. Former Milton Keynes Dons and Sheffield Wednesday striker Wade Small dribbled his way through a big hole in our defence and then equalised with a deadly finish. I had only just come to terms with the loss of our lead when, a minute later, Senghore drilled a stunning 25-yard strike into Tolfrey's bottom-right corner! Now we were 2-1 up, and with no further goals coming in the first half, our next job was to hold onto the lead in the second half.

Doing that against a team with one former Football League striker is difficult enough. Unfortunately, Kingstonian had two, and Mark Nwokeji - briefly of Dagenham & Redbridge - hit their second equaliser six minutes after the restart. Tom Hutchinson played a fabulous ball upfield to Nwokeji, who broke clear and popped the ball into the near corner. After 64 minutes, the Kingstonian comeback was complete. K's midfielder Andre McCollin sliced us open, sending Bobby Traynor clean through on goal before he made it 3-2. Kingstonian were soon pushing for a fourth goal, but a combination of some lacklustre shooting and some good saves from young Joel Wilkinson kept our deficit down. I quickly realised that our defenders were pushing up too much, allowing our opponents to hit us on the counter at the right time. It was too late to rectify things in this game, and my first match as Romford boss ended in defeat, but I wasn't overly concerned. This was against a team with much more experience, and I saw plenty of positives and other things to take with us into our remaining friendlies.

Romford - 2 (Senghore 11,35)

Kingstonian - 3 (Small 34, Nwokeji 51, Traynor 64)

Friendly, Attendance 42

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Mann (Wilkinson), Hutchins (Chapman), Bourgeois (Harker-Smith), Toms (Myers), Stephen (Mackin), Sullivan (Radley), Crawley (Oxby), Smith (Wade), Oates (Isa), Reynolds (Winston), Senghore (Attenborrow). BOOKED: Harker-Smith.

The next few days were to be frustrating, as we missed out on a couple of young signings and couldn't add to our squad before the next game.

Meanwhile, I went online, and was surprised to find a bookmaker taking odds on who would win our division. While Aveley were the favourites at 6-4, and the likes of Witham Town, Wroxham and Maldon & Tiptree also had short odds, we were in the middle of the pack at 20-1. That's not surprising when you consider that our last three finishes in our division have been 13th, 12th and 13th - not exactly great, but at least we're consistent!

Anyway, onto our next friendly, and it was a big one - a home game against Thurrock. Well, officially, this was a home friendly for us, but Thurrock are our landlords, so Ship Lane was a decidedly neutral venue.

21 July 2012: Romford vs Thurrock

Not surprisingly, we managed to get the attendance up to 115 for this match - so we fell just 4,385 short of a capacity crowd! However, what the spectators saw was a local derby that was more thud and blunder than blood and thunder. We looked much more solid at the back than when Kingstonian came to Ship Lane, even though we did lose Ryan Myers to injury in the 11th minute. Either side of that, we had a couple of shots on target through our excellent captain Daryl Bourgeois and midfielder Callum Crawley, but both were saved by Thurrock keeper Will Viner. The rest of our first-half shots - all seven of them - missed by miles, and with Thurrock only troubling Neil Finn once in the opening 45 minutes, this was looking like an awful advert for non-league football.

In the 52nd minute, Finn made his second save - this time from Fleet substitute Lawrence Yiga. That was about as good as the second half got. While we mustered just two more hopeless shots at goal in the half, Thurrock resorted to dirty tactics. In the final minute, a rough challenge from Emmot Parr-Gallagher left our trialist striker Declan Attenborrow unable to continue. By then, we'd used all our outfield substitutions, so we had to play the closing stages with 16-year-old goalkeeper Joel Wilkinson up front! Needless to say, this game ended 0-0 and will live as long in the memory as Katie Price's music career.

Romford - 0

Thurrock - 0

Friendly, Attendance 115

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Finn (Mann), Chapman (Stephen), Bourgeois (Harker-Smith), Myers (Toms), Hutchins (Mackin), Radley (Sullivan), Crawley (Wade), Smith (Oxby), Oates (Isa), Winston (Reynolds), Senghore (Attenborrow (Wilkinson)).

Over the next week, three more new faces arrived at Romford as I continued to build my squad for the coming season. Teenage former Leyton Orient striker Chris Benjamin joined us on a permanent basis, while goalkeeper Scott Traveller and left-winger Ryan Martin started their trials.

Our next friendly was our first away from home, as we travelled to the small seaside town of Herne Bay in Kent. Our hosts were about to start their first campaign in the Isthmian League Division 1 South after lifting the Kent Football League title earlier this year.

28 July 2012: Herne Bay vs Romford

The first chance we had was in the 9th minute, when Boro new boy Chris Benjamin laid the ball off to Declan Attenborrow, but Dec fired hopelessly across goal. After 21 minutes, our hopes of breaking through a surprisingly tough Herne Bay defence got a major boost, as the hosts lost their left-back Billie-Jean King, er I mean Billy-Joe King, to injury. But in the 34th minute, the Bay played some head tennis in our penalty area before Ben Bissett hit an ace of a volley into the net. Thankfully, a line judge called 'fault', ruling that Bissett was offside. The game remained all-square, though not for long. Six minutes later, Benjamin once again set up Attenborrow, who this time drilled the ball beyond the goalkeeper's reach. We now had the first set, erm, goal! I'll try to stop the tennis analogies now.

Herne Bay had the more positive start to the second half. They certainly could not be faulted for lack of effort, although their shooting left a lot to be desired. In the 63rd minute, we showed them how it was done, as Benjamin hit an incredible 20-yard lob into the corner of the goal to put us 2-0 up! That stunner broke Herne Bay's spirit, and they weren't quite the same after that. About half an hour later, it was a case of game, set and match to Romford, as we won comfortably despite having fewer shots than our opponents. Indeed, we scored with our only two shots on target, so when it comes to shooting, it's all about quality rather than quantity!

Herne Bay - 0

Romford - 2 (Attenborrow 40, Benjamin 63)

Friendly, Attendance 63

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller (Wilkinson), Mackin (Chapman), Bourgeois (Harker-Smith), Toms (Myers), Hutchins (Stephen), Sullivan (Radley), Oxby (Crawley), Wade (Smith), Isa (Martin (Senghore)), Benjamin (Reynolds), Attenborrow (Winston). BOOKED: Sullivan.

As the month came to a close, three players said their goodbyes to Ship Lane. Two trialists were sent home early, as goalkeeper Matt Mann suffered a head injury, and striker Sammy Winston failed to impress me at all.

The third departure was that of Neil Finn. Our goalkeeping stalwart left Romford by mutual consent after more than a decade on our books. His severance payment of around £6,000 has put us just over £2,000 in debt, but we'll actually save around £8,000 on wages in the long run if I stick to my policy of only signing players on trials or non-contracts.

August began with another local derby, as Conference South new boys AFC Hornchurch came to Ship Lane. Jimmy McFarlane's men won the Isthmian Premier play-offs last season, so we knew we were up against strong opponents.

1 August 2012: Romford vs AFC Hornchurch

At first, the two-division gap looked obvious, as Hornchurch hammered plenty of shots at our goal. They were unlucky not to score through a Michael Spencer header in the 17th minute, and they were cursing their luck again in the 38th. Spencer lobbed the ball up to veteran striker Wayne Gray, whose diving header was parried by Boro goalkeeper Joel Wilkinson and then hacked away by Matty Toms! We weren't being totally overwhelmed, though, because on 42 minutes, we seriously troubled their goal for the first time. Kurt Smith centred the ball to loanee Billy Radley, whose shot was just about gathered by Joe Woolley. That was soon followed by the Urchins' best effort, as Matt Hann struck the crossbar. About a couple of minutes later, Nick McKoy's poorly-timed sliding challenge on Chris Benjamin sent the ball towards Toran Senghore and put him clean through on the Hornchurch goal. There was no chance of Toran throwing away that opportunity, and at half-time, Romford were 1-0 up against one of the bigger teams in our region!

It wouldn't last. AFC Hornchurch came out fighting for the second half, and after 65 minutes, they were level. The Urchins put together a string of quick passes, the last of which was played by Stafford Taylor to Martin Tuohy, whose first-time shot was much too powerful for poor Joel Wilkinson. It was Hornchurch's only shot on target out of 11 in total, and it was enough to give them a draw. Our chance to claim a big pre-season scalp was gone, and nine minutes from the end, our bad luck with injuries got worse. Chris Sullivan was brought down by Urchins captain Elliot Styles, and became our third player in as many games to be forced off the pitch in the closing stages. At the final whistle, I consoled my players and praised them for an admirable performance, while at the same time keeping a mental note to avoid any black cats on the way home.

Romford - 1 (Senghore 45)

AFC Hornchurch - 1 (Tuohy 65)

Friendly, Attendance 42

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson (Traveller), Mackin (Hutchins), Harker-Smith (Myers), Toms (Bourgeois), Stephen (Chapman), Radley (Sullivan (Isa)), Oxby (Wade), Smith (Crawley), Martin (Oates), Benjamin (Reynolds), Senghore (Attenborough).

The injury news concerning Chris Sullivan was not good - he'd sprained his ankle and would be out for around two months. Although Sully hadn't been at his best during pre-season, the winger is one of our more talented players, and he would be a big loss.

Meanwhile, we brought in 16-year-old defensive midfielder Mitchell Sampayo on trial in time for our away trip to south-west London, where we played one of non-league football's most historic names - Corinthian-Casuals. They had been playing in the Isthmian League Division 1 South since the 2006/2007 season.

4 August 2012: Corinthian-Casuals vs Romford

We got off to a terrible start, with Corinthian-Casuals scoring from a corner after just three minutes. Jason Hurley's delivery was headed towards goal by Jake Jarman, but it was Kenny Reeves' head that got the final touch. Reeves' fellow Casuals striker Liam Holden was also proving to be a menace in the opening stages. After six minutes, Holden hit the bar with a long-range strike that could well have doubled the Casuals' lead. Shortly after he had another shot saved by Scott Traveller in the 17th minute, Holden got into a clash with Romford defender Tom Stephen. Tom came off worse, and was taken off with concussion. Five minutes later, though, things started to take a turn for the better. Hussein Isa's low cross found Nicky Reynolds, who hit the post with his first shot but eventually scored with the follow-up to restore parity at 1-1. The woodwork was our friend on that occasion, but it soon turned against us. After 25 minutes, the crossbar stopped Declan Attenborrow from giving us the lead. Seven minutes later, Holden put Corinthian-Casuals back ahead with a goal remarkably similar to Nicky's. The hosts remained 2-1 ahead at half-time after Isa narrowly missed several chances to pull us back level.

During the half-time break, I demanded a notable improvement from my players... and they seemed to get the message. Ten minutes after the restart, Reynolds fired a vicious second equaliser past Casuals goalkeeper Danny Bracken. I was now feeling optimistic that we could take control of the game. Then, in the 69th minute, we started to fall apart. Francois Gabbidon played an excellent free-kick to Dom Bates just outside the six-yard box, and Bates provided the Casuals with their third goal. Two minutes later, they had a fourth, as Jay Brett ripped through the defence and sent the home team two goals in front for the first time. But they weren't finished yet, because two MORE minutes later, they scored AGAIN! French defender Gabbidon flicked a diving header past a hopeless Joel Wilkinson, who conceded his third goal in the space of four minutes! All of a sudden, we had gone from being even stevens at 2-2, to being 5-2 down! We did eventually stem the bleeding, and then we dominated the closing stages before Toran Senghore pinched a late goal - our third of the day - with three minutes left to play. This had been a thrilling pre-season contest, with no fewer than 35 shots (21 from us, 14 from the hosts) and EIGHT goals! However, I was certainly not best pleased, because our defending had been much too casual against the Casuals.

Corinthian-Casuals - 5 (Reeves 3, Holden 32, Bates 69, Brett 71, Gabbidon 73)

Romford - 3 (Reynolds 22,55, Senghore 87)

Friendly, Attendance 56

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller (Wilkinson), Hutchins (Mackin), Bourgeois (Harker-Smith), Myers (Toms), Stephen (Chapman), Isa (Radley), Crawley (Oxby), Smith (Sampayo), Oates (Martin), Reynolds (Benjamin), Attenborrow (Senghore). BOOKED: Hutchins.

That was arguably our worst performance of pre-season so far, and with just one win to our name after five friendlies, the start of my managerial career was turning into a baptism of fire.

beautiful start sir.

Will be bookmarking this one.

beautiful start sir.

Will be bookmarking this one.

Thank you, Gary. Glad to have you as a reader.

There were some changes to the squad before our next friendly. Goalkeeper Scott Traveller agreed to stay at Romford after a successful trial, but another trialist, Tom Wade, was dismissed. Replacing him at Ship Lane would be fellow central midfielder Scott Weight, who signed from Ashford Town (Middlesex).

We also brought in former Dagenham & Redbridge left-back George Walters on a free transfer. His signing seemed to have been timed to perfection, as he arrived soon after Tom Stephen was ruled out for the rest of pre-season with concussion. However, Walters then suffered an untimely bout of flu, so his full debut would have to wait.

There was one other new face at Romford, with 38-year-old Tony Reid - a journeyman midfielder in his playing days - agreeing to join us as a coach.

Then came the time for our next friendly. Just like four days earlier, we were away to an Isthmian League Division 1 South team known as the Casuals. On this occasion, our opponents were Walton Casuals, based in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey.

8 August 2012: Walton Casuals vs Romford

Corinthian-Casuals scored after just three minutes when we played them, and unfortunately, Walton Casuals were just as quick out of the blocks. Sol Patterson-Bohner had two defenders marking him but still managed to slip the ball past Scott Traveller to give Walton the perfect start. While all 16 home fans were celebrating in the stands, I was fuming. After that early setback, though, the Romford boys showed much more determination - in particular, Andy Oxby. In the 15th minute, he made a dogged challenge on Paul Oliver that left the Stags midfielder too badly hurt to play on. Four minutes later, Oxby made a more positive contribution to the game, as his excellent pass found trialist Ryan Martin in the Walton penalty area, and Martin smacked the ball home! The Stags could've restored their lead on 23 minutes through Charlie Mapes, whose effort was parried away by Scott Traveller. But when Patterson-Bohner came off hurt shortly before the half-hour mark, Walton's attack lost its bite, and the half finished with the teams still level at 1-1.

The second half was mundane to say the least, with scoring chances few and far between. However, it did come to life in the closing stages. With four minutes left, Walton midfielder Lewis Collinson cut open our defence with a deft header to James Hamsher, who had a great chance to score, but his shot clipped the frame of the goal and went out. Toran Senghore then went for glory at the other end in the 89th minute, only to fire over. In the end, the draw was no less than we deserved - it was another distinctly average performance.

Walton Casuals - 1 (Patterson-Bohner 3)

Romford - 1 (Martin 19)

Friendly, Attendance 16

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller (Wilkinson), Hutchins (Mackin), Hatch (Bourgeois), Toms (Myers), Chapman (Walters), Radley (Isa), Oxby (Crawley), Weight (Sampayo), Martin (Oates), Benjamin (Senghore), Smith (Reynolds). BOOKED: Hatch, Martin, Myers.

Immediately after the Walton game, Kurt Smith said his goodbyes, having agreed a move to Southern League Premier Division side Bedford Town. Smith was our top scorer last season and is a massive loss, but that's non-league football for you. The richer teams can nab the best players on part-time contracts that we, at this moment, cannot afford.

If that was a setback, we received a lift the following morning. Trialist defender Ryan Myers attracted interest from a number of rival teams, but the former Queens Park Rangers man decided in the end to stay with us. Ryan is only 21 years old, and my coaches are tipping him for a bright future at a much higher level. Time will tell.

Our final pre-season friendly was at home to Sittingbourne - yet another team from the Isthmian South. In our previous three games against opponents from that division, we won once, drew once, and lost once. But all three of those matches were away, and I strongly fancied us to get what would be my first win at Ship Lane.

11 August 2012: Romford vs Sittingbourne

The first half wasn't exactly a great spectacle. Both sides conceded a large number of fouls, with two Sittingbourne players getting booked along with Romford's Mitchell Sampayo. It wasn't until the 32nd minute that a player troubled the goal rather than the referee, and on that occasion, it was a Sittingbourne player. Brickies midfielder William Chapman tried to curl the ball into the far corner, and Joel Wilkinson had to make a great fingertip save to keep it out. Three minutes later, a couple of careless passes from Sittingbourne opened the door for Chris Benjamin, and he found his way through with a tremendous long-distance strike. Benjamin's second goal of pre-season was another stunner, but more importantly, it handed us a slender half-time lead of 1-0.

Sittingbourne went on the offensive in the second half. A 62nd-minute effort from Charlton Davies that Wilko did fabulously well to turn away was one of several efforts from the Brickies. We managed to weather the storm, though, thanks largely to some heroic defending from teenager Wayne Hatch. The 16-year-old performed much better than he did against Walton Casuals, making a string of late clearances to keep the visitors at bay. It was just as well that Sittingbourne didn't score, because we were ineffective at the other end - Benji's goal turned out to be our only shot on target in a far from memorable match. We were victorious, though, and that was all that mattered to me.

Romford - 1 (Benjamin 35)

Sittingbourne - 0

Friendly, Attendance 53

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson (Traveller), Mackin (Hutchins), Bourgeois (Toms), Myers (Hatch), Chapman (Walters), Sampayo (Crawley), Radley (Martin), Weight (Oxby), Oates (Isa), Benjamin (Senghore), Reynolds (Attenborrow). BOOKED: Sampayo.

So, how do I sum up our pre-season? Well, out of seven games, we won two, drew three, and lost two. We also scored 10 goals and conceded 10 goals. Basically, our pre-season form had been so middle-of-the-road that our club anthem might as well be "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep".

Before the league season finally got underway, there was the small matter of a captain's appointment to make. One of my first signings, Daryl Bourgeois, had been a consistent performer in the centre of defence, and his leadership qualities marked him out as the outstanding choice. Andy Oxby, who was here before I arrived, looked like a worthy vice-captain.

I also made one more new signing in the form of a loanee. Josh Bickerstaff would be our first-choice left-back for the opening stages of the season after agreeing a three-month loan from Hitchin Town. Meanwhile, we said goodbye to trialists Declan Attenborrow, Sonny Harker-Smith and Ryan Martin. Declan and Sonny had not quite done well enough to earn new contracts, and I felt Ryan's wage demands were too ridiculous to meet.

And so, after seven weeks of preparation, the new Isthmian League Division 1 North season was upon us. We were ready, and Ship Lane was ready, for the visit of Redbridge. It was time for all of the hard work to start.

(All ages correct as of 1 August 2012)

GOALKEEPERS:

Scott Traveller (age 21)

Joel Wilkinson (age 16)

DEFENDERS:

Josh Bickerstaff (age 21) - on loan from Hitchin Town

Daryl Bourgeois (age 29)

Anthony Chapman (age 16)

Wayne Hatch (age 16)

Danny Hutchins (age 22) - on loan from Hemel Hempstead Town

Ryan Myers (age 21)

Tom Stephen (age 20)

Matty Toms (age 23)

George Walters (age 19)

MIDFIELDERS:

Callum Crawley (age 22)

Hussein Isa (age 24)

Ricki Mackin (age 29)

Joe Oates (age 18)

Andy Oxby (age 28)

Billy Radley (age 18) - on loan from Billericay Town

Chris Sullivan (age 24)

Scott Weight (age 25)

FORWARDS:

Chris Benjamin (age 19)

Nicky Reynolds (age 22)

Toran Senghore (age 22)

18 August 2012: Romford vs Redbridge

Our first game of the Isthmian League Division 1 North season was against a Redbridge team that many were tipping for relegation. We were the favourites to win, and that tag looked justified in the 19th minute. Scott Weight's excellent cross into the box found Toran Senghore, and with a simple finish, it was 1-0 Boro! It was a fantastic start, and it could've got better three minutes afterwards. Billy Radley nearly bent a free-kick in like Beckham, but unfortunately, he hit the crossbar. That near-miss would prove costly, as Redbridge equalised after 33 minutes. Debutant Josh Bickerstaff made a meal of defending a corner, and Garry Skerritt - who had just come on as a replacement for the injured Calum Dixon - took advantage to score and pull the Motormen level. Not long afterwards, Senghore nearly scored his and Romford's second goal with a dazzling 35-yard shot which, had it not hit the woodwork, would've been a 'Goal of the Season' contender. At half-time, I was wondering how on Earth we weren't in the lead.

Senghore's shooting, which was so accurate in the first half, seemed to drop off in the second half, although he did manage to draw an awkward save out of Redbridge keeper George Anderson in the 63rd minute. As the game wore on, he began to play more as a provider for strike partner Chris Benjamin. But as the pair struggled to make the most of their chances, and Redbridge showed no signs of threatening to take all three points, I began to accept that my first match as Romford boss wouldn't quite be a victorious one. Enter Senghore again. With two minutes left on the clock, he lobbed the ball over the head of Redbridge defender Chris Head and into the box. Benjamin rushed towards it, and with a desperate dive, he just about managed to get his head to the ball. The header hit the underside of the crossbar... and bounced over the line! Cue massive celebrations in the Romford dugout! The three points were ours... or were they?

In the second and final minute of injury time, Redbridge countered. Their captain Carl McClusky stormed down the right wing and into the box. His pass, intended for Skerritt, hit the heels of Romford skipper Daryl Bourgeois, leaving Timi Borges-Da-Silva firmly poised to score the equaliser and break our hearts. Instead, the Motormen forward shot directly at Scott Traveller, as the goalkeeper blocked his effort before Bickerstaff booted the ball back upfield. We then tried to initiate a counter-counter-attack, but Senghore quickly lost possession and Redbridge quickly launched another offensive. There were now just a few seconds to go. From inside the 'D', Skerritt played a first-time ball towards Joe Horlock, who now just had to beat Traveller to salvage a point.

Then it came. The final whistle, that is. Scott had just managed to get to the ball before Horlock, and as soon as he did, the referee blew for time. I'd lost a good few hours of my lifespan in those closing minutes, but three home points to kick off the season were more than reasonable compensation!

Romford - 2 (Senghore 19, Benjamin 88)

Redbridge - 1 (Skerritt 33)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 151 - POSITIONS: Romford 4th, Redbridge 17th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers (Hatch), Bickerstaff, Radley, Weight (Crawley), Oxby, Oates (Isa), Benjamin, Senghore.

The following day, chairman Steve Gardener congratulated me for the win, and proudly announced that Romford had managed to sell 65 season tickets for this campaign. That may not sound a lot, but it turned out that only one team - Ware - had sold as many season tickets in our division! That, I have to say, was very encouraging news.

Next on the schedule was our first away game of the season. We went to south-east London to play a highly-rated Thamesmead Town side, who like us had won their opening match.

21 August 2012: Thamesmead Town vs Romford

The match was refereed by someone called Brian May, and after just nine minutes, Thamesmead made the breakthrough. Danny Moore was poorly marked by Boro full-back Danny Hutchins, and the Mead winger met Sam Turner's cross with a diving header from close range. The hosts were 1-0 up in a flash! Mead midfielder James Comley then bit the dust in the 27th minute after a challenge from Nicky Reynolds. That didn't stop the home team, though, and their strikers Baff Addae and Aaron Morgan both went close in injury time. We weren't being completely outplayed, as we did have a couple of chances to equalise - the best coming when Thamesmead goalkeeper Elliot Justham parried away Chris Benjamin's effort in the 35th minute. However, Thamesmead were definitely looking the far classier team, and it would take a kind of magic to turn the game around in the second half.

To be honest, I had a feeling that it wouldn't be our day. Justham was in excellent form, and Chris Benjamin was worrying me with his continued inconsistency up front. Meanwhile, the impressive Morgan almost fluked a shot in from a tight angle in the 47th minute, and he started to look more and more dangerous. On 69 minutes, another mistake from Hutchins allowed him to pounce. Danny dispossed Ashley Probets with a sliding challenge, but the ball only went as far as Morgan, who tucked it into the bottom corner. From that point, Thamesmead assumed near-total control, and they finished us off six minutes later. Once again, it was Morgan who got on the scoresheet, as he pounced at the far post after Romford captain Daryl Bourgeois' headed clearance went awry. Mead wanted it all, and they got it all - three goals, three points, and a place at the top of the table. They also got a clean sheet, although Scott Weight almost took that away with an ambitious 80th-minute shot that Justham just tipped over his bar.

Thamesmead Town - 3 (Moore 9, Morgan 69,75)

Romford - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 30 - POSITIONS: Thamesmead 1st, Romford 15th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins (Toms), Bourgeois, Myers, Walters (Crawley), Weight, Radley, Oxby, Oates, Benjamin (Senghore), Reynolds.

For us, this result was a reality shock. If any of my players believed that the Isthmian North would be a piece of cake, they certainly were not thinking that after a heavy 3-0 defeat.

Following our first league defeat, we immediately switched our attention to the FA Cup. The Preliminary Round draw had given us a home tie against our former landlords, Aveley. The winner of this 'Thurrock derby' would have a place in Qualifying Round 1, and a home meeting with Isthmian League Premier Division side Hastings United.

24 August 2012: Romford vs Aveley

The importance of this Friday night FA Cup tie was such that our attendance doubled from the previous home game! We wanted to give our increased support something to cheer for, and Toran Senghore tried his best with a spectacular 4th-minute half-volley that went wide. At the other end, Aveley's shooting was so poor that their forwards really did need shooting. They only seriously troubled Scott Traveller once, and even then, Billy Holland's long-distance shot on 19 minutes was well held by our goalkeeper. The rest of the time, they were missing from all over the place. We had our own struggles in the attacking department, and the half-time scoreline was - you'll be surprised to read - 0-0. Despite the deadlock remaining intact, I was hopeful that, if we could get our act together in the second half, we would be able to make the Millers pay for their profligacy.

The low quality of the match was not helped by the fact that I fielded a number of fringe players from the start. As much as I wanted to beat Aveley for the rewards that came with it, both in a professional and financial sense, the first couple of league games had taken their toll on some of our key men. However, a couple of the 'fringe' players who replaced our star names would come to the fore in the second half. Firstly, just before the hour mark, Nicky Reynolds found right-winger Ricki Mackin in acres of space in the penalty area. Ricki was free to fire a low volley into the Aveley net and gave us the first goal. Two minutes later, our situation got even better! Callum Crawley curled a close-range free-kick past Aveley keeper Andre Foster as if it was second nature to him, and we now led 2-0! The Millers were on course for their third straight defeat, and when the horrendous Holland missed an open goal in the 67th minute, their spirit was broken. Three minutes later, we looked to make the scoreline even more one-sided, but a dreadful miss from the otherwise excellent Reynolds meant that we would have to settle for a 2-0 win. Not that it mattered, though, because we were still well on our way to the FA Cup Qualifying Rounds!

Romford - 2 (Mackin 60, Crawley 62)

Aveley - 0

FA Cup Preliminary Round, Attendance 315

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Bickerstaff, Bourgeois (Hatch), Toms, Stephen, Mackin, Walters (Oxby), Crawley, Isa, Senghore (Benjamin), Reynolds.

As well as a Qualifying Round 1 tie against Hastings, we picked up £1,750 in prize money, putting our balance back in the black for the time being. Like they say in my local supermarket, every little helps!

However, as soon as we got our prize money... we lost much of it again. Coach Tony Reid told us that he was starting a coaching course to get his UEFA B Licence, and insisted that we foot the bill. It'd be fair to say that I wasn't exactly delighted, but if this helps Tony to improve as a coach, then it'll probably turn out to be a thousand quid well spent.

Reid's course, and other expenses, meant that we ended the month with a balance of just £29 - barely enough to pay the cleaner - although we did make a profit of around £2,500.

In other Romford news at the end of August, we secured the services of Mitch Fellows, a 23-year-old striker who took up the dual role of player-coach, while Mitchell Sampayo left following the end of his four-week trial. After a summer of upheaval, we now had a settled squad, and we could head into September with plenty of optimism.

Ilford's need to negotiate an FA Cup replay meant that our away game with them at the end of August was postponed, and we didn't return to action until the second day of September. Our next opponents were Wroxham, who had started the season unbeaten.

2 September 2012: Romford vs Wroxham

In the very first minute, Wroxham vice-captain - and former Birmingham City icon - Paul Devlin hit a dangerous low cross into our six-yard box. Fortunately, Romford skipper Daryl Bourgeois saved the day, booting the ball behind to deny Lee McGlone a certain goal. The Yachtsmen were making a positive start, but that changed in the 7th minute when their star striker Patrick Drmola collapsed in agony, having suffered a serious hip injury. With Wroxham losing such a key player, our belief grew. Then, after 22 minutes, Boro midfielder Scott Weight got stuck in on Daniel Buhlemann - and ended up doing damage to himself. Weighty insisted that he wanted to play on, but I didn't want to risk a more serious injury, and I chose to substitute him as a precaution. Eight minutes later, Toran Senghore went down in the Wroxham area after a strong challenge from Yachtsmen defender Matthew Halliday. Senghore didn't get a penalty but he did get a gashed leg, and so I took him off as well. Our other striker, Nicky Reynolds, also required injury treatment in the 42nd minute following a clash with Matthew Brindley, although he did carry on. A minute later, Josh Bickerstaff went in hard on Devlin, and came off second-best. Just like with Toran and Scott, I couldn't take any chances on Josh, and I made my third and final substitution before the first half had even finished! This was beginning to feel more like a special episode of Casualty than a football match.

Ricki Mackin replaced Bickerstaff at full-back... but he lasted just ten minutes in the second half. Calum Botham's sliding challenge left Mackin in sheer agony with a twisted ankle. The prognosis was not good - Ricki, having only just got back into the first team, would be out of action for two months. It also meant that we had to play on with ten men, and midfielder Callum Crawley had to fill in as a makeshift right-back. From that point on, the match lost its meaning and sort of descended into farce. Romford's Joe Oates did hit the post in the 75th minute, but thanks to some pretty horrendous shooting from both sides, it was inevitable that the game would end goalless.

Romford - 0

Wroxham - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 151 - POSITIONS: Romford 14th, Wroxham 11th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers, Bickerstaff (Mackin), Radley, Crawley, Weight (Oxby), Oates, Reynolds, Senghore (Fellows).

After playing against a team from Norfolk, we travelled to Suffolk for our next match - and this one was sure to be a toughie. Needham Market were 3rd in the table, having won three of their first four league games, and they had Johan Cruyff's grandson Jessua at right-back! The Dutch-Spaniard was on loan at Bloomfields from Wigan Athletic.

But who needs Cruyff's grandson when you have... Messi's body double! Our very own Hussein Isa was the body double for Lionel Messi in an Adidas TV advert a couple of years ago!

Joining our squad for the first time on this trip was yet another trialist. 19-year-old midfielder Callum Compton, a former team-mate of Chris Benjamin's at Leyton Orient, would be with us for at least the next four weeks.

5 September 2012: Needham Market vs Romford

Our new player-coach Mitch Fellows made his first start, and in the 19th minute, he attempted to score from distance, but succeeded only in putting his shot high and wide. That, in fact, turned out to be our only chance of the first half. We spent the rest of it having to defend deep against Needham Market's wingers Kieran Leabon and Rhys Henry, who put in several dangerous crosses and also had a number of shots of their own. Fortunately, Needham's shooting was generally wayward at best, and that was typified by a 28th-minute effort that midfielder Ross Kelly ballooned over the bar. Despite being very wasteful with the ball, we were - somehow - not behind at half-time. Unless things rapidly improved for either side in the second period, it would be back-to-back goalless draws for us.

We did show signs of improvement in the opening minutes. On 53 minutes, Mitch's effort was pushed away by Alex Archer - the first time either goalkeeper had been seriously tested in the game. Meanwhile, new boy Callum Compton made an impression after coming on, but not in the right way. He was booked after 59 minutes for a holding foul on Market striker Sam Newson. Needham Market's assault continued into the final half-hour, but their shots were still ending up closer to nearby Ipswich than our goal. In all, Needham had 14 shots at goal, and Romford keeper Scott Traveller only needed to make one save - from Newson in the 62nd minute. In the closing 15 minutes, with the Marketmen tiring themselves out, we upped the tempo in a bid to snatch all three points. The results were promising, with Archer being forced into saving a shot from Joe Oates in the 85th minute, but it looked like we had launched our attack too late. Then we won a free-kick just short of the penalty area in the second minute of injury time. Wayne Hatch swung it in towards the far post... and Daryl Bourgeois was there to poke it in and secure a dramatic 1-0 victory! It was a tremendous result against the odds, and we were back in the top half!

Needham Market - 0

Romford - 1 (Bourgeois 90)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 112 - POSITIONS: Needham Market 5th, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Hatch, Bickerstaff, Radley (Isa), Oxby, Weight (Compton), Oates, Reynolds, Fellows (Benjamin). BOOKED: Compton.

Three days later, and there was a real buzz at Ship Lane as Hastings United came to town for our FA Cup meeting. Not only was there the chance to cause a cup upset, but Howard Webb had decided to forego the weekend's FIFA World Cup qualifiers to officiate this game. The refereeing would certainly be world-class, even if the football wasn't.

8 September 2012: Romford vs Hastings United

Romford were immediately on the front foot, and after four minutes, Daryl Bourgeois continued where he left off against Needham Market. Hastings failed to clear a Callum Crawley corner, and Billy Radley's cross was nodded in at the far-post by captain Bourgeois for 1-0. We were unlucky not to make it 2-0 after nine minutes, when Hussein Isa hit the post from close range. At this point, Hastings were very much facing an uphill battle. The Arrows had earlier lost defender Ben Judge to a serious groin injury, and his replacement - player-manager Sean Ray - suffered a knock of his own on 15 minutes, although he played on. Five minutes later, Radley turned provider again for Chris Benjamin, who drilled home our second goal! In the cup of dreams, we were living one after just 20 minutes! We were brought back down to earth in the 33rd minute, when Arrows boss Ray pulled a goal back from a poorly-defended corner. We then started to get the jitters, and seven minutes later, Zac Attwood opened us up with a killer pass to Bradley Goldberg. The young striker raced through on goal, and then calmly slotted the ball in off the upright. Hasting's second, equalising goal was as agonising as it was inevitable. My players could be excused at half-time of feeling sick as parrots, having let a 2-0 lead slip away, but I had to keep their heads up. If we scored the next goal, I told them, then we could finish the job.

During the half-time break, I also took off the two players - namely Matty Toms and Crawley - whose mistakes led to the respective Hastings goals. My substitutions seemed to pay off, as we began the second half strongly. In the 61st minute, Benjamin had an effort saved by Matthew Armstrong-Ford, and the Arrows goalie then turned behind a Scott Weight volley two minutes later to give away a corner. Radley elected to take the corner, and he whipped it into the six-yard box. On the other end of his delivery was Toms' replacement Ryan Myers, who timed his run to perfection and headed the ball beyond the goalkeeper's reach! Three goals for Romford, and three assists for 'Boo' Radley! Our self-belief shot right up, and on 68 minutes, our two-goal lead was restored! Billy again played his part as he hit a short pass to Nicky Reynolds, and Nicky in turn gave the ball to Scott Weight, who fired it in from the edge of the area! Now the mission was to keep hold of our lead and see the match off! That looked easier said than done when Hastings' Lee Carey broke free of the Romford defenders in the 75th minute. A third goal for the Arrows would've swung the momentum back in their favour... but Carey hit the post, and Hastings would not get a better chance to stop us from progressing to the next round. About a quarter of an hour later, the final whistle blew, and we were through to the next Qualifying Round of the FA Cup!

Romford - 4 (Bourgeois 4, Benjamin 20, Myers 64, Weight 68)

Hastings United - 2 (Ray 33, Goldberg 40)

FA Cup Qualifying Round 1, Attendance 269

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Toms (Myers), Walters, Radley, Crawley (Oxby), Weight, Isa (Oates), Reynolds, Benjamin. BOOKED: Benjamin.

Romford's supporters left Ship Lane in high spirits, and I even heard a group of them chanting, "We're on our way to Wembley!" Those chants were perhaps a little premature - after all, we had to get through nine more rounds before we could even think of playing there - but there's nothing wrong with healthy optimism, is there?

After pocketing £3,000 in prize money, Romford were put into the hat for Qualifying Round 2. We were given another tie against Isthmian League Premier Division opposition, but this time around, we would face an away trip to either Wingate & Finchley or Whitehawk.

We had to wait a few days before finding out just where we would be going. In the end, it was Whitehawk that won in a replay, so that meant we would be off to Brighton...

...but not before we started our campaign in another cup competition. We were in the Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy, and we'd been given a home game against Leatherhead - a team from Isthmian League Division 1 South. Confidence was high a week on from our FA Cup win, but of course, it could go very wrong very quickly, so we had to keep our focus.

15 September 2012: Romford vs Leatherhead

The early signs in the first half were very promising from our point of view. We were keeping hold of the ball very well, and Leatherhead's nerves showed as they picked up two yellow cards in the opening 20 minutes. The second of those was to striker Tom Bradbrook in the 19th minute, when he pushed Ryan Myers over. Moments later, a string of Romford passes culminated in Nicky Reynolds going on a solo run into the box, where he drilled in his first competitive goal of this season. We then began to rack up corners like they were going out of fashion, but couldn't add to our slim 1-0 lead before the referee blew for half-time. There was still plenty of work to be done before we could book our spot in the Qualifying Rounds.

When play restarted, we looked to skin the Tanners, and kill them off for good. Six minutes into the second period, Chris Benjamin saw a wonderful 25-yard effort parried away by Leatherhead keeper Matthew Reed. Reynolds then missed by inches with a free-kick in the 57th minute, shortly before Benji also shot wide. There was a sense among the Boro supporters that the second goal would come eventually, and after 68 minutes, we had our chance to pull clear. Leatherhead's Adam Gross made a, er, gross error of judgment by hauling down Reynolds in the penalty area, and Nicky made him pay the price with a confident spot-kick into the goalkeeper's bottom-right corner. Just over a minute later, Adam Gross turned into Christian Gross! He got a yellow card for fouling Radley, and Boo's response was to thump a 35-yard free-kick in off the crossbar for 3-0! Leatherhead were falling apart in spectacular fashion, and before they knew it, we were 4-0 up! Nicky completed his hat-trick when he capped off an excellent team move with a cool finish in the 76th minute. But Nicky wanted even more goals, and so he bagged his FOURTH in the 82nd minute, when he poked Radley's corner in from close range! 5-0 Romford - I could hardly believe it! It wasn't a perfect win, though, because Dutch forward John Lesley van Engel did get a consolation goal for Leatherhead two minutes from time, but by then, we were already toasting our progression to the next round of the FA Trophy.

Romford - 5 (Reynolds 19,pen68,76,82, Radley 70)

Leatherhead - 1 (van Engel 88)

FA Trophy Preliminary Round, Attendance 80

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers, Bickerstaff, Radley, Crawley (Oxby), Weight, Isa (Oates), Reynolds, Benjamin (Fellows). BOOKED: Oates.

Our coffers received another boost of around £2,300, and we were given a winnable Qualifying Round 1 tie at home to another Isthmian South team, Tooting & Mitcham United, at the end of September.

Having made progress in both of the FA's knockout competitions, we returned to league action with our long-awaited trip to Ilford. The Foxes were second from bottom and hadn't won at all this season - and I didn't expect them to change that statistic against my fast-improving Romford boys. If we won here, we could potentially climb into the play-off places.

Joining our matchday squad for the first time was former Colchester United striker Jimmy Pirie. Jimmy had actually been training with us for about a fortnight, but he wasn't eligible for either of our cup games, and so only now was he able to make his debut. In fact, because we'd done so well in the cups, our next league game wasn't scheduled until AFTER Jimmy's trial expired, so this might be his one and only chance at Romford! Hopefully, he'd show me what he was capable of.

19 September 2012: Ilford vs Romford

The first goal was always going to be very important in this match. Ilford needed it to boost their confidence, and we wanted to assert our authority on proceedings. Ilford gave us an early scare in the 3rd minute, as Michael Ramkin's effort was brilliantly turned away by Scott Traveller. Three minutes later, first blood was drawn... and it was Joe Oates who drew it with a 30-yard stunner to give Romford the lead! We were 1-0 up, but that lead could have been threatened in the 11th minute. Foxes captain Matthew James nearly got lucky with a deep cross towards Traveller's top-right corner, but Scott brilliantly turned the goalward delivery over his bar! After that scare, we set our sights on grabbing a quick second goal. Four days on from his incredible display of goalscoring against Leatherhead, Nicky Reynolds supplied a perfectly-timed pass to Scott Weight, who looped the ball past goalkeeper Jack Burford and made it 2-0 within 20 minutes. With Romford dominating and the Foxes not making too many chances, you could forgive me for relaxing - but Ilford's awful tackling meant that I couldn't! Ilford picked up four yellow cards in an eight-minute spell late in the first half, and I feared that their players might go over the top, and leave one of ours in more than one piece! Admittedly, we weren't exactly behaving like angels ourselves, as Weight and Josh Bickerstaff both got their names into the referee's book earlier on.

Thankfully, Ilford did calm down after the break, and we were allowed to get back to playing football. Billy Radley came close to finishing the game off as a contest with a 67th-minute volley, which went over the bar. A minute later, Reynolds burst through on goal, only to have his shot saved by Burford. In the closing stages, the away fans gave a warm welcome to Romford-born Chris Sullivan, who finally made his competitive debut for the Boro after an injury absence. However, another Romford debutant would steal the show two minutes from the end. After picking up Nicky's through-ball, Jimmy Pirie jinked past Ilford defender Lee Matson, and then placed a low effort into the net to complete a 3-0 win! We weren't at our best, but we still did enough to beat a very poor Foxes team and move up into the Isthmian North play-off spots!

Ilford - 0

Romford - 3 (Oates 6, Weight 20, Pirie 88)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 47 - POSITIONS: Ilford 21st, Romford 5th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers, Bickerstaff, Radley (Sullivan), Crawley, Weight (Compton), Oates, Reynolds, Benjamin (Pirie). BOOKED: Weight, Bickerstaff, Reynolds.

We were soon back in FA Cup mode, but ahead of our trip to Sussex came the first hint of trouble in paradise. Tom Stephen, one of my new signings, demanded that he get more first-team football, otherwise he'd start looking for a new club.

I could understand Tom's concerns - he was a regular starter for East Thurrock United in the Isthmian Premier last season, but his only competitive game for us so far had come in our FA Cup Preliminary Round game with Aveley. With Josh Bickerstaff showing signs of tiredness, I told Tom that he'd take his place at left-back for the Round 1 match at Whitehawk... but warned him that he had to perform well to keep hold of it.

22 September 2012: Whitehawk vs Romford

Tom Stephen didn't make a particularly promising start to our latest FA Cup tie, as Whitehawk winger Michael Malcolm got past him in the first minute, but Daryl Bourgeois saved his bacon by blocking Malcolm's subsequent shot. Former Tottenham Hotspur trainee Malcolm was looking like the Hawks' danger man, and in the 15th minute, he was in the box again. Thankfully, he fluffed his lines, scuffing a shot wide. Despite being in a lower division than our hosts, we were holding our own, and in the 32nd minute, we almost got our noses in front! Chris Benjamin aimed a byline cross for Nicky Reynolds in the Hawks' area, but goalkeeper Josh James just managed to turn it against his post and out for a corner. Chris Sullivan couldn't turn that corner into a meaningful chance, and four minutes later, it was Whitehawk who broke the deadlock. Sam Gargan sliced the ball to Malcolm in plenty of space, and as Scott Traveller came forward to meet the winger, Malcolm slipped a clinical shot past him. For the first time in a month, we were on the back foot, and I feared a barrage of Whitehawk goals. After 43 minutes, that thought perished. Sullivan found his mark with another corner, from which Ryan Myers headed home to make it 1-1 at half-time. There was still all to play for!

The second half was seven minutes old when Whitehawk striker Gargan went down in our penalty area... and the referee blew his whistle. The first thing that came to my mind was, "Oh, s***, they've got a penalty," and then I saw the ref reaching for both his cards! But they were not for Andy Oxby, thank God - Gargan had been given his second yellow card for diving, and after that came the red! Whitehawk were down to ten men! All of a sudden, we were now the favourites for the win! We could easily have gone in front on 62 minutes, but Joe Oates' excellent free-kick into the area was met by a poor header from Billy Radley. That would be it as far as chances for Romford were concerned. We sat back to try and defend the situation and secure a replay. Eventually, after a few more poor efforts from Whitehawk, the home team did likewise. The game petered out into a draw, and so we'd play again at Ship Lane the following week!

Whitehawk - 1 (Malcolm 36)

Romford - 1 (Myers 43)

FA Cup Qualifying Round 2, Attendance 413

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers, Stephen, Sullivan (Radley), Oxby, Weight (Crawley), Oates, Reynolds, Benjamin (Senghore). BOOKED: Benjamin.

Four days later, we were ready to go again, and this time, we had the slight advantage of being at home. At stake was a Qualifying Round 3 trip to Conference South side Dorchester Town.

26 September 2012: Romford vs Whitehawk

We learned from the original tie that Whitehawk's danger men were their wingers, Michael Malcolm and Sam Hurrell. So when the Hawks came to Ship Lane, our game plan was to starve them of possession and keep play in the middle of the park. The plan seemed to work very well, as Malcolm and Hurrell were both ineffective, and indeed, Whitehawk struggled to get a shot in during the first half. But as well as having a strong defence, we needed to deliver the goods in attack, and we struggled in that department early on. Nicky Reynolds and Toran Senghore both put shots wide midway through the half, and those were the best chances we had until the 39th minute. Our patience was rewarded when Billy Radley broke free on the right flank and crossed to Reynolds, who tapped home the opening goal from close range. Radley came good again in the last minute of normal time, supplying a short pass to Scott Weight, who almost burst the net open with a thunderous half-volley! We held a 2-0 lead against higher-league opposition, but now was not the time to get complacent. When we played Hastings United in the previous round, we let a two-goal advantage slip before eventually securing the win, so this game was not finished just yet.

If I had any doubts about my team winning the match, they would fade away in the second half. While we looked calm and collected, but more importantly focused on the job at hand, Whitehawk were nervous - and becoming desperate. That was highlighted in the 73rd minute. A rare defensive lapse from Romford allowed Hakeem Araba to hand possession to the unmarked Malcolm, who just had to beat Scott Traveller. Four days ago, he would've at least tested Traveller, but instead, he dragged his effort off target. Araba himself had a chance a minute later, and Wayne Hatch just got in the way of his strike. On 83 minutes, Hawks goalkeeper Josh James came out of his area and sent a horrendous clearance to Chris Sullivan, who was unfortunate to see his spectacular long-range half-volley go just over the bar. James's relief wouldn't last very long, as Mitch Fellows completed a brilliant 3-0 win for Romford with a thunderous drive four minutes later. Once again, we'd beaten a team from the Isthmian Premier, and we were on our way to Qualifying Round 3!

Romford - 3 (Reynolds 39, Weight 45, Fellows 87)

Whitehawk - 0

FA Cup Qualifying Round 2 Replay, Attendance 336

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Bickerstaff, Bourgeois, Hatch, Walters (Stephen), Radley, Oxby, Weight, Oates (Sullivan), Reynolds, Senghore (Fellows).

Wow. Let's put that into perspective. Whitehawk were captained by Matt Lawrence, who nine seasons ago reached the FA Cup Final with Millwall! If little Romford could knock out a former FA Cup finalist, then - to quote the wonderful Ellie Goulding - anything could happen!

We'd just defeated a team from the Isthmian League Premier Division, so surely Tooting & Mitcham United - who were 18th in Isthmian League Division 1 South - would be no match for us in Qualifying Round 1 of the FA Trophy? Or would there be a shock at Ship Lane?

29 September 2012: Romford vs Tooting & Mitcham United

Tooting & Mitcham may have had former Premier League midfielder Jamie Lawrence in their squad, but it was clear in this match that we had more quality than our opponents. Right-winger Billy Radley narrowly missed the target in the 6th minute after playing a one-two with Nicky Reynolds. In the 21st minute, Nicky supplied a pass to left-winger Joe Oates on the edge of the Tooting & Mitcham area, and Joe clinically slotted the ball beyond Darren Behcet's reach. That gave us a 1-0 lead, and Nicky his fifth assist of a wonderfully productive month! Reynolds could've had a goal of his own eight minutes later, but on that occasion, he couldn't keep his shot down. The closest that the Terrors came to even remotely frightening us in the first half was on 39 minutes, when their Brazilian striker Leonel Batista Medrado sent the ball over the bar. Even a Yorkshire terrier had more bite than Jamie Martin's litter of puppies!

Lawrence did have a shot at goal for Tooting & Mitcham about half a minute after the restart, but the former Leicester City and Bradford City man didn't even come close to equalising. Our 1-0 lead was looking comfortable enough, and the visitors made life even easier for us when Touren Roberts appeared to handball Callum Crawley's cross in the 56th minute. The referee gave us a penalty, which Reynolds dispatched to continue his marvellous September form - six goals for hotshot Nicky to go with those five assists! Only at 2-0 down did the Terrors seriously test Scott Traveller for the first time. Substitute Sol Pinnock's 70th-minute strike brought about the only save Scott had to make from a grand total of five Tooting & Mitcham shots. Chris Sullivan came the closest to securing us a third goal late in the game, skimming the woodwork with a vicious effort on 82 minutes. In the end, though, we settled for a 2-0 win that was so comfortable that Traveller might as well have spent the whole 90 minutes reading the Financial Times from cover to cover!

Romford - 2 (Oates 21, Reynolds pen57)

Tooting & Mitcham United - 0

FA Trophy Qualifying Round 1, Attendance 100

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers, Bickerstaff, Radley (Sullivan), Oxby (Toms), Crawley, Oates, Reynolds, Fellows (Senghore). BOOKED: Fellows.

Our passage to Qualifying Round 2 of the FA Trophy was straightforward enough, but the next round will surely be tougher, with an away game against either AFC Sudbury or Ilkeston to negotiate.

Well, that month really could not have gone any better! We won six matches and drew two, taking our unbeaten run to nine games in a row! We also made a staggering profit of nearly £15,000 - over £12,000 of that coming from prize money alone! Our cup runs have done wonders for our finances, but with more and more matches to get through, we've got to make sure that our league form does not suffer as a result.

[b]                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
1.          Potters Bar            7     4     3     0     11    3     +8    15
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2.          AFC Sudbury            6     4     2     0     11    6     +5    14
3.          Soham                  7     4     1     2     16    10    +6    13
4.          Wroxham                5     3     2     0     8     2     +6    11
5.          Harlow                 6     3     2     1     10    8     +2    11
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6.          Thamesmead             6     3     1     2     9     7     +2    10
[color="#0000FF"]7.          Romford                5     3     1     1     6     4     +2    10[/color]
8.          Needham Market         6     3     1     2     5     3     +2    10
9.          Waltham Forest         5     3     0     2     10    8     +2    9
10.         Heybridge              6     2     2     2     9     8     +1    8
11.         Chatham                6     2     2     2     6     6     0     8
12.         Waltham Abbey          6     2     2     2     11    12    -1    8
13.         Grays                  7     2     2     3     9     11    -2    8
14.         Aveley                 5     2     1     2     4     3     +1    7
15.         Witham                 7     2     1     4     12    12    0     7
16.         Brentwood              6     2     1     3     11    11    0     7
17.         Cheshunt               6     2     1     3     8     11    -3    7
18.         Maldon & Tiptree       5     2     0     3     6     10    -4    6
19.         Tilbury                6     1     1     4     7     12    -5    4
20.         Redbridge              6     1     1     4     4     9     -5    4
21.         Ware                   6     1     1     4     4     13    -9    4
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22.         Ilford                 7     0     2     5     7     15    -8    2

With five of our previous six matches being knockout ties, it was easy to forget that we were actually in a league. Our next match in Isthmian League Division 1 North, and our first at home since the start of September, was against Maldon & Tiptree. Although many people had tipped the Blues as favourites for automatic promotion, they'd started inconsistently and were down in 18th.

Beforehand, we said farewell to two departing trialists, midfielder Callum Compton and one-hit wonder Jimmy Pirie, and welcomed in another. Former Lewes midfielder Max Howell, who is just 18, would make his Romford debut from the start against Maldon.

3 October 2012: Romford vs Maldon & Tiptree

For the first time this season, I decided to give captain Daryl Bourgeois the night off. That was always going to be a risky decision, as Maldon had a striker of genuine class in their ranks - just five seasons ago, Jamie Guy was gracing the Championship with Colchester United. Guy went close to giving his new club the lead in the 4th minute with a shot that went just over the crossbar. The same Guy then clipped the same crossbar in the 15th minute. He was getting closer and closer to scoring, and after 26 minutes, he did exactly that. Guy burst through on goal and then fired a vicious shot in from a tight angle to put Maldon ahead. His goal had come just moments after Callum Crawley almost gave Romford the lead with a finely-struck free-kick. However, there was no use wondering 'what if', and we had to come to terms with being behind for the first time in a competitive home game this season. There were no signs of a Boro fightback before half-time, and now I was a little concerned.

If you want an indication of just how far off our usual pace we were, then may I refer you to an incident in the 47th minute. Maldon defender Cihat Argun made a horrible clearance straight to Romford's Joe Oates, and Oates then made a meal of an attempted shot from distance! It went so far wide that Joe wouldn't have scored if the goal was 40 yards long, let alone eight! Maldon were having a much better day, and a second goal from them was looking inevitable. It didn't quite come in the 57th minute, when Lee Boylan drilled a shot just past the side netting. Nine minutes later, Maldon did go 2-0 up. It was, of course, scored by Guy, who slid past Ryan Myers to turn in Ashley Dumas' cross. I was wondering why on Earth this Guy wasn't playing at a much higher level, but regardless of his deadliness in front of goal, our own shooting was inexcusable. While our opponents scored with both of their only shots on target, we had nine efforts and didn't trouble the opposition keeper once! The worst offender was Nicky Reynolds, who missed two attempts in the 72nd and 73rd minutes, and had another blocked just before full-time. Needless to say, we lost 2-0, and as far as bad days in the office go, that was pretty awful.

Romford - 0

Maldon & Tiptree - 2 (Guy 26,66)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 150 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Maldon & Tiptree 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Hatch (Toms), Myers, Bickerstaff, Radley, Howell (Oxby), Crawley, Oates (Isa), Reynolds, Senghore.

So that's the nine-game unbeaten run now over. It was disappointing that the run ended at home, but I have to say that the lads took this setback quite well. Team morale was still very high, and the players seemed to believe that they could get back to winning ways soon.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that we would be going up north to Ilkeston in Derbyshire for our next match in the FA Trophy. The Robins knocked out AFC Sudbury in a replay, and so we'd be playing them later in the month.

Before then, we were off to Dorset, where I had plenty of holidays as a child, but this would not be a vacation. Conference South outfit Dorchester Town were set to be our toughest opponents yet in our FA Cup run. We'd already seen off two teams from the Isthmian League Premier Division, but Dorchester were another step up in class.

6 October 2012: Dorchester Town vs Romford

When we arrived at the Avenue Stadium, we discovered - to our horror - that the kit man had made a little bit of a faux pas. He only packed our all-black away kit, without realising that Dorchester Town play in black and white, hence their nickname of 'The Magpies'! Worse still, our hosts neglected to bring a spare away kit! As a result, our team - wearing black shirts and black shorts - played against a team wearing black-and-white-striped shirts and black shorts! Now I knew how those TV viewers in the 1970s felt when John Motson said, "For those of you watching in black and white, Spurs are wearing the yellow shirts."

In what must go down in history as the first football match to be played completely in black and white since Edward Heath was Prime Minister, the result - sadly - turned out to be a monotony. Our players had great difficulty in picking out their team mates, while Dorchester's seemed to know instinctively where their colleagues were. The Magpies came close to taking the lead in the 8th minute, when Arran Pugh's header was caught by Scott Traveller. Our resistance would last just three more minutes. Richard Logan found his team-mate Sam Malsolm in loads of space, and Malsolm's low shot past Traveller gave Dorchester the lead. After that, the home team looked totally at ease, and Traveller needed to make a great catch in the 14th minute to stop Jamie Gleeson doubling their lead from long range. But after 35 minutes, our safe-as-houses goalkeeper coughed up an almighty clanger to gift Town their second goal! Dorchester full-back Craig Pope booted a free-kick upfield towards 'Safe Hands' Scott, who dropped the ball and presented Malsolm with perhaps the easiest goal of his career. We did try to get a goal back when Nicky Reynolds burst through in injury time, but Jason Matthews stood his ground and blocked Reynolds' effort. From that point on, I knew we weren't going to make it through another FA Cup qualifying round.

A few more Romford chances came and went in the second half. Reynolds broke through the offside trap to get onto Scott Weight's through-ball in the 50th minute, and only a top-drawer block from goalkeeper Matthews kept him at bay. Matthews' save gave us a corner, from which Daryl Bourgeois headed high and wide. Chris Sullivan showed some rare glimpses of his talent on 74 minutes when he dribbled around Dorchester defender Neil Martin to get himself the opportunity to strike from close range, but Matthews pushed his effort away. Then, it wasn't just a case of our talent and our spirit deserting us on this particular Saturday afternoon - even Lady Luck herself turned against us. A few minutes after making my third and final substitution, Bourgeois went down hurt. I didn't want to risk a key player like Daryl suffering a serious injury, so I ordered him to come off. After 78 minutes, we were down to ten men, and we would very shortly be down by three goals. Traveller's day from hell continued barely a minute later as he strayed out of his area to collect a loose ball... and his clearance went directly to Martin, whose 55-yard strike flew into an empty Romford net! Our day of agony was completed in the 87th minute. The Magpies stole a fourth goal through the magical Malsolm, who scored an excellent strike from veteran Nick Crittenden's corner. I knew that Dorchester were another step up in class, but this was far too big a step in the end. Our Cup run was over.

Dorchester Town - 4 (Malsolm 11,35,87, Martin 79)

Romford - 0

FA Cup Qualifying Round 3, Attendance 645

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins (Senghore), Bourgeois, Toms, Stephen (Walters), Sullivan, Oxby (Crawley), Weight, Oates, Reynolds, Benjamin.

After the game, the players were naturally disappointed, and in some cases devastated, and the long trip back to Romford was a largely quiet one. However, there was one notable exception.

Left-back Tom Stephen had made just his third start for the club, and he performed terribly. When I told him exactly what I thought of his performance, Tom blew his top. He raved on about how he thought he had a decent game by his standards, and then pinned blame on the midfielders for our heavy defeat! After I said that he was being ridiculous, Tom abruptly cut short the conversation, just before World War III could kick off on the A31.

Needless to say, I was seething with rage. If Stephen's attitude problem continues and his performances don't improve dramatically, his Romford career could be as short-lived as a common housefly.

Next on the schedule was a home league game against 13th-placed Chatham Town. By then, we had dropped to 12th place, but only because we had played fewer league matches than everyone else except lowly Aveley. It was now time for us to catch up.

10 October 2012: Romford vs Chatham Town

Chatham had some famous names in their squad - Robert Webb, James Dyson, Nicky Campbell - but not really anyone with much football talent. We were the favourites to win, and we came close to taking the lead early on. Chris Benjamin made a promising start to the match, forcing goalkeeper Webb into a save after just two minutes. Benji also sent a free-kick just the wrong side of the post in the 16th minute. Five minutes later, Benjamin had his third chance of the game - a header caught comfortably enough by Webb. In the Chatham counter-attack that followed, Campbell fired over for the Chats, and he would soon be rueing that missed opportunity. Dyson and co failed to hoover up Hussein Isa's 28th-minute cross, which found Benjamin in the penalty area, and Chris's finish was too clinical for Webb. It was 1-0 to the Boro, but now we had to hold firm until at least half-time. On 36 minutes, our 16-year-old debutant Joel Wilkinson justified his selection in goal with a fine catch from fellow teenager Anton Williamson's free-kick. That meant we went into the break with our narrow lead still intact.

I told the lads to keep focused for the second half, but there were some worrying signs early on. Some bumbling defending from Danny Hutchins presented an opportunity to Williamson in the 57th minute, but the Chats winger's lack of experience showed as he missed from close range. Chatham then resorted to dirty tactics, picking up a string of yellow cards. While Chatham's tackling was becoming ugly, so was our own defending, and that eventually resulted in us losing the lead. It was the 71st minute, and Chatham cut us open with a series of short passes before Ross Howell pulled the trigger. Joe Oates was perhaps most to blame for that goal, having made a weak attempt at trying to take the ball off Howell before he equalised. But then, having seemingly lost Romford the lead, Oates regained it for us just seven minutes later! There was a goalmouth scramble after Andy Oxby sent a free-kick into the box, and Sullivan eventually managed to get the ball to Oates, who then squirmed it into the bottom corner! From zero to hero, just like that! Much of what time remained was dedicated to defending our 2-1 advantage. When the final whistle blew, we celebrated three big points and a return to form.

Romford - 2 (Benjamin 28, Oates 78)

Chatham Town - 1 (Howell 71)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 112 - POSITIONS: Romford 10th, Chatham 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Hutchins (Toms), Hatch, Myers, Bickerstaff, Isa (Sullivan), Oxby, Weight (Howell), Oates, Reynolds, Benjamin.

That was the first of back-to-back home league matches. The next came three days later against leaders Soham Town Rangers. Free-scoring Soham were six points above us in the standings, but significantly, they had played two games more. This was a big opportunity for us.

13 October 2012: Romford vs Soham Town Rangers

Before kick-off, we received some good news from the Soham camp: their 16-year-old sensation Luke Carline, who had scored eight league goals so far this season, had been dropped to the bench due to fatigue. Of course, the men in green did have other attacking threats, and after just three minutes, Nial Hodgkins tested Scott Traveller with a long-range drive that the restored Romford keeper caught well. In the 11th minute, another Soham youngster - midfielder Aarran Nicholls - suffered an injury after a pretty nasty clash of heads with Scott Weight, but bravely played on. We were perhaps in better shape physically than Rangers, and we took advantage of that after 15 minutes. Chris Sullivan capped off a string of Romford passes by drilling into the corner his first ever goal for his hometown club. We were leading the league leaders by one goal, and we had the opportunity to strengthen our hold on the game in the 23rd minute. Nicky Reynolds, who had been in such deadly form in the cups but had yet to score in the league, failed to change that last statistic with an awful miss when he had just the keeper to beat. It was a bitter disappointment not to be 2-0 up, and towards the end of the first half, Soham showed signs that they were upping their game. Matt Robinson had a low shot on goal for the Cambridgeshire side in the last minute of normal time, and Traveller gathered it calmly. The next goal looked more likely to be an equaliser for Soham than a clincher for Romford. Could we hold on for 45 more minutes?

Rangers brought on their rising star Carline for the second half, but his first effort in the 54th minute was not as promising as his goalscoring record. At the other end, our shooting was bordering on the reckless, as a number of my players ignored my instructions not to shoot from distance. One of those was Billy Radley, whose 60th-minute strike from outside the area did at least force Matt Bowles into a catch. Soham took a more patient approach, and sadly for us, it paid off after 68 minutes. Robinson's cross was turned in by yet another Rangers teen, Joe Asensi, and we had to figure out what to do next. Ryan Myers gave us the answer ten minutes later, when the excellent young defender headed home from Callum Crawley's header, putting us back in front! At 2-1 Romford, it looked like the match was going to follow a similar pattern to the Chatham game. But there was one thing we didn't bargain for - as the old saying goes, beware the injured sportsman! Nicholls had played for nearly an hour with injury after getting hurt during the first half, and with three minutes left to go until we could toast back-to-back victories, he lobbed an 18-yard shot into the far corner of Traveller's net! We'd blown it. To have come so close to beating the best team in the division and end up with just a draw was gutting... but on a brighter note, we did at least take a point off the leaders, and that's always a good result regardless of the circumstances, isn't it?

Romford - 2 (Sullivan 15, Myers 78)

Soham Town Rangers - 2 (Asensi 68, Nicholls 87)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 159 - POSITIONS: Romford 10th, Soham 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Bickerstaff, Bourgeois, Myers (Stephen), Walters, Radley, Oxby (Fellows), Weight (Crawley), Sullivan, Reynolds, Benjamin.

Four points from two home games meant that we were still right in the mix for the play-off places. Now, though, it was time to hit the road, Jack. We faced five consecutive away matches - and possibly our toughest run-in of the season so far.

Max Howell cut short his trial with us just before the Soham draw, having agreed to sign a contract with Folkestone Invicta. We weren't having much luck finding a central midfield partner for Scott Weight, so I decided to take a different approach, and look to the future. In came 16-year-old London boy Jay Vassell - a skilful and promising attacking midfielder who I hoped would soon be able to make an impact on the first-team.

How soon, you ask? Well, I put young Jay straight into the starting XI for our Isthmian League Cup Round 2 tie at Faversham Town, who were flying high in Division 1 South.

Neither the board nor I considered the Isthmian League Cup to be as important as the FA competitions, so I rested most of our best players for this game. I knew that it was likely to jeopardise our chances of winning this competition, but of course, the league has to take top priority.

17 October 2012: Faversham Town vs Romford

Jay Vassell's Romford debut lasted just one minute. He sustained a knock after a strong challenge from Faversham's Aaron Williams, and I decided to get young Jay off as soon as possible. Williams was our nemesis again in the 6th minute, creating the opening goal for Lilywhites striker Richard Stevens. From that point on, our game seemed to go into freefall. Faversham were over us like a rash, and the only reason they didn't add a second goal before half-time was Joel Wilkinson. Just two minutes after Stevens' opener, Luke Harvey had a pop at goal, but Wilko made an excellent fingertip that belied his 16 years. Joel was having a solid game, which was more than can be said for his back four. We also struggled badly up front, with our only real scoring chance coming when substitute Toran Senghore pulled a low shot wide in the 40th minute. Losing 1-0 at half-time against the Sorters, I needed to sort things out, and so I replaced the abject Tom Stephen with Josh Bickerstaff.

Wilkinson made another super stop in the opening minute of the second half, blocking Sean O'Sullivan's volley. Five minutes later, the post denied Stevens his and Faversham's second goal. The Salters Lane side continued to pepper shots at our goal, and after holding out for almost half an hour, we sneezed again in the 72nd minute. Our defence was at sixes and sevens as Pietro Palladino broke through and rubber-stamped the Sorters' place in Round 3 with a poacher's finish. Their dominance was clear from start to finish - they had 21 shots at goal in the whole match, including 11 in just the second half, while we didn't have any shots after the break! This was a completely heartless display from Romford, and frankly, we deserved to be knocked out of the cup.

Faversham Town - 2 (Stevens 6, Palladino 72)

Romford - 0

Isthmian League Cup Round 2, Attendance 168

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Hutchins, Hatch, Toms, Stephen (Bickerstaff), Isa, Weight (Crawley), Oates, Vassell (Senghore), Reynolds, Benjamin.

Let's not speak of that match again.

Our next destination was Suffolk, where we faced the team with the only unbeaten record left in Isthmian League Division 1 North. AFC Sudbury were in 2nd place, but a number of their players were injured and they had just suffered a heavy defeat in the Isthmian League Cup. A good show at King's Marsh Stadium would surely see us take at least a point off them.

20 October 2012: AFC Sudbury vs Romford

Both sets of strikers started the game nervously, with neither goalkeeper being seriously tested early on. There was one small hiccup for restored Romford keeper Scott Traveller, whose poor clearance in the 6th minute presented a chance to Danny Charge, but Scott was spared his blushes by the offside flag. Traveller restarted play with a long free-kick up to Chris Benjamin, who played a headed one-two with Nicky Reynolds before nodding the ball into the gloves of Suds goalkeeper Matthew Cowell. The next piece of significant action came in the 27th minute. Ryan Myers had the chance to put us in front, but his header hit the side netting. That was as exciting as the first half got.

Four minutes into the second half, Chris Sullivan was tackled on the edge of AFC Sudbury's penalty area by Russell Pond, and went down in agony. Sullivan had to be taken off and replaced by Ricki Mackin, who came back into the side after his own injury problems. After that, Sudbury edged closer and closer to scoring the opening goal of the game. Ben Bowditch's 54th-minute free-kick was caught by Traveller, and substitute John Purches dragged an ambitious long-range effort wide three minutes later. In the 63rd minute, another Suds sub - Lauris Coggin - centred the ball to Duncan Williams, who slid the ball home while the Romford defenders did absolutely nothing to stop him! Our boys were too busy complaining about Williams being offside, but from where I saw the incident, it looked marginal at best. It's one of the biggest rules in association football - play until the whistle blows! In the 69th minute, Sudbury were also guilty of not following that rule after Mackin's low cross was finished by Jay Vassell, who equalised on what you could say was his full Romford debut. Sudbury cried offside, but on this occasion, Jay was clearly onside - not that I'm being biased, of course! Toran Senghore had the chance to give us victory in the 80th minute, but his header was comfortably caught by Cowell, and the match ended all square at 1-1. Regardless of Toran's missed opportunity, a draw was a result I was more than happy with.

AFC Sudbury - 1 (Williams 63)

Romford - 1 (Vassell 69)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 221 - POSITIONS: AFC Sudbury 4th, Romford 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Bickerstaff, Bourgeois, Myers, Walters, Radley, Weight (Crawley), Sullivan (Mackin), Vassell, Reynolds, Benjamin (Senghore). BOOKED: Benjamin.

Fortunately, Chris Sullivan didn't suffer a serious injury in that match, but it was clear that he was struggling physically. I decided that it was perhaps a good idea if Sully took a week off. After a quick chat, Sully agreed. He'd miss our next two fixtures, of course, but I hoped he would come back from this mini-break reinvigorated, so that I could finally see exactly what Sullivan is capable of.

Before our big FA Trophy trip to Ilkeston, we were back in Essex to entertain Waltham Abbey. The Abbotts, as they are known, had drawn half of their league games thus far and sat 17th in the table. Romford old boy Micky Haswell, who moved to Capershotts in the summer, formed part of the home defence.

24 October 2012: Waltham Abbey vs Romford

As the rain poured down on the Capershotts pitch, Waltham Abbey started the match in positive fashion. James King hit a blistering 30-yard drive in the eight minutes, but Scott Traveller showed cat-like agility and managed to tip the ball wide. King's strike was a real cracker, but team-mate Loren Maxwell's effort two minutes later went so high and wide that the ball nearly ended up in Epping Forest! Maxwell's next shot two minutes later was slightly better, as he forced a low save out of Traveller. Our defence was working overtime, and in the 32nd minute, the last thing we wanted to happen did happen. Captain Daryl Bourgeois jumped up to head Abbey keeper Richard Hayward's goal kick back into the opposition half, but then fell awkwardly before clutching his leg. Bourgeois was reluctantly taken off, with left-back Tom Stephen coming on as a substitute, and Josh Bickerstaff taking Daryl's place at centre-half. Half-time was drawing near, and a question was being asked over whether we could survive the Waltham Abbey onslaught. The answer would come in the last minute of normal time. The Abbotts won a free-kick, which was headed away by Ryan Myers, but Abbey midfielder Alex Brown nodded the ball back towards goal. Jasper Owen then shinned the ball past his marker Stephen to Maxwell, who made a 90-degree turn before finishing with ease.

At half-time, I basically snapped. I barracked the defence for letting Waltham Abbey walk over them, and also the strikers for spurning the very few chances that we had. My most severe criticism, though, was for Tom Stephen. I bellowed at him, "WHY IS IT ALWAYS YOUR FAULT WHEN EVERYTHING GOES T*TS UP?!" The dressing room fell silent. Instantly, I realised the severity of what I just said, and left the dressing room to cool down while my assistant Daryl Armstrong tried to restore calm. It was the first time I really lost my temper with one of my players, and I immediately regretted it.

When I returned to the dugout after missing the early stages of the second half, I saw my defence being ripped to shreds again. Tom's confidence was shot to pieces, and on the hour mark, his fellow defenders had a moment to forget. Maxwell knocked the ball well past Ryan Myers, leaving himself with just Traveller to beat. Bickerstaff was quick enough to get to the ball ahead of the Abbey striker, but slowed down in the belief that Scott would be able to safely retrieve it. Maxwell was heading towards Scott at high speed, and when the goalkeeper somehow let the ball slip from his fingers, he quickly backtracked. While Josh and the other Boro boys hesitated, he retook the ball and aimed a shot at goal! To complete an embarrassing few seconds all round, Maxwell drilled one of his easiest opportunities of the season the wrong side of the post!

After that close shave, the Romford defenders regained their composure, but Stephen's performance continued to drop like a stone. He kept on making the most basic of errors, sending simple passes wayward, and with eight minutes to go, I lost all patience with him. The substitute was substituted, and Tom was absolutely distraught as he sat back down on the bench. By then, Waltham Abbey were starting to get back into their stride. Traveller kept out an 84th-minute half-volley from Maxwell to keep the deficit down to 1-0 - although that wouldn't be the case for much longer. In the penultimate minute of normal time, Maxwell hit a fantastic pass up to Theo Ola on the left wing, and Ola flicked the ball into the middle of the penalty area, where King volleyed in the game-clincher. Waltham Abbey were convincing 2-0 winners, and we continued to lose ground on the play-off challengers.

Waltham Abbey - 2 (Maxwell 45, King 89)

Romford - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 51 - POSITIONS: Waltham Abbey 14th, Romford 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois (Stephen (Mackin)), Myers, Bickerstaff, Radley, Oxby, Weight, Oates, Senghore, Benjamin (Reynolds).

As I sat in the dugout alone after the final whistle, I realised that this had to be a turning point. My first few months at Romford had gone so smoothly - September in particular - that I had perhaps become too arrogant as a result. I was now expecting more from my players, and they weren't handling the pressure that I was piling on them. Tom Stephen was a prime example.

I always knew Tom was a class full-back for this level - after all, he did make make 35 appearances for East Thurrock United in the Isthmian Premier last season. One of my first acts upon boarding the team bus was to apologise to him for my heavy-handedness. Tom, in turn, said sorry for his poor displays and vowed to up his game in future. We shook hands and were back on good terms.

I may be 27 years of age, but in football management terms, I've still got an awful lot of growing-up to do.

On 27 October 2012, we had arguably our biggest game of the season to date. We made by far the furthest trip up north that we had taken so far, going all the way to the East Midlands to play Ilkeston in Qualifying Round 2 of the FA Trophy. The Robins play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, but they were struggling a bit, having taken just one point from their last five matches. I believed that Ilkeston were beatable if we could keep calm and not panic if we conceded early on.

27 October 2012: Ilkeston vs Romford

In the dressing room before kick-off, I tried to keep the players relaxed, reassuring them that it was an achievement in itself to have got this far in the FA Trophy, and that they could play without pressure. But just seven minutes into the game, I was anything but relaxed! A rare mistake from Boro full-back George Walters allowed Ilkeston's veteran striker Gary Ricketts to have an attempt from close range, and Scott Traveller blocked it superbly. Two minutes later, Robins winger Jack Eades sent a right-wing cross to the far post, and Ricketts beat Danny Hutchins to head Ilkeston into the lead. The hosts soon began to assert their authority on the match. Ricketts was proving to be a thorn in our side, and he and his team-mates had several chances to increase their advantage, only to be thwarted by their own wastefulness. Ilkeston's best chance came two minutes from time when Ricketts - who was being insufficiently marked by young Wayne Hatch - picked up Cameron Darkwah's pass in the middle of the penalty area, and then blasted a great opportunity into the stands. Had the 37-year-old been more clinical that time, the tie would surely have been over, but at 1-0 down going into the second half, we were just about still in contention.

The second-half introduction of youngster Jay Vassell seemed to give us some much-needed attacking energy. Jay helped to create a chance for Toran Senghore in the 56th minute, but Toran failed to trouble Ilkeston goalkeeper Chris Martin. The game would then turn around in the space of 30 seconds in the 66th minute. After a shot from Ricketts whistled inches wide of the post, Traveller quickly got the ball moving for Romford, and within moments, Vassell was in possession in the Ilkeston half. He hit a delicate weighted pass for Nicky Reynolds, and a weak interception from Daniel Partridge allowed Nicky to get past Martin and tap in the equaliser! From the brink of being 2-0 down, we were now even stevens! Game on! At this point, I was more than happy to settle for a replay, and as the game neared injury time, that was looking more and more likely. Even though Ilkeston were having chance after chance, they couldn't quite break through, and the scores remained level when the fourth official put up his board to signal three minutes of injury time.

We won a corner in the opening seconds after Martin had parried away a 90th-minute strike from Boro sub Mitch Fellows, and Callum Crawley played the corner short to Hatch. I hoped that Wayne would then get the ball to Daryl Bourgeois in the six-yard box, but under pressure from Partridge, he put the ball out of play for a Robins goal kick. There was our chance to secure a place in Qualifying Round 3, and it was wasted. We now had to hold firm to get a draw, and with it, a rematch at Ship Lane. In the last minute of injury time, Ilkeston's former Sheffield United defender Rob Kozluk exchanged passes with Laurie Wilson before moving possession on to Eades. The winger's cross fell nicely to Australian Jack Watts, who controlled the ball with his left foot before half-volleying it with his right. The net rustled, and the New Manor Ground erupted. I slumped back to my seat in the dugout, with my head in my hands. We were out of the FA Trophy... in heartbreaking fashion.

Ilkeston - 2 (Ricketts 9, Watts 90)

Romford - 1 (Reynolds 66)

FA Trophy Qualifying Round 2, Attendance 157

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Hatch, Walters, Mackin (Radley), Oxby (Vassell), Crawley, Isa, Senghore (Fellows), Reynolds.

The trip back home was longer and even quieter than when we were knocked out of the FA Cup by Dorchester Town. I had tried reassuring the players that they'd given their all and couldn't have done any more, but the atmosphere on the coach was a sombre one, as if a loved one had just died. Strangely enough, the coach driver's obsession with playing Lana Del Rey on his stereo couldn't lighten the mood, either. None of us could wait to get home.

My own spirits were very low, as well. After a super September, this was very much a black October. We'd won just one of our eight matches, and none of our last five. We were out of three cup competitions, and even though we still had games in hand on most of our league opponents, five points now separated us from the play-off spots. I was wondering what on Earth I could do to turn our fortunes around.

I received some more positive news on Monday morning. Nicky Reynolds had received a contract offer from Corinthian-Casuals, against whom he scored twice in pre-season, but our top goalscorer turned them down to stay with us. Nicky had scored seven goals in the cups this season, and I really hoped he would break his league duck soon.

Reynolds certainly fancied his chances of scoring in the last, and perhaps on paper the easiest, of our five consecutive away matches. Ware's league campaign so far had been nothing short of disastrous - they were third from bottom, having won just twice, and only Aveley had scored fewer goals than them. If we lost against this lot, then we really would be in crisis mode.

31 October 2012: Ware vs Romford

The first goal came after just six minutes... and it would be Nicky Reynolds' long-awaited first in the league this season! Tom Stephen hit a long ball to Nicky, who after an unchallenged run to the edge of Ware's penalty box fired a lethal effort past goalkeeper James Hoad! But even though they were in 20th place, Ware weren't ever going to make things easy for us. On 17 minutes, Joe Knowlson was given too much space by our defenders, and it was up to Scott Traveller to save the day by blocking Knowlson's shot. Six minutes later, Andy Howell's cross found Max Wright in the box, and Wright would surely have equalised had he been more accurate with his header. The leveller did come in the 27th minute, as Junior Brown took away our lead with a thunderous low drive into Traveller's bottom-right corner. I now feared a Romford capitulation. Then, three minutes later, I saw Chris Sullivan charging down the left flank like a rejuvenated man before crossing to Reynolds. Nicky met it with a delicate header, and we were 2-1 up after half an hour! Seven minutes later, Hoad's goal-kick for Ware went awry, evading his defender Kristian Bowden and going straight to Reynolds! Nicky was clear to score his hat-trick, but shot far too early and sent the ball wide. That's the thing with Nicky Reynolds - he's got a good goalscoring record, but he does tend to miss quite a few sitters. Because of that last miss, we went into half-time with a slim lead, and the game was far from over.

Once again, the nerves of being in a good position seemed to get to us in the second half. We were spurning a lot of half-chances and shooting from long-range, which was exactly what I told them NOT to do. Our failure to kill the game off would bite us in the backside midway through the half. It was the 67th minute, and Knowlson won a corner off Josh Bickerstaff before curling the set piece towards our near post. Romford defender Ryan Myers misjudged his header, Brown didn't, and he got his second equaliser of the evening. I couldn't believe what I was seeing - we were now on the back foot against one of the division's worst teams, and Ware suddenly looked favourites to get a fifth and potentially decisive goal! Fortunately, it didn't come to that, although Brown tried to claim a hat-trick just a minute after bagging his second goal. He had a go from the edge of the area, and Traveller calmly caught it to settle our nerves a bit. There was a long wait for the final whistle, as injuries to Ware duo Howell and Jeff Minton meant that the two minutes of added time stretched to six-and-a-half. When the whistle did come, I was far from happy with the solitary point we had picked up.

Ware - 2 (Brown 27,69)

Romford - 2 (Reynolds 6,30)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 178 - POSITIONS: Ware 20th, Romford 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Bickerstaff, Bourgeois, Myers (Hatch), Stephen, Radley, Crawley (Vassell), Weight, Sullivan, Senghore (Benjamin), Reynolds.

A horrible result on the night of Halloween brought an end to the month from hell. From our nine matches, we'd won just once and lost five times, meaning that my honeymoon period was now well and truly over. Our first game of November is back home at Ship Lane on Saturday, and if we don't get a good result there, then Boro fans might be burning effigies of me on Monday night.

What do you want if you're on a six-game winless streak? A home game. What DON'T you want? A home game against the 3rd-placed team in the division. On paper, this was not a good time to be playing Potters Bar Town, who had just started coming back to form after a run of five league games without victory.

Then again, it was the start of a new month, and it represented a good opportunity to put Black October firmly behind us.

3 November 2012: Romford vs Potters Bar Town

The feelgood factor surrounding us back in September had died down, and we played for our lowest home league crowd of the season, with just 92 spectators turning up. Those who did attend nearly saw a Romford goal within two minutes, as Matty Toms' header went just wide. Nicky Reynolds also made a promising start, dribbling through the Potters Bar defence in the 10th minute before sending his shot the wrong side of the far post. Potters Bar took a while to get going, and Ashley Harrison-Baker had a string of chances for them midway through the first half. It seemed, though, as if he left his shooting boots in Hertfordshire as he missed the target each time. In the 37th minute, an offside decision went against the Scholars, and Scott Traveller sent his free-kick upfield towards right-winger Ricki Mackin. Ricki exchanged passes with Chris Benjamin before crossing towards the far post, where his opposite flanker Joe Oates smashed the ball into the target! Romford fans were smiling again, and at half-time, we could smell a much-needed victory.

In the second half, I was pleased to see that my players were passing with much more fluidity than in recent weeks. It was this new-found confidence with the ball that created a chance to make it 2-0 Boro in the 56th minute. Reynolds layed the ball off to teenager Jay Vassell, but the rookie missed the goal by inches. Moments later, there was much amusement to be found at what was going on in the Potters Bar dugout. Scholars manager Adam Lee was involved in an almighty row with his defender Billy Witham after substituting the 19-year-old, who was far from happy about the decision and had a hissy fit! I couldn't help but quietly chuckle. For the first time in ages, I could relax. Potters Bar's game completely deserted them, and Callum Crawley almost finished them off in the 72nd minute. His free-kick was blocked by the defensive wall, and his half-volleyed rebound was saved in spectacular style by Potters Bar captain Nick Jupp. We didn't manage to get a second goal, but Traveller's catch from Scholars substitute Danny Johnson in the last minute of added-on time gave us a clean sheet - and our first win in seven games! The feeling at full-time was one more of relief than delight, but we were feeling positive again!

Romford - 1 (Oates 37)

Potters Bar Town - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 92 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Potters Bar 4th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois (Hatch), Toms, Walters, Mackin, Crawley, Oates, Vassell (Oxby), Benjamin, Reynolds (Fellows).

Our next match was our first in the Essex Senior Cup - a Round 3 tie at home to Witham Town. Without being disrespectful to the Essex County FA, this competition wasn't a big priority right now, so I decided to field a second-string line-up for this game. If we won, then great, but it wouldn't be a disaster if we didn't.

6 November 2012: Romford vs Witham Town

In the dressing room before kick-off, I warned my players about the danger posed by Witham's young striking sensation, Glyn Mitchell. He only turned 17 the day before but had already scored 16 goals in 20 competitive matches. Within the first minute, he nearly scored his 17th in 21, but Joel Wilkinson caught his header brilliantly. Mitchell was one of no fewer than seven teenagers in Witham's starting line-up (we fielded four), and another of them - Glen Lamb - hit a fine low drive in the 3rd minute, but Wilkinson saved again. It was very early in the game, and already, Town were dominating. We had to wait until the 11th minute for our first chance to attack. Hussein Isa hit a superb long pass to Chris Sullivan, who then ran down the right wing before cutting a low cross to the six-yard box. By then, Isa was charging into the box, and he tucked away Sullivan's delivery to draw first blood with his maiden Romford goal! We were 1-0 up against the run of play! Two minutes later, though, Luke Donnelly sliced through our defence with a pass to Mitchell, who stormed past Tom Stephen. He looked odds-on to equalise until Wilko got a hand to his shot, and Harley Laycock's attempt to score from the rebound was blocked by Romford debutant Anthony Chapman. The visitors went on to have several more chances before the break, with the best of them coming in the 37th minute. Laycock's corner for Witham was met by Ollie Kennedy, whose header deflected off the crossbar. The ball fell to Town defender Robert Ritchie, and all he had to do to equalise was to score from one yard out. Fortunately for us, Chapman made a last-minute blockage to make sure that Witham only got another corner rather than a goal. That corner came to nothing, and we were dead fortunate to be 1-0 up at half-time.

In the first half, we had one shot at goal - from which we scored - but Witham had NINE. I knew that if that continued in the second half, Witham would surely break through and eventually win the game. So, I decided to turn the tables, and put the pressure back on our opponents. This seemed to work early on. In the 54th minute, just moments after Mitchell spurned another opportunity for Witham, Mitch Fellows had a rare Romford chance at the other end, and although he didn't trouble the keeper then, this was encouraging news. What was also encouraging was that Witham, who in the first half seemed to have free rein of our penalty area, were now struggling to create chances. Before long, we were well and truly on top of Town. In the 80th minute, a counter-attacking move resulted in our second shot on target of the evening. It would also be our second goal, and Sullivan's second assist, as the enigmatic winger set up substitute Scott Weight's game-winning strike! We were through to the next round of the Essex Senior Cup - just don't ask me how we did it!

Romford - 2 (Isa 11, Weight 80)

Witham Town - 0

Essex Senior Cup Round 3, Attendance 96

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Chapman, Hatch, Toms, Stephen (Bickerstaff), Sullivan, Oxby, Isa, Vassell (Weight), Senghore, Fellows (Benjamin). BOOKED: Fellows.

We booked our place in Round 4, and were drawn to host neighbours Tilbury next month. This would be a rematch of the 1947 Essex Senior Cup Final (an unforgettable match that I'm sure all of you will remember), where Romford won the trophy for the fifth and most recent time.

That win over Witham was Josh Bickerstaff's swansong for Romford. He returned to Hitchin Town after a three-month loan in which he made 16 appearances for the Boro.

We completed our run of three straight home games with a Remembrance Sunday match against Brentwood Town. Brentwood's awful form meant that we were the heavy favourites to win this meeting.

11 November 2012: Romford vs Brentwood Town

We had the upper hand in the opening stages, and Nicky Reynolds in particular was looking fired up. In the 11th minute, he bravely took the ball off Brentwood defender Lee Townrow before approaching the penalty area, from the edge of which he missed the target by inches. Reynolds got the better of Townrow again in the 25th minute, beating his marker to Chris Sullivan's pass before applying the finish. The first goal of the afternoon took Nicky's goal tally for this season into double figures! Nine minutes later, Sullivan's long cross was headed towards the centre of the penalty area by Joe Oates. The recipient was Chris Benjamin, who chested the ball, did a 180-degree turn, and then volleyed in a spectacular goal to enhance our lead! A great half almost got better for us in on 38 minutes, when Benjamin set up an opportunity for Reynolds, only for goalkeeper James Hassell to parry it away. We went into the break high on confidence and self-belief - it was a case of so far, so very good.

In footballing circles, they sometimes say that 2-0 is a dangerous lead to have. I knew that an early Brentwood goal could ultimately change the destiny of the match, and my worries were enhanced when the Blues came flying out of the traps for the second half. Their wingers, Kurt Husnu and former Arsenal trainee Peggy Lokando, looked particularly dangerous, and they helped to win a stack of corners from Brentwood. Fortunately, our defence held firm... until the 54th minute. At long last for Brentwood, one of their corners finally yielded something, as captain Daryl Robson's delivery found Husnu, who thundered the ball in from a tight angle. Two minutes after that, Reynolds stormed through on goal after Blues defender Richard Taylor misjudged a header, and he should've restored our two-goal lead but hit the side-netting instead. Brentwood were still in contention, and needed just one more goal to restore parity, so they upped the pace and went on the offensive. Their big moment came on 71 minutes, when Robson's free-kick found its way to Lokando, but the Congolese youngster's header was awfully miscued. I could sense the momentum moving towards us again.

With 77 minutes on the clock, I made an attacking substitution, taking off Benjamin and bringing on Mitch Fellows. Play restarted with a Brentwood throw-in, which Greg Oates sent to Lokando, but Joe Oates quickly closed him down. Joe then passed to Andy Oxby, who in turn passed to Scott Weight. Weighty played the ball forward to Fellows, just outside Brentwood's area. Fellows leaped into the air, swung the ball with his left foot, and then watched as it flew past Hassell and into the net! What a way to seal victory, and with his first ever league goal as well! It was a truly remarkable goal from Mitch - I hope one of the 169 spectators at Ship Lane filmed it, because I'm sure it'd get loads of hits on YouTube!

Romford - 3 (Reynolds 25, Benjamin 34, Fellows 78)

Brentwood Town - 1 (Husnu 54)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 169 - POSITIONS: Romford 7th, Brentwood 18th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers (Toms), Stephen, Sullivan (Radley), Weight, Oxby, Oates, Reynolds, Benjamin (Fellows).

Amidst the euphoria surrounding Romford after Mitch Fellows' wonder-goal, the mood at Brentwood was much less celebratory. This was their eighth game without a win, and manager Steve Witherspoon would pay the price for Brentwood's decline with his job.

There was no chance of me losing my job anytime soon, though. Back-to-back league wins had moved us up to 7th, and within just four goals of a play-off place.

In the early days of professional football, amateur side Corinthian were renowned for their sportsmanship and fair play. More than a century on from their heyday, however, Corinthian-Casuals are not behaving in the same admirable manner as their forefathers.

Since Nicky Reynolds turned down an initial approach from them in late October, Corinthian-Casuals have continued to pursue our star striker. Casuals manager Kim Harris has made offer after offer, but Nicky has repeatedly told him to stick his contract where the sun doesn't shine. Nicky's loyalty to Romford knows no bounds.

This situation cannot go on forever, of course. I know that the only way to end Casuals' interest is to get Reynolds to sign a part-time contract with us. At the moment, though, it's proving tough to negotiate a deal that will keep Nicky here until at least the end of the season, and at the same time, not put our finances at risk.

I'll update you on the situation if and when anything significant happens.

Next on the itinerary was an away match against an out-of-sorts Harlow Town side who had dropped to 14th after winning just one league game in the last two months.

14 November 2012: Harlow Town vs Romford

The first chance of the evening went to Harlow after just three minutes. Mason Stewart crossed to James Davis in the Romford penalty area, and Davis missed the target when he looks odds-on to tuck his shot in. In the 9th minute, Callum Crawley sent our first meaningful opportunity deep into the stands. A better chance for us came Chris Benjamin's way on 25 minutes, but his half-volley was caught by Noel Imber. Six minutes later, Benjamin rushed onto Crawley's corner, and agonisingly headed the ball against the crossbar! Those were the few highlights of a frustrating first half as far as both teams were concerned.

In the 56th minute, Harlow's leading scorer Davis hit the side-netting with a vicious shot from inside the area. That would be his last meaningful act of the game, thanks to a robust challenge from Anthony Chapman that left him nursing an injury. Fortunately for the Hawks, their main centre-forward wasn't seriously injured. Their left-back wouldn't be so lucky. Chapman's no-nonsense tackling claimed another victim after 74 minutes, and Louis Lavers would be stretchered off with a nasty-looking torn hamstring. Harlow had already made all three of their substitutions by then, and so we sought to make our one-man advantage count. With nine minutes left to play, full-back George Walters exchanged passes with Chris Sullivan before heading the ball to Nicky Reynolds, and Nicky did the rest with an easy close-range finish! There was ecstasy in the Romford dug-out... until we realised that the referee's assistant had raised his flag for offside. Ecstasy turned to fury, and then almost to pure agony in the 89th minute! Scott Traveller's attempt to throw the ball to Walters went straight to the feet of Stewart, who after leading George on a merry dance played in Danny Davis. The substitute's strike from the edge of the area was lightning quick, but Traveller still managed to make an excellent stop before Walters cleared the danger. Therefore, a fairly even match ended goalless, with both myself and my Harlow counterpart rueing missed opportunities.

Harlow Town - 0

Romford - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 243 - POSITIONS: Harlow 13th, Romford 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Chapman, Bourgeois, Toms, Walters, Sullivan, Crawley, Oxby (Vassell), Oates (Isa), Reynolds, Benjamin.

It was becoming a little worrying that we hadn't won an away game of any sort for two months, and we hoped to put that statistic right when we visited another mid-table side - Waltham Forest.

17 November 2012: Waltham Forest vs Romford

Daryl Bourgeois was rested, and so Scott Traveller captained Romford for the first time. The keeper was quickly called into action when Ant Bodle broke free for Waltham Forest in the 8th minute, but Traveller made a fine save. When the two came face-to-face again shortly afterwards, Scott came out on top once more. In all honesty, he needed to be on his game, because our defence wasn't in top form. In the 23rd minute, Callum Crawley made a total mess of Mitch Fellows' back-pass, allowing Joe Stevens to burst clean through and, er, miss the most open of goals. Six minutes later, we thought we had our time to score when Matty Toms got his head to Callum's free-kick. However, it was very much Chico time, as Forest's goalkeeper from Cape Verde tipped it wide. As half-time neared, it looked as though we were going to head into the break with the scores still level and a chance to regroup. Then came the last minute of normal time. Bodle lofted a wonderful through-ball to Stevens, who once again was clear of the defenders and this time executed a perfect finish past an advancing Traveller. While I quickly altered my plans for my half-time team-talk, Stevens celebrated his goal with a bumper crowd of... erm, 19.

In the 49th minute, Hussein Isa's failure to control the ball cleanly gifted Stevens the chance to set up a second Forest goal. He played the ball to strike partner Alex Waugh, whose shot was turned behind by Traveller. I was so incensed with Isa's mistake that I brought him off almost immediately. The introduction of Ricki Mackin made no difference to our attacking performance, however. Scott Weight's effort in the 65th minute went wide, and that was in fact the only shot we had in the entire second half. In summary, it was a very lacklustre display by us, and it was only thanks to captain Traveller that we lost by just the one goal. The reliable goalie made a great catch from Louis O'Sullivan in the 73rd minute, and then from Waugh's 87th-minute header to keep the deficit down.

Waltham Forest - 1 (Stevens 45)

Romford - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 19 - POSITIONS: Waltham Forest 10th, Romford 9th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Myers (Hatch), Toms, Stephen, Radley, Crawley (Vassell), Weight, Isa (Mackin), Reynolds, Fellows.

Even though we only picked up a solitary point from those two away games, we were still in a decent position. The league was so tight that, even though we were 9th, we sat just one point behind the 5th-placed team, and six behind the leaders Thamesmead Town. We had to keep the faith - if we could go on another good run of form, it'd be a case of WHEN rather than IF we broke back into that top five.

Our preparations for our next game - a home clash with managerless Heybridge Swifts - were beset by the temporary loss of two central midfielders. Callum Crawley was sent home with the flu on Tuesday, and 24 hours later, Andy Oxby suffered concussion in training. On a more positive note, skipper Daryl Bourgeois was back to 100% fitness after sitting out the Waltham Forest defeat.

24 November 2012: Romford vs Heybridge Swifts

A sloppy throw-in from Tom Stephen presented Heybridge Swifts with their first chance after seven minutes. A series of Heybridge passes culminated in Andy Tomlinson picking out Ed Gayle in the penalty area. To our sheer relief, Gayle miscued his shot, sending it past the near post. After our close shave, we hit back, and found the net in the 19th minute. Jay Vassell lobbed a shot towards Nicky Reynolds, who flicked his header beyond Swifts goalkeeper Nicky Eyre. But for the second time in three games, Nicky was denied by the offside flag, and the scoreline remained goalless... though for only three more minutes. It would prove to be a moment to forget for Danny Hutchins, who made two awful errors in the space of a minute. The Boro full-back gave away possession via a poor throw-in, and then headed Marc Elston's cross back towards him! After a one-two with Gayle, ex-Arsenal striker Elston completed Danny's embarrassment by putting away an easy opportunity. The Swifts were one up, but they had some injury concerns in their defence. Heybridge's player/assistant manager Chris Moore played on despite straining his neck just before the goal, while his fellow defender Ian Cousins was taken off with a dead leg in the 37th minute. We could now sense a chance to draw level. With six minutes to go until the break, Billy Radley equalised with his first league goal for Romford, albeit with a little help from Eyre, who couldn't quite keep Billy's low shot out of the net. Now we had the momentum, and surely we could complete the comeback in the second half...

...or perhaps not. We absolutely hogged possession in the second half, but amazingly, we couldn't muster a single shot at goal! As for Heybridge, their own chances were limited and not well executed. A long distance strike from Russell Malton in the 63rd minute that went miles wide was the best they could muster. The game fizzled out to a dull 1-1 draw, but not before Vassell suffered an injury blow five minutes from time. Our teenage attacking midfielder suffered a bruised rib in a clash with Tomlinson, and as a result, he would be ruled out for the best part of two weeks.

Romford - 1 (Radley 39)

Heybridge Swifts - 1 (Elston 22)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 138 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Heybridge 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Toms (Myers), Stephen (Walters), Radley, Vassell, Weight, Isa (Sullivan), Reynolds, Fellows.

And so a month which started promisingly for us ended with us failing to beat three opponents ranked below us in the table. It was also a disappointment from a financial point of view, as after making a profit for three successive months, reduced gate receipts meant that we recorded a loss of around £2,500 for November. We're still £13,000 in the black, though, so it's not something to have nightmares about just yet.

As we got ready for our next match, we had another injury in the squad - and sadly, it was a major blow. Billy Radley, who had won us a point against Heybridge, broke down in training suddenly, and was diagnosed with a hernia. The physio told me that Billy wouldn't be back in action for another two months, and with his loan spell due to expire on New Year's Eve, we reluctantly said an early bye-bye to 'Boo'. He returned to Billericay Town after 19 games and two goals for the Boro.

Just as Radley departed, another loanee arrived. We signed Eastbourne Borough's 22-year-old centre-forward David Knight on loan for three months in an attempt to boost our attacking prospects. David is no stranger to Ship Lane, having previously played for Thurrock, and hopefully he won't take long to settle in.

With 16 games played, only four teams have conceded fewer goals than us - but more worryingly, only four teams have scored fewer goals than us. Could that latter statistic be about to change, thanks to our new Knight in shining armour?

[b]                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
1.          Wroxham                16    9     3     4     23    15    +8    30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Thamesmead             16    9     3     4     26    19    +7    30
3.          Needham Market         16    9     3     4     17    10    +7    30
4.          Witham                 16    8     3     5     32    25    +7    27
5.          Aveley                 16    7     6     3     15    9     +6    27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          AFC Sudbury            16    6     7     3     26    22    +4    25
7.          Potters Bar            16    6     6     4     20    14    +6    24
8.          Soham                  16    7     3     6     26    21    +5    24
[color="#0000FF"]9.          Romford                16    6     6     4     18    17    +1    24[/color]
10.         Maldon & Tiptree       16    7     3     6     23    23    0     24
11.         Heybridge              16    6     5     5     25    20    +5    23
12.         Harlow                 16    6     5     5     25    23    +2    23
13.         Redbridge              16    7     2     7     17    23    -6    23
14.         Waltham Forest         16    6     4     6     23    23    0     22
15.         Grays                  16    5     5     6     18    19    -1    20
16.         Chatham                16    4     6     6     18    20    -2    18
17.         Brentwood              16    5     3     8     23    27    -4    18
18.         Waltham Abbey          16    3     7     6     19    23    -4    16
19.         Ware                   16    4     4     8     13    23    -10   16
20.         Cheshunt               16    3     6     7     21    29    -8    15
21.         Tilbury                16    2     5     9     19    29    -10   11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Ilford                 16    2     3     11    21    34    -13   9

enjoying this one

enjoying this one

Thanks. The next part is coming very soon.

The final month of 2012 began with us entertaining Cheshunt. The Ambers were in 20th place, having won just once in the last couple of months, and they were without a manager. Surely this would be a straightforward win against weak opposition...

1 December 2012: Cheshunt vs Romford

David Knight made an instant impact on his Romford debut, scoring after just five minutes. Our new loanee from Eastbourne Borough scored a comfortable finish from just outside the six-yard box to complete a well-crafted attacking move from the Boro boys. This annoyed Cheshunt, who thought that David might have been offside, and they almost equalised three minutes later. Lee Allinson stroked the ball up to Ambers striker Courtney White, who got past Ryan Myers and then fired his shot just past the post. In the 18th minute, Knight managed to get to Joe Oates' long ball just before it crossed the byline, and he then had a shot from a tight angle, drawing an awkward save out of Obey Murefu. Cheshunt's Zimbabwean goalkeeper would have another moment to forget just prior to half-time. He parried a 44th-minute shot from Nicky Reynolds, but Chris Sullivan half-volleyed in the rebound to double our advantage! While Cheshunt moaned once again that there was possibly an offside, we went into the break with a solid two-goal lead.

The strike partnership between Knight and Nicky Reynolds was looking like a very promising one, and both forwards had chances to put Romford even further in front early in the second half. David blasted a vicious shot over the bar on 56 minutes before Nicky narrowly missed the target two minutes later. Cheshunt were struggling to create attacks of their own, and when Lee Shearer's header from David Hicks' corner went wide in the 70th minute, the Ambers fans began to head for the exits. Those who left early would miss a third goal against their team after 76 minutes. Romford's new hero Knight played a perfectly-timed pass to Reynolds, who burst through the Cheshunt offside trap and fired a low shot in off the post! This time, Cheshunt didn't even bother complaining - they had been well and truly finished off. We had two chances to bag a fourth goal inside the 86th minute, as Callum Crawley's free-kick was caught just in time by Murefu before Chris Benjamin sent his shot beyond the far post. Our December was off to a winning start away from home, and our self-belief was back.

Cheshunt - 0

Romford - 3 (Knight 5, Sullivan 44, Reynolds 76)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 139 - POSITIONS: Cheshunt 20th, Romford 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers, Stephen, Weight (Toms), Sullivan (Mackin), Crawley, Oates, Reynolds, Knight (Benjamin).

The following week, the Nicky Reynolds situation finally came to a head. After Corinthian-Casuals made what seemed to be their 43rd attempt to sign our leading goalscorer, I finally opened discussions with Nicky over a part-time contract. What followed was a frustrating couple of hours in which Nicky turned down every offer I gave him. £50 per week - no chance! £60 per week - forget it! £75 per week - not good enough!

Then, with my patience wearing thin, I made my final offer: £100 per week, plus bonuses - the absolute maximum I was willing to offer him. After mulling over the offer, Nicky replied, "Where do I sign?"

There! That'll shut Kim Harris up!

Reynolds' first match since signing his new contract would be a big home clash against neighbours Aveley. Our last meeting with them was an easy 2-0 FA Cup win back in August, when the Millers were in turmoil, but they had since shot up to 4th in the Isthmian North.

This match would also see trialist Stefan Powell make his Romford debut. The former Milton Keynes Dons youngster would give us another option in central midfield for the next four weeks.

8 December 2012: Romford vs Aveley

This was David Knight's first match at Ship Lane as a Romford player, and after seeing partner Nicky Reynolds hit the side-netting in just the fourth minute, Knighty went a step further in the 11th. Joe Oates' pass to Reynolds was shinned away by Nick Skelton, but the ball fell to the feet of Knight, and our new loan star delighted the Boro fans with a cool finish! But despite being 1-0 to the good, we couldn't afford to take Aveley lightly. Indeed, their right-winger Delando Smith nearly got lucky when his 20th-minute cross flew towards goal, hitting the crossbar and going out at the opposite touchline! That would've been a stunning goal, but what was a stunner was Aveley's equaliser three minutes later. Millers youngster Tom Davie completed an Aveley counter-attack with a scorching shot into Scott Traveller's top-right corner! Quite simply, there was not much we could do about that. Aveley grew in confidence, and after 30 minutes, they were 2-1 up as our vulnerability when defending corners was exploited again. Skelton outjumped Scott Weight to nod in Ross Walliss's delivery, and the game had suddenly turned on its head!

Two minutes after play restarted for the second half, we had an opportunity to equalise. Oates' shot from distance was turned behind by Aveley keeper Andre Foster, but the resulting corner from Hussein Isa was poorly taken and our attack fizzled out. Aveley's fightback had obviously taken the wind out of our sails, and we wouldn't get it back. On 68 minutes, Millers midfielder Chace O'Neill hit the crossbar with a 30-yard half-volley that would've ended the game as a contest if it had fallen a few inches lower. As it turned out, the visitors didn't need a third goal, because their back four were playing a collective blinder, and being brilliantly marshaled by captain Carl Patten. The giant centre-back hardly lost a header all match, hence why we slumped to our second home league defeat without seriously troubling the Aveley lead in the second half. Sometimes, it's just not meant to be your day.

Romford - 1 (Knight 11)

Aveley - 2 (Davie 23, Skelton 30)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 158 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Aveley 3rd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers (Toms), Stephen, Weight (Vassell), Sullivan (Isa), Powell, Oates, Reynolds, Knight. BOOKED: Toms.

After that defeat came another home game - this time, in Round 4 of the Essex Senior Cup against Tilbury. Even though a place in the Quarter Finals of a cup competition was at stake, I decided to field a mostly second-string line-up. Daryl Bourgeois, Danny Hutchins and Chris Sullivan were the only regular starters to retain their places.

11 December 2012: Romford vs Tilbury

Once again, Romford midfielder Callum Crawley's set-pieces were proving to be a threat to the opposition goalkeeper. One of his free-kick specials came after just five minutes, and Tilbury keeper George Howard tipped it over the bar to deny us an early breakthrough. Howard made another save in the 13th minute from Chris Benjamin's low shot towards the corner. We also racked up a string of corners for Callum to swing into the box, but none of them came off. In the 34th minute, Crawley's dominance of proceedings continued, as he hit a fine pass to Hussein Isa before the left-winger launched a cross to the far post. On the other end of it was Benjamin, who shrugged off Tilbury defender Matthew McGiveron before heading the ball against the crossbar. The Dockers were off the hook, and they had the best chance of the half a minute later, when Neil Watts half-volleyed just wide from inside the penalty area. At half-time, the deadlock remained unbroken, but the momentum was slowly shifting Tilbury's way.

Our passing wasn't as crisp in the second half as it was in the first 45 minutes, and Tilbury were gifted chances. On 57 minutes, Jordan Walker shot from the edge of the area, and Boro keeper Joel Wilkinson pushed his effort away. Nine minutes later, Walker advanced into the box, but then fooled our defenders by playing the ball back to his team-mate Ellis Skidmore, who pulled Tilbury ahead with a superb strike into the far corner! Skidmore later had a number of opportunities to put the seal on a bigger victory for the Dockers, but he couldn't take them. We only needed one goal to equalise and take the tie to extra-time. In the 89th minute, Toran Senghore played in his partner up front, Mitch Fellows, whose effort unluckily hit the crossbar before going out of play. We would soon be going out of the Essex Senior Cup, as Tilbury advanced to the last eight instead.

Romford - 0

Tilbury - 1 (Skidmore 66)

Essex Senior Cup Round 4, Attendance 83

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Hutchins (Mackin), Bourgeois, Toms, Walters, Sullivan, Crawley, Vassell (Oxby), Isa, Benjamin (Senghore), Fellows. BOOKED: Benjamin.

And with that, we were out of all of the cup competitions, meaning we could totally concentrate on the league. We faced back-to-back away games against tough opponents before Christmas - the first of which was against 2nd-placed Witham Town, and their 21-goal teen starlet Glyn Mitchell.

15 December 2012: Witham Town vs Romford

Ryan Myers was given the unenviable task of trying to mark the 'Witham Rooney' out of the game. Early on in the game, Myers was doing a pretty good job of it, because even though Glyn Mitchell had a shot at goal in the 10th minute, it was no problem for Scott Traveller. Our counter-attacking approach to the game later yielded a result. Trialist Stefan Powell weaved his way into the penalty area, and then picked out Nicky Reynolds, who drilled home his first goal since turning part-time! After 21 minutes, it was 1-0 to Romford! Nicky's confidence grew after that opener, and he went very close to scoring his second goal with a 36th-minute free-kick. At half-time, it was looking like a tale of two strikers: Witham's main man wasn't on song, but our super striker was, hence why we held the advantage.

Less than a minute into the second half, Myers - who was keeping Mitchell as quiet as possible - went into Witham's penalty area to head Chris Sullivan's corner towards goal. Town goalkeeper Aldi Haxhia reacted quickly to tip the ball towards team-mate Billy Hawes at the near post. Hawes headed it forward before fellow defender Robert Ritchie killed the danger by booting it out for a throw-in. Haxhia was called into action again a minute later to keep out David Knight's ambitious 30-yard effort. Ryan was doing such a good job of marking Mitchell that Witham started turning to other players in search of an equaliser. After Luke Donnelly narrowly missed in the 57th minute, the hosts became even more frustrated. Time was ticking for Town, and with 16 minutes to go, we went in for the kill. The excellent Scott Weight searched out Sullivan, who raced past the newly-introduced Witham midfielder Glen Lamb like he wasn't even there before entering the area and slotting the ball past Haxhia! Incredibly, we were 2-0 up against the 2nd-placed team in the league, and we were coasting towards a memorable victory!

Then things got a bit jittery. Myers had kept a close eye on Mitchell for 79 minutes, but when Ryan had a rare lapse of concentration, the 17-year-old got away, tapping home Ollie Kennedy's pass to make it 2-1 and give Witham hope. A couple of minutes later, Hawes' cross into a crowded six-yard box was bundled home by Kennedy, and suddenly, it was two goals apiece! My defensive plans for the closing stages were now in tatters, and I urged the Romford players to go back on the offensive and retake our lead before it was too late! But it already was too late - Witham were in top gear now. In the penultimate minute of normal time, Donnelly's cross to Lamb was intercepted by Danny Hutchins, but his header was so weak that Lamb quickly regained possession. The young left-flanker charged down the wing, and then crossed into the centre. The recipient at the far post was... you know who. Glyn Freaking Mitchell. The wonderkid's 23rd goal of an incredible debut season turned what was a 2-0 lead for Romford into a 3-2 victory for Witham! In ten horrible minutes, we'd spectacularly thrown away all of our good work, and I was apoplectic!

My anger with my players spilled over in the dressing room post-mortem, as I launched a foul-mouth tirade at the defenders. The worst of my criticism went to Hutchins, whose horrendous error cost us any chance of taking home even one point. After I was finished with him, the on-loan defender looked as if he'd seen a ghost. He and his team-mates knew, in no uncertain terms, that I was not at all happy.

Witham Town - 3 (Mitchell 80,89, Kennedy 82)

Romford - 2 (Reynolds 21, Sullivan 74)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 95 - POSITIONS: Witham 2nd, Romford 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois (Toms), Myers, Stephen, Sullivan, Weight, Powell (Vassell), Oates, Reynolds, Knight (Benjamin).

If the referee had blown his whistle ten minutes early, we would have ended the day in 6th place, and our deficit on the top five would've been down to just a single point. However, our late collapse saw us drop into the bottom half, and we were still four points off the play-off spots.

After bellowing expletives at my players like an alcoholic lovechild of Frankie Boyle and Barbara Windsor, I locked myself in a dark room, away from the outside world. To take my mind of what had just happened, I spent the rest of the evening playing my mobile game of choice - Angry Birds. Oh, the irony.

It was back to business again on Monday, as we sought to make amends for Saturday's shocker at Witham Town. However, things wouldn't get easier, as we followed up an away game against the 2nd-placed team in the Isthmian North... with an away game against the 4th-placed team.

We set off early ahead of one of our longest trips of the season, to Wroxham. But what actually should've been a two-and-a-half-hour trip actually lasted six hours, because the coach driver accidentally entered WREXHAM into his sat-nav! It wasn't until we were driving through Birmingham that he realised that we were heading for North Wales, and not Norfolk!

After changing course, we finally arrived at Trafford Park in WROXHAM with just over half an hour to go until kick-off.

22 December 2012: Wroxham vs Romford

Our long coach drive seemed to have a negative impact on our performance in the opening stages, as Wroxham had the best chances early on. Ryan Oakley's effort on 11 minutes went well wide, but Patrick Drmola came closer seven minutes later. Young striker Drmola picked up a pass from captain Paul Devlin - a man old enough to be his father - and then hit a shot that was blocked by Scott Traveller. Another Wroxham chance went awry when striker Lee McGlone half-volleyed Drmola's cross wide in the 23rd minute. Moments later, we got ourselves into the game, as the new 'Shearer and Sutton' of Ship Lane came good again. Nicky Reynolds slipped a through-ball to David Knight, and the on-loan striker gobbled up his third Romford goal in just four games! Chris Sullivan nearly added a quickfire second goal just two minutes later, firing narrowly over from 25 yards. Then, in injury time, a horrendous headed clearance from Ashley Towler found its way to Boro teenager Jay Vassell, and he volleyed in our second goal of the afternoon! Jay's goal was all the more impressive as he had just a few minutes earlier suffered a knock in a challenge from Wroxham's Daniel Buhlemann. At the break, we led 2-0, and the Yachtsmen were all at sea.

Ten minutes into the second half, McGlone cracked a fine strike just outside the penalty area for Wroxham, but Traveller again came to the rescue with a superb fingertip save. That would be the hosts' last chance for a while, because we resumed control of the game. Vassell was dictating the midfield like a player of double his 16 years, regularly creating chances as well as taking some of his own. On 70 minutes, his latest shot at goal was caught by Wroxham keeper Andrew Plummer. But a team of Wroxham's quality couldn't be kept quiet for long, and with eight minutes to go, they won a free-kick in a dangerous position. Ollie Berquez swung the set-piece towards goal, and it hit the crossbar, but went in off the back of Traveller's arm! It was a dead unlucky way to lose half of our lead... but we couldn't possibly blow it from 2-0 up again, could we?!

In the first of three injury-time minutes, Wroxham substitute Remy Gordon was put through on goal by team-mate Drmola. Traveller came off his line to confront Gordon and push his shot out of harm's way. But Wroxham pushed on, and Berquez hit a 20-yard driver in the final minute. Traveller stood and watched as the ball drifted inches wide of his goal, and as he prepared to take the resulting goal kick, the referee blew his full-time whistle. In stark contrast to the emotions we felt the previous Saturday, there was an equal sense of relief and joy in the Romford dressing room! We were back!

Wroxham - 1 (Berquez 82)

Romford - 2 (Knight 24, Vassell 45)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 61 - POSITIONS: Wroxham 5th, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Chapman, Bourgeois, Myers, Stephen, Sullivan, Weight (Powell), Vassell, Oates (Mackin), Reynolds, Knight (Fellows).

We were once again within touching distance of that all-important top five, with just one point separating us from Wroxham, who had slipped from 2nd to 5th. That meant, as far as everyone at Romford FC was concerned, it would be a happy Christmas after all.

Our Boxing Day fixture was a home game against second-from-bottom Tilbury. At first glance, it may have seemed simple enough for us, but of course, Tilbury knocked us out of the Essex Senior Cup just a fortnight earlier. This time around, with three important league points to fight for, I expected us to perform a lot better.

26 December 2012: Romford vs Tilbury

Joe Oates and David Knight each had chances to put us in front after just four minutes, but they both sent their efforts wide. On 12 minutes, Knight's swerving 30-yarder stung the palms of Tilbury goalkeeper Bert Greenwood - a young man whose name sounds like he should have been playing in the 1950s. The two would confront each other again six minutes later. Callum Crawley hit a long ball upfield, with Knight his intended target, but it instead flew towards Greenwood. The Dockers keeper seemed to have the situation under control when, from the edge of his area, he incredibly dropped the catch... and Knight reacted quickly to take advantage and tuck the ball into an undefended net! Then, Tilbury completely messed up the kick-off, and we were quickly on the attack again, but a dangerous-looking cross from Oates was headed away by defender Matthew McGiveron. Our dominance continued, and in the 27th minute, Knight played a lovely through-ball to Nicky Reynolds, only for Greenwood to parry the resulting shot. There wouldn't be a second goal for us before half-time, but our 1-0 lead was looking more and more comfortable, and three of Tilbury's starting players were already struggling with knocks and injuries.

Did I say our lead was looking more and more comfortable? Tilbury won a corner seven minutes after the restart, and Jordan Walker bundled in Scott Marshall's delivery to draw level and send us back to square one. The frustration at losing our lead began to tell, as Knight scooped a shot over the bar in the 55th minute, and Chris Sullivan missed the target five minutes later. A miserable day for Reynolds was summed up in the 79th minute, when he snatched a shot from distance. Eight minutes from time, the Dockers had the opportunity to take another victory at our expense. George Monger broke clear of the Romford defenders to reach Duane Broomes' cross, and it took a brave blockage from Scott Traveller to stop Monger's volley from finding the net. Scott's opposite number Greenwood then tipped away a close-range effort from Jay Vassell in the 86th minute. The match finished in a 1-1 draw, and I was annoyed that we'd failed to finish our lowly visitors off, despite having far more possession and many more shots at goal (we 'won' 15-3 in that respect). At the halfway stage of the Isthmian League Division 1 North season, we were in 8th place, and out of the play-off spots by three points.

Romford - 1 (Knight 18)

Tilbury - 1 (Walker 52)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 119 - POSITIONS: Romford 8th, Tilbury 21st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Myers, Walters, Sullivan, Weight (Vassell), Crawley, Oates (Isa), Reynolds, Knight (Fellows).

We'd failed to beat second-from-bottom Tilbury, but would our fortunes improve when we hosted the team that was rock bottom? Ilford's terrible season can be summed up by the fact that they'd won just two league games so far, and had conceded 42 goals.

29 December 2012: Romford vs Ilford

Ilford goalkeeper Jack Burford was thrust into action after just 30 seconds. Nicky Reynolds hit a cutting pass to Chris Benjamin, who took the tired David Knight's starting place, but Burford superbly parried Benji's effort. The Foxes keeper also made an impressive save from Scott Weight's free-kick in the 9th minute. Ilford then had a few chances that didn't amount to much. Meanwhile, we continued to edge closer to breaking the deadlock. On 22 minutes, Joe Oates cracked a cross-shot against the bar, and Danny Hutchins did likewise less than a minute later. When Burford made another save from Reynolds in the 25th minute, we were wondering what we had to do to beat him. Three minutes later, we finally managed to break through. Burford tipped over Jay Vassell's vicious strike to concede a corner, which Chris Sullivan swung into the six-yard box. Matty Toms was first to Sully's delivery, and his header made it 1-0 to Romford! But despite us still being in front at the break, I wasn't exactly delighted. I was expecting a much better performance than this, especially from Benjamin, whose shooting was poor to say the least.

Benjamin continued to disappoint in the 49th minute, as he stormed through the Ilford backline before blasting the ball wide. Chris's profligacy up front was a growing concern, especially as Ilford were starting to seriously test our goalkeeper. Scott Traveller caught a Lee Robson free-kick in the 54th minute, but he made a less comfortable save to keep out Matthew Ramkin's thunderous strike in the 65th. The Foxes wouldn't get any closer to an equaliser, and even with the late introduction of Knight for the misfiring Benjamin, we couldn't get going either, and so the match ended with a whimper. We had won, but only because our opponents were so poor. Nevertheless, we got the three points, and that's all that really matters ultimately.

Romford - 1 (Toms 28)

Ilford - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 141 - POSITIONS: Romford 8th, Ilford 22nd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Hutchins, Bourgeois, Toms, Stephen, Sullivan (Mackin), Weight, Vassell (Oxby), Oates, Reynolds, Benjamin (Knight).

As we headed into the New Year, we said farewell to two players. Stefan Powell's trial expired prior to the Ilford game, in which loanee Danny Hutchins made the last of his 25 appearances for Romford. After nearly six months at Ship Lane, Hutchins is on his way back to Hemel Hempstead Town.

The New Year gives us an opportunity to shake up the squad a little bit, and make some changes that will hopefully ignite a play-off challenge.

[b]                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
1.          Witham                 22    14    3     5     50    29    +21   45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Aveley                 22    12    6     4     28    14    +14   42
3.          Needham Market         22    11    6     5     27    20    +7    39
4.          Thamesmead             22    11    5     6     30    25    +5    38
5.          Maldon & Tiptree       22    11    4     7     34    28    +6    37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          AFC Sudbury            22    9     9     4     37    29    +8    36
7.          Wroxham                22    10    4     8     30    26    +4    34
[color="#0000FF"]8.          Romford                22    9     7     6     28    24    +4    34[/color]
9.          Waltham Forest         22    9     5     8     31    28    +3    32
10.         Potters Bar            22    7     9     6     26    20    +6    30
11.         Brentwood              22    8     6     8     33    31    +2    30
12.         Heybridge              22    8     5     9     31    27    +4    29
13.         Soham                  22    8     4     10    31    33    -2    28
14.         Harlow                 22    7     7     8     32    35    -3    28
15.         Grays                  22    7     6     9     25    29    -4    27
16.         Waltham Abbey          22    5     10    7     22    26    -4    25
17.         Chatham                22    5     9     8     23    27    -4    24
18.         Redbridge              22    7     3     12    20    37    -17   24
19.         Cheshunt               22    5     8     9     28    37    -9    23
20.         Ware                   22    5     7     10    19    29    -10   22
21.         Tilbury                22    4     8     10    27    37    -10   20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Ilford                 22    2     5     15    22    43    -21   11

I'm really glad to see you posting. You are a solid writer. I am going to follow.

I'm really glad to see you posting. You are a solid writer. I am going to follow.

Thanks, 10-3. Glad to see you on the forums again.

It's a nice compliment to be called a solid writer, but I'm striving to become an even better one, and hopefully that'll show as the story really moves forward.

For us, the New Year started off with a bizarre away game against Grays Athletic. Bizarre in the sense that Grays now play their home matches at our old stomping ground - the Rush Green Stadium, in Romford! So, not only would this be my first game as Romford manager IN Romford, but this would also be an extraordinary meeting between a Thurrock team based in Romford and a Romford team based in Thurrock! Don't worry, I'm as perplexed as you!

Seven seasons ago, when Romford were in the Essex Senior League, Grays were close to being promoted to the Football League with players such as Gary Hooper and Michael Kightly. At the start of 2013, though, the Gravelmen were struggling in 15th place in the Isthmian League Division 1 North, and we were seen by many as favourites to get an away win against them. How times have changed!

1 January 2013: Grays Athletic vs Romford

There was a great sense of expectation ahead of this match, and even the rainy weather conditions couldn't dampen our spirits early on. In the 6th minute, Chris Benjamin's header was volleyed in by David Knight, and Romford took the lead in Romford! Our joy would be short-lived, though. The 'home' team got an equalising goal just four minutes later, when Jeff Hammond surged past young Boro defender Wayne Hatch to reach Kane Louis' through-ball and thump it into the net. Grays' other striker, Jared Small, skimmed the crossbar with a long-distance shot in the 16th minute. We knew then that we most definitely had a game on our hands. It took a last-ditch save from Scott Traveller to prevent Leon Lalite from firing Grays into the lead on 35 minutes. After withstanding the pressure Grays were putting on us, we went back on the attack. Benjamin saw his 39th-minute effort parried by James Reading, and a minute later, his partner went even closer. Knight got on the end of a fantastic long ball from Anthony Chapman, and then unleashed a shot that clipped the outside of the post. Eventually, our attacking play paid off in the last minute of normal time. Having been set up by Benjamin for his earlier goal, David repaid Chris the favour with a sublime pass into the six-yard box, which Benji took full advantage of. A simple finish gave us a 2-1 lead going into the break.

Benjamin tried to score his second and Romford's third goal of the day in the 47th minute, but his 30-yard effort comfortably missed the target. Four minutes later, with Grays upping the ante again, Romford centre-back Ryan Myers cracked under the pressure, and a mistimed trip on Small resulted in a penalty to the hosts. Up stepped Hammond, who hit a low shot underneath Traveller to take away our lead for the second time. The scores were level after 52 minutes, but just three minutes later, there was another goal. Hammond again used his pace to devastating effect, racing past Matty Toms to pick up another cracker of a pass from Louis. Then, after weaving beyond Andy Oxby, he curled his shot into the top corner. It was now Jeff Hammond 3, Romford 2. Grays' quick striker was causing our centre-backs nightmares, and he was even thwarting us at the other end! In the 63rd minute, Myers got his head onto Callum Crawley's corner, but Hammond blocked the shot with his chest to deny us an equaliser! In the closing stages, Hammond took a back seat as his strike partner Small showed what he was capable of. His low shot in the 77th-minute was parried away by Traveller, but ten minutes later, he slid the ball home from a corner to make it 4-2 to the Gravelmen! We were 2-1 up at half-time, for goodness sake! Grays had come out for the second half with all guns blazing, and to be honest, we just didn't have an answer.

Grays Athletic - 4 (Hammond 10,pen52,55, Small 87)

Romford - 2 (Knight 6, Benjamin 45)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 177 - POSITIONS: Grays 15th, Romford 9th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Chapman, Hatch (Toms), Myers, Stephen (Walters), Mackin, Oxby, Crawley, Isa, Knight, Benjamin (Senghore).

In my first six months as Romford manager, I have been able to get by with a squad completely filled with Englishmen. During that time, the closest thing we have had to a foreigner was right-back Anthony Chapman, who was born in sunny Staffordshire.

But that all was about to change, because one of our newest trialists was a Scot! Former Ipswich Town trainee Shaun Meikle is an 18-year-old right-midfielder originally from Edinburgh, and he would be with us for at least the next four weeks. He was joined by another 18-year-old trialist - right-back Robert Appiah.

Meikle and Appiah linked up with the squad in time for our trip to Chatham Town. Our hosts were in a very poor run of form, and they could get themselves embroiled in a relegation battle if that continued.

5 January 2013: Chatham Town vs Romford

Unsurprisingly, considering that we were the more confident team going into this match, we had the first meaningful shot at goal. However, Nicky Reynolds' effort in the 4th minute looped wide. On 12 minutes, a crunching tackle from Joe Oates left Chatham's Andre Taiwo, a potential danger on the wings, with a minor injury. Although Taiwo would carry on, it would be a while before Chatham got themselves into the game. On 39 minutes, Chats captain Peter Smith swung a free-kick towards the far post, where player-manager Kevin Watson headed it against the crossbar and over. Three minutes later, Chatham went close with another header, this time from Jack Pallen, but Scott Traveller saved it. The home team's momentum was killed by the half-time whistle, and with the three points still up for grabs, we made fresh plans for the second half.

Just two minutes into the second half, David Knight drilled a low cross into the Chatham penalty area, where Jay Vassell would have tapped us into the lead had goalkeeper Robert Webb not pushed the ball off his goal line! But despite this encouraging start to the half, there was a cause for concern. Our passing wasn't as accurate as it was in the first half, while in contrast, Chatham were becoming gradually more confident on the ball. That in turn gave them more chances, although most of them were off target. The only time they troubled Traveller was when Scott had to catch Pallen's header on 63 minutes. The Chats' failure to pounce on us when we were underperforming would soon cost them dear, as in the 71st minute, we roared back to life. Oates' cross found Knight on the edge of the box, and David cushioned a headed pass to Vassell in the centre. Jay's first-time strike thundered into the net, and the 16-year-old's third goal of his fledgling career put us 1-0 ahead! Of course, we had to hold onto that lead, and Chatham wouldn't let us take the points home without a fight. In the 88th minute, the Chats won a corner. That was subsequently cleared behind for another... then a third... and then a fourth, just before injury time! Eventually, Anton Williamson missed a shot, and we got some respite in the form of a goal kick. The Romford backline - in particular the sublime Daryl Bourgeois - had held firm, and we were victorious!

Chatham Town - 0

Romford - 1 (Vassell 71)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 132 - POSITIONS: Chatham 18th, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Appiah, Bourgeois, Toms, Walters, Meikle (Sullivan), Weight, Vassell (Crawley), Oates, Knight (Benjamin), Reynolds.

A week later, we were at home to 17th-placed Ware. When we played them in Hertfordshire on Halloween, we threw away the lead twice and only managed a draw. This time around, we were determined to get the job done.

12 January 2013: Romford vs Ware

Ware went into this game unbeaten in six games. Just 29 seconds after the kick-off, we put that record under threat! After gradually working our way up to Ware's penalty area from the kick-off, David Knight thrashed in an easy finish to cap off an excellent team move. That was Knight's sixth goal for Romford, and by the 12th minute, he had scored his seventh! Chris Sullivan was one of the key men behind the opening goal, and he was the architect again with a superb through-ball to Knighty, who did the rest. It was still early doors, but we were 2-0 up and cruising! The only disappointment from the early stages was that Sullivan wouldn't last much longer before being taken off injured in the 21st minute. Five minutes later, the excellent Knight was sensing a hat-trick, but a chance to seal that went wide of goal. Our other striker Nicky Reynolds also wanted in on the action. In the 41st minute, he picked up a cheeky backheeled pass from George Walters and curled the ball beyond the Ware keeper and into the net. Sadly, the linesman had his flag up for offside, and we went into the half-time break leading 2-0, but not before our goalie Scott Traveller was tested late on by Ware striker Jake Lovell.

Another opportunity for Knight to complete his treble went begging in the 48th minute, but that third Romford goal wouldn't be long in coming. We would only have to wait seven more minutes. Joe Oates set it up after racing past Ware's struggling full-back Ben Islam and crossing to Reynolds in the six-yard box. Nicky's initial shot was stopped by James Hoad, but he wouldn't be denied the second time around, and he quickly tapped in the rebound! There was now clear daylight between us and Ware. Then, on 64 minutes, Knight scored. Unfortunately, it was Ware full-back Spencer Knight who found the net, and not David for a third time. Fortunately, the goal was disallowed for offside, and it was still 3-0 to us. A minute later, with our clean sheet just about intact, we set about finishing Ware off once and for all. Knighty set up Nicky's replacement Chris Benjamin, but the substitute completely miscued his shot and sent it into the advertising hoardings. As nice as a fourth goal would've been, we didn't need one, because our opponents were... well, no-Ware to be seen! A 3-0 win was very satisfying, and so was our performance - our passing looked very smooth and our defence almost impenetrable.

Romford - 3 (Knight 1,12, Reynolds 55)

Ware - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 140 - POSITIONS: Romford 6th, Ware 19th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Appiah, Bourgeois (Hatch), Myers, Walters, Sullivan (Meikle), Weight, Vassell, Oates, Knight, Reynolds (Benjamin). BOOKED: Reynolds.

Two wins in a row, and two clean sheets in a row - that's not something we're used to! One of the key reasons behind our improved defensive performance was right-back Robert Appiah. I was so impressed by the tough-tackling youngster that I quickly turned his trial into a permanent deal.

Could our improving form continue in Cambridgeshire, where we played Soham Town Rangers? Back in October, Soham were top of the table, but since then, they had dropped all the way down to 13th place.

19 January 2013: Soham Town Rangers vs Romford

A week earlier, we made a blistering start against Ware, but at Soham, we were on the receiving end of an early goal. Just over a minute into the game, Nial Hodgkins finished a Rangers counter-attack by tapping in Luke Carline's low cross into the centre. Soham were already a goal to the good, and they could easily have been 2-0 up after 11 minutes. Hodgkins tried to find the top corner of Scott Traveller's net, but Scott read it well and made a fine catch. Moments later, Matt Robinson took the ball off Boro left-back George Walters and passed to Carline, who shot inches wide. In the 20th minute, some sloppy home defending gave us the chance to hit back, and Nicky Reynolds did indeed pull us level! Soham started attacking again straight from the kick-off, and Robinson again got the beating of Walters before crossing to Carline, whose effort was parried by Traveller. The Romford keeper rescued us again on 31 minutes, as he blocked a Hodgkins shot from a tight angle before the Rangers winger sent his follow-up past the far post. Seven minutes later, the constant pressure told. Walters' day from hell got worse when a headed 'clearance' found its way to Carline, who now only needed to beat Traveller. Scott did his level best to keep out Carline's first shot, but there was nothing he could do about the second, which the talented 16-year-old fired into the net. Trailing 2-1 at the break, I took a risk by keeping the underperforming Walters on the field for the time being. This was mainly because we didn't have any alternative left-backs in our matchday squad.

Romford started brightly in the second half, with Reynolds narrowly missing the target with a swerving shot just two minutes after the restart. Walters also had a rare scoring chance in the 56th minute, but he sent his shot high and wide. Three minutes later, Soham defender Graeme Edwards headed the ball away from David Knight - but sent it to Reynolds, gifting Nicky a clear-cut chance to equalise! With a first-time half-volley into the low corner, Nicky scored his second goal of the afternoon, and his 15th this season! More importantly from the team's perspective, it was now 2-2 - we were well and truly back in it! Soham had blown the lead twice, in a role reversal of our previous meeting at Ship Lane, and they began to panic. They started shooting at the first opportunity, and every time, they failed to test Traveller. Just like at Ship Lane, with minutes to go, we were on course for a good result. But just like at Ship Lane, Soham gave us a late kick in the groin. Romford new boy Robert Appiah conceded a free-kick in the second minute of injury time, which Adam Scorfield sent to David Galbraith on the left wing. Galbraith crossed towards the far post, and Hodgkins to smash in the winning goal for Rangers from a tight angle. It was a bitter disappointment to lose the match so late on, but it wasn't the end of the world - after all, even if we had taken home a point, it wouldn't have made any difference to our league position at the close of play.

Soham Town Rangers - 3 (Hodgkins 2,90, Carline 38)

Romford - 2 (Reynolds 20,59)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 87 - POSITIONS: Soham 11th, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Appiah, Bourgeois, Myers, Walters, Meikle (Sullivan), Crawley, Vassell (Weight), Oates, Knight, Reynolds.

We were at home for our next match, and it would surely be another battle, as AFC Sudbury came to Ship Lane. Sudbury had recently moved back up into the play-off places after a few weeks on the fringes, and they sat 3rd in the table.

26 January 2013: Romford vs AFC Sudbury

AFC Sudbury quickly went on the charge - in more ways than one. The game had only been going for just six minutes when Danny Charge had the first great chance for Sudbury. His shot, from just outside the penalty area, was met by an excellent save from Romford keeper Scott Traveller. It would soon be our turn to have a pop at goal. On 15 minutes, Scott Weight's cross was turned into the net by the outstretched leg of Nicky Reynolds, but an offside decision cut short our celebrations. Angered by the officials' decision to disallow our goal, we struggled for the next few minutes. A 19th-minute counter-attack from Sudbury almost ended with Charge scoring the opener, but Traveller got his fingers to the ball just in time and tipped it over the bar. Eight minutes later, Sudbury defender Lauris Coggin hoofed the ball into our half after we made a mess of Daryl Bourgeois' corner. What then followed was a dreadful header from Robert Appiah, which fell to Charge and left him with just Traveller to beat! Appiah's blushes were spared, however, when Charge scooped his sitter over the bar. We then lost playmaker Jay Vassell to injury about five minutes before half-time, at which the deadlock - somehow - remained unbroken!

Charge continued to waste chances for AFC Sudbury in the second half, as he hit the side netting just a minute after the restart. Sudbury winger Sam Sloma also went close soon afterwards, but he too found the wrong side of the net. After 56 minutes, Suds manager Chris Tracey lost patience with Charge, replacing him with Luke Malcher, and eight minutes later, the substitute's first effort went just over the crossbar. We took a while to get back on the offensive, but by the 68th minute, we were in our stride again. Tom Stephen hit a long pass into the six-yard box, where David Knight stabbed the ball home, sparking celebrations among the home fans! Alas, the Romford faithful wouldn't be cheering for long, because we were again denied by the linesman's flag! Incredibly, we'd had two goals disallowed, and I was furious with the fourth official! I was so pent up with rage that, if Sudbury went up the other end and scored, I would probably have ended up leaving Ship Lane via a police van! Fortunately, for both my sanity and the officials' wellbeing, that never came to pass, even though the Suds nearly got lucky with a John Purches lob in the 81st minute. We had no further opportunities of our own following our second disallowed goal, and so the game finished 0-0.

Romford - 0

AFC Sudbury - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 149 - POSITIONS: Romford 8th, AFC Sudbury 3rd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Appiah, Bourgeois, Myers, Stephen, Sullivan, Wright, Vassell (Oxby), Oates (Meikle), Knight, Reynolds (Fellows). BOOKED: Reynolds.

Afterwards, I calmed down and had a quiet chat with the referee and his assistants, and admitted that both offside decisions were probably right. Anyway, it was time to move on, and look ahead to next month.

At the end of his trial period, Shaun Meikle was told to walk the 400 miles back to Edinburgh, and as he headed home, another new signing arrived at Ship Lane.

I made the short journey to Dagenham & Redbridge to take a look at a young right-back who had just been made available by the League Two club. I was so impressed with Andrew Burns that I quickly made Daggers boss John Still an offer to take the 19-year-old on loan. John accepted, and after lengthy negotiations with the player, which were made more difficult by the language barrier (i.e. Andy's strong Liverpudlian accent), the deal was finally completed.

To sign a strong-tackling defender of Andy's potential for the next three months is a major boost to our play-off challenge. I'm not finished on the transfer front just yet, though. I've identified another possible loanee, and if we can persuade him to come to Romford, then it really would make the other teams in the Isthmian North stand up and take notice.

[b]                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
1.          Witham                 27    17    3     7     63    36    +27   54
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2.          Thamesmead             27    14    6     7     36    28    +8    48
3.          AFC Sudbury            27    12    10    5     43    30    +13   46
4.          Aveley                 27    13    7     7     32    20    +12   46
5.          Maldon & Tiptree       27    13    5     9     42    37    +5    44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Needham Market         27    12    8     7     29    25    +4    44
7.          Wroxham                27    12    7     8     38    30    +8    43
[color="#0000FF"]8.          Romford                27    11    8     8     36    31    +5    41[/color]
9.          Heybridge              27    11    6     10    37    31    +6    39
10.         Soham                  27    11    5     11    41    39    +2    38
11.         Harlow                 27    10    8     9     42    43    -1    38
12.         Waltham Forest         27    11    5     11    39    40    -1    38
13.         Potters Bar            27    8     10    9     28    24    +4    34
14.         Redbridge              27    9     6     12    25    40    -15   33
15.         Chatham                27    7     11    9     27    30    -3    32
16.         Brentwood              27    8     8     11    37    42    -5    32
17.         Grays                  27    8     8     11    31    36    -5    32
18.         Cheshunt               27    5     12    10    33    45    -12   27
19.         Waltham Abbey          27    5     11    11    25    33    -8    26
20.         Tilbury                27    5     11    11    31    41    -10   26
21.         Ware                   27    6     8     13    25    40    -15   26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.         Ilford                 27    5     5     17    31    50    -19   20

Its getting pretty tight for the playoff spots, lets get one final push and get in there

Its getting pretty tight for the playoff spots, lets get one final push and get in there

I hope we can, Mark, but this is a tight division where any team can beat any other.

While I prepared to line up another loan signing, our newest acquisition Andrew Burns made his Romford debut in an away game against neighbours Aveley. The Millers had a mean defence - in fact, it was the meanest in the division.

2 Feburary 2013: Aveley vs Romford

Aveley went into this game with the best defence in the Isthmian North, having conceded just 20 goals in 27 matches. It took us all of 24 seconds to breach their backline. Joe Oates hit a long ball to David Knight, and Knight headed it towards Nicky Reynolds before Boro's top scorer drove in his 16th goal of the campaign! Two minutes later, Reynolds was denied his 17th when Aveley defender Ross Walliss blocked Knight's cross in the nick of time. Meanwhile, Romford new boy Andrew Burns made an early impression - on the thigh of Millers forward Sonny Farr. Burns' game-ending tackle on Farr forced the home team into a substitution after just 15 minutes. We then weathered a light Aveley storm before grabbing a second goal on 33 minutes. A cross from Jay Vassell took a slight deflection off the chest of Aveley defender Nick Skelton, but still fell nicely to Reynolds, whose half-volley secured his 10th league goal of this season, and of course his 17th in all competitions! A superb display of shooting from Nicky sent us into the half-time break with a 2-0 advantage. What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a bit, apparently. We failed to clear an Aveley corner in the 48th minute, and former Chelsea defender Adrian Pettigrew squared a loose ball to the fantastically-named Chace O'Neill, who thumped in a stunning low shot to halve our lead. Seven minutes later, though, O'Neill was without his central midfield partner, as Tom Davie's match was ended prematurely following a clash with Vassell. Scott Curley came on in Davie's place, and he helped to launch a fresh Aveley offensive. Fortunately, Ryan Myers was having an excellent game in the centre of the Romford defence. He maded a couple of important headed clearances, most notably to stop Curley from nodding home an equaliser in the 77th minute. Three minutes later, Reynolds put wide a chance that would've secured us a 3-1 away win and a hat-trick for himself. By this point, magnificent Myers was tiring himself out, so I took him off and brought on Matty Toms to partner Romford's Mr Reliable, Daryl Bourgeois. I was expecting the pair to keep things tight at the back in the closing stages... but with just three minutes to go, Toms and Bourgeois cost us the win. Daryl failed to mark Carl Patten closely enough, and Patten headed the ball across goal to Curley. Matty was in the perfect position to nod the ball out of harm's way, but he fatally mistimed his header. Seconds later, Curley was celebrating with his Aveley team-mates, having salvaged a late point with a cool finish. I couldn't help but let out a very annoyed grunt - this wasn't the first time we'd thrown away a two-goal lead, and every time that we did felt more frustrating than the last.

Aveley - 2 (O'Neill 48, Curley 87)

Romford - 2 (Reynolds 1,33)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 210 - POSITIONS: Aveley 4th, Romford 9th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns, Bourgeois, Myers (Toms), Stephen, Sullivan, Weight, Vassell, Oates (Isa), Knight (Benjamin), Reynolds.

Now, about that loan signing that I had planned. The lad in question is a quick 22-year-old winger from Barnet by the name of Anthony Edgar. The former West Ham United trainee, who is right-footed but plays on the left flank, had just completed a loan spell with Conference Premier club Woking. I wasn't completely confident that we could persuade Edgar to drop down three levels, but he was on the market, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I made an offer to Barnet on Monday, and they said yes, so on Tuesday, I waited the phone for Anthony's reply. It didn't come. On Wednesday, I waited. On Thursday, I waited.

I didn't get a call back on Friday, so I assumed that he'd ignored our offer. Then I headed to the training ground for our evening training session, and just as I arrived, Anthony pulled in at the car park and said, "Evening, gaffer!". We'd got him!

Edgar - who I later learned is a cousin of England and Chelsea striker Jermain Defoe - went straight into the starting line-up for arguably our toughest home game of the season, against league leaders Witham Town.

Ahead of this game, I felt that we would either end up with an incredible victory, or an absolute caning. The good news: Witham's 24-league-goal striker Glyn Mitchell was out with a groin strain. The bad news: Town were by far the top scorers in the division, and even if Mitchell's goals are discounted, they've still outscored us this season!

9 February 2013: Romford vs Witham Town

At kick-off time, David Knight seemed determined to beat his Romford team-mate Nicky Reynolds in the fastest goal stakes! Knight had a pop at the Witham goal after only 23 seconds, but Town keeper Aldi Haxhia parried the shot before Billy Hawes cleared it behind for an early Boro corner. That didn't amount to much, and Witham were soon on the attack themselves. In the 5th minute, Craig Mortimer charged upfield and played in James Stevens, whose shot was stopped by the fingertips of Scott Traveller. Scott then caught Michael Bardle's 30-yard effort in the 12th minute. Five minutes later, our defence was caught out again by Mortimer, who put Stevens one-on-one with Traveller, but the Witham striker dragged his shot beyond the far post. We managed to withstand Witham's pressure in the first half, but we weren't making the most of our chances either. With eight minutes to go until half-time, Knight got his head to Chris Sullivan's cross, but the effort was too tame to vex Haxhia. The Albanian keeper also caught a 43rd-minute header from Romford captain Daryl Bourgeois.

The 0-0 deadlock from the first half would be broken just seven minutes into the second period. Sadly, it was Witham who broke it. Stevens - Witham's second-highest goalscorer after the absent Glyn Mitchell - outpaced his marker Ryan Myers to reach Aaran Cavill's pass before firing it past Traveller. We swiftly changed our plans and began to play more ambitiously as we looked for an equaliser. It had no impact on the accuracy on our shooting, though. Knight pulled a shot wide in the 57th minute, and six minutes later, he missed another chance by miles. Worse was to come, because Witham pounced again on 67 minutes. Stevens got his and Town's second goal with a header from veteran Mark Nicholls' corner that went in off the crossbar. Nine minutes later, Haxhia sent a goal-kick deep into the Romford half, and found Nathan Haisley, who flicked a pass to Stevens. Witham boss Garry Kimble must have said something bloody inspirational at half-time, because Stevens, who seemed to be incredibly anxious in the first half, wrapped up his hat-trick with a confident 20-yarder that put the result beyond all reasonable doubt. A 3-0 defeat was pretty much a caning as far as I was concerned, and that result was even more embarrassing because we had one MORE shot at goal than Witham!

Romford - 0

Witham Town - 3 (Stevens 52,67,76)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 106 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Witham 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns, Bourgeois, Myers, Stephen, Sullivan, Weight (Vassell), Crawley, Edgar, Knight, Reynolds (Benjamin).

We'd now gone four games without a win, and in that time, the gap between us and the play-offs had increased from one point to seven. It seemed as if every time we got close to the top five, we slipped up and quickly lost ground again!

I thought this was as good a time as any to change tack. I'd been relying on 4-4-2 for pretty much the entire season, but we couldn't get the best out of our new star winger Anthony Edgar. With that in mind, as well as the fact that fellow loanee David Knight would soon be leaving us, I decided to change to a 4-3-2-1 - with three central midfielders, two wingers, and a poacher.

Our first opportunity to try out this formation was in an away game against Heybridge Swifts - the team directly above us in the standings.

16 February 2013: Heybridge Swifts vs Romford

My main reason for switching to 4-3-2-1 was to utilise Anthony Edgar a bit more. Three minutes into the game, the tactical switch looked like a masterstroke. Jay Vassell passed to Edgar on the left flank, and the winger teed himself up before unleashing a killer drive into the bottom corner! It was the perfect start to the match, and it got better, as Heybridge suffered injuries to two important players within the first ten minutes. Defender Ian Cousins was forced out of the game with what looked like a pretty bad leg injury shortly after striker Marc Elston received treatment for a facial wound. Elston played on, and in the 15th minute, the former Arsenal trainee equalised for Heybridge. Andrew Burns intercepted an attempted pass from Swifts midfielder Andy Tomlinson but could only deflect the ball towards Elston, whose subsequent shot stunned Scott Traveller so much that he almost fell backwards! Heybridge's poacher was having a fine start to the match. Disappointingly for us, David Knight wasn't. He sent a great opportunity wide in the 19th minute, having been excellently set up by right-winger Chris Sullivan. On 33 minutes, George Walters' promising cross was met by a weak header from Callum Crawley, and Heybridge keeper Nicky Eyre easily picked it up. Knight spurned another chance before half-time, at which point I took off Burns and brought on another fairly new signing in Robert Appiah.

Just three minutes into the second half, Heybridge had the chance to pull ahead through a penalty. Scott Weight was penalised for an apparent handball in the box following a Swifts corner. It was now up to our other Scott - Mr Traveller - to save the day and keep the scores level. Could he do it? Er... no. Traveller dived to his left, but James Zanelli's kick went to his bottom-right corner, and it was 2-1 Heybridge. The hosts would get a third goal in the 66th minute, because even though Boro captain Daryl Bourgeois blocked Craig Bussens' cross just in time to prevent Elston from tapping home again, he couldn't stop Tomlinson from hammering in the rebound. It was looking like another tale of woe for us. But Crawley gave us a lifeline three minutes later, when his corner was turned in by the head of Heybridge midfielder Ed Gayle. At 3-2 down with around 20 minutes to go, I hoped that we would continue the fightback and take something home. However, both our wingers suffered minor injuries in the closing stages, and whatever attacking energy we had left was gone. Our third defeat in the space of five games sent us back into the bottom half of the league.

Heybridge Swifts - 3 (Elston 15, Zanelli pen49, Tomlinson 66)

Romford - 2 (Edgar 3, Gayle og69)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 202 - POSITIONS: Heybridge 8th, Romford 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns (Appiah), Bourgeois, Myers, Walters, Crawley, Weight, Vassell, Sullivan, Edgar (Oates), Knight (Reynolds). BOOKED: Burns, Walters.

Ah well, back to square one again...

Romford hadn't won in five matches, and I knew that if we didn't take maximum points from our next two home fixtures, then we might was well give up on the play-offs for this season.

Playing 4-3-2-1 had left us with zero points against Heybridge, so I decided to put that tactic aside and go back to basics. We reverted to the tried-and-tested 4-4-2 formation for the visit of lowly Cheshunt. Although I was expecting our poor run of form to stop here, it certainly wouldn't be a cakewalk against the Ambers, who had drawn an awful lot of games recently.

As well as the change of formation, I decided to swap Chris Sullivan and Anthony Edgar's places, so that left-footed Chris would be our left-winger and right-footed Anthony would be our right-winger. Why hadn't I thought of this earlier?

23 February 2013: Romford vs Cheshunt

This was to be David Knight's last game of his loan spell from Eastbourne Borough, and his Romford farewell got off to the perfect start! He found the back of the net after just six minutes, having been set up by our newest loan signing Anthony Edgar! On 12 minutes, Callum Crawley had a chance to score from a free-kick, but his curler was caught on the line by Cheshunt goalkeeper Billy Burns. Then the Ambers - who were playing in light blue of all colours - got themselves into contention. A header from Lee Allinson inside the Romford penalty area was met by another from Courtney White, who beat Scott Traveller to draw Cheshunt level after 25 minutes. Five minutes later, though, Nicky Reynolds gave a parting gift to Knight in the form of a through-ball, which David coolly finished off from close range. We were back in the lead, and at half-time, Romford fans were wondering if Knight was going to finish his Boro stay with a hat-trick.

In the 54th minute, Anthony Edgar skipped past Daniel Swain and stormed down the right wing, before supplying a killer cross for Reynolds to head home! For the first time in the match, we had a two-goal lead at 3-1. Having seen Knight dominate the first half, Nicky wanted to stamp his mark on the second, and just a couple of minutes later, he sent a vicious shot narrowly over the crossbar. As the half progressed, we continued to dominate proceedings, and Cheshunt gradually crumbled away. In the 75th minute, we put a fourth goal past Burns as Knight repaid Edgar for assisting his first goal. Anthony used his pace to beat Swain to Knighty's through-ball, and then he struck home from a tight angle! The stage was now set for David Knight to sign off with his third goal of the afternoon and his tenth overall... but alas, it was not to be. Five minutes from time, he skied a great chance to complete his fairytale ending. Shortly afterwards, in the 89th minute, we did get a fifth goal. Hussein Isa played the ball forward to Nicky, who swerved his second goal of the day into the bottom corner. This was most definitely a 'Five Star' performance from Romford!

Romford - 5 (Knight 6,30, Reynolds 54,89, Edgar 75)

Cheshunt - 1 (White 25)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 102 - POSITIONS: Romford 11th, Cheshunt 19th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns, Bourgeois, Myers (Toms), Stephen, Edgar, Crawley, Vassell (Weight), Sullivan (Isa), Knight, Reynolds.

And so, after nine goals and five assists in just 15 appearances, the time had come for David Knight to go back to Eastbourne Borough. The young striker had been magnificent in the three months he was with us, but his Eastbourne contract expires this summer, so we could get him back on a permanent deal for next season. Who knows?

With Knight now gone for the time being, Chris Benjamin partnered Nicky Reynolds up front for our next home game against Thamesmead Town. The Mead had been in the play-off places for much of the season, but they'd gone off the boil recently and were now just outside them in 6th place.

27 February 2013: Romford vs Thamesmead Town

Chris Benjamin and Nicky Reynolds each had chances to score within the opening six minutes, but they both missed the target with their initial efforts. Indeed, defender Ryan Myers went closer to giving us the lead in the 13th minute. His header, from a sublime Anthony Edgar corner, ricocheted off the crossbar before being headed clear by Thamesmead striker Baff Addae. A couple of minutes later, Addae had a shot of his own, but pulled it horrendously off target! The shooting at both ends did not improve over the next half-hour, and a dire first half ended with the scoreline still at 0-0.

I spent the half-time break trying to gee up my players, particularly Benjamin, who I told, "You've got the ability to make the difference and change the game!" It took less than two minutes for Chris to prove me right. 28 seconds after the restart, he thrashed in Edgar's cross, giving us a quickfire 1-0 lead! Then, less than 20 seconds after Thamesmead kicked off again, Benjamin slipped past Mead full-back Lew Tozer to reach Reynolds' defence-splitting pass. With a low shot to goalkeeper Ashley Justham's right, he incredibly scored again! Just like that, it was 2-0 to Romford! Thamesmead were stunned, but Addae was still confident enough to have a pop at goal from about 35 yards out in the 57th minute! The ball struck the inside of the bar... and then bounced off the back of Scott Traveller's head before trickling over the line! As bemusing as the goal was, it reduced our lead to 2-1, and we really did have to keep our eyes on the ball now. Having thrown away good leads like out-of-date newspapers in recent weeks, that was easier said than done. On 67 minutes, Romford defender Andrew Burns made a well-timed challenge on Mead forward Ryan Flack to prevent an attempted shot at goal and concede a corner. Scott Weight's headed clearance from the corner only went as far as Flack, whose long-range effort didn't trouble the target. Four minutes later, Danny Moore missed a chance to equalise on the counter-attack, and Eddie Savage's low shot in the 75th minute was parried away by Traveller. We'd survived a mini onslaught from Thamesmead, and with ten minutes to go, we set about killing them off. An Edgar cross deflected off Moore and hit the bar, and after Justham tried and failed to get hold of the ball, Reynolds came forward to poke it into the net! Nicky's 20th goal of the campaign secured a 3-1 win, which pulled us back to within three points of that elusive top-five place!

Romford - 3 (Benjamin 46,47, Reynolds 80)

Thamesmead Town - 1 (Traveller og57)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 91 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Thamesmead 6th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns, Toms, Myers (Hatch), Stephen, Edgar, Weight, Vassell (Oxby), Oates, Benjamin, Reynolds (Fellows).

The month ended on a bright note on the pitch, but not so much off it. We made a loss of just over £3,000 in February, and I learned at a meeting with the chairman that much of our monthly expenditure was made up of bonuses to players - more specifically, bonuses to Nicky Reynolds.

Back in December, when I was desperate to stop Nicky from going to Corinthian-Casuals, I offered him the best possible contract we could offer him - £100 per week, PLUS £110 for every goal he scored and every game he played in. Since then, over £2,500 in bonuses had gone from the club's coffers and into Nicky's back pocket!

I'll hold my hands up on this one. I took a big gamble by offering Reynolds such high bonuses, and while we had reaped the rewards of keeping him on the pitch, my recklessness ate into our profits off the pitch. I realised that I had to be much more careful with any contracts I offered in the future.

There were just ten rounds of league matches to go, and we were still among the runners and riders for a play-off place. Our late-season push began with a short trip to Redbridge, who were 15th.

2 March 2013: Redbridge vs Romford

Redbridge had the first few chances of the game, but that wasn't to say that they were the better team early on. The hosts' shooting left much to be desired, and Peter Martin's effort in the 9th minute was so far off target that it went out at the opposite touchline! In the 24th minute, Liam Simpson made a perfectly-timed sliding tackle on Romford's Callum Crawley before following that up with a shot that almost flew out of the Oakside stadium! A couple of minutes later, Boro winger Joe Oates hit a long ball down the left flank, and Redbridge keeper George Anderson went well off his line to try and retrieve it. Anderson then completely messed things up by comically falling over, allowing Chris Benjamin to get to the ball and cross it into the six-yard box, where Nicky Reynolds put it to bed with a simple header. We were in the lead thanks to an incredibly lucky goal! To be honest, I would've been more annoyed if we hadn't scored from that type of goal than if we had been on the receiving end of it! We were 1-0 to the good, and we should've increased that lead to 2-0 on 33 minutes. Anthony Edgar made an excellent run into the area and then played in Benjamin, who unfortunately hit the outside of the post. Benjamin had another chance in injury time, when Redbridge were briefly a man down while defender Jason Goodchild was receiving injury treatment, but Anderson caught his header to keep the Motormen just about in contention.

Midfielder Fred Onyedinma's 53rd-minute shot for Redbridge flew over the crossbar, and the hosts' fortunes in front of goal wouldn't get any better. While we were guilty of giving the ball away too many times, Redbridge were unable to make the most of their chances. A savage effort from Timi Borges-Da-Silva on 66 minutes also cleared the bar. We were now happy to sit back a bit and watch Redbridge tire themselves out, and that was what they did. After Redbridge had sent all eight of their shots at goal off target, we closed the game out and wrapped up the three points. It wasn't a glorious victory, but it was our third win in a row! Happy days!

Redbridge - 0

Romford - 1 (Reynolds 26)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 65 - POSITIONS: Redbridge 15th, Romford 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns, Bourgeois, Myers (Hatch), Stephen, Edgar, Crawley (Oxby), Vassell, Oates (Sullivan), Benjamin, Reynolds. BOOKED: Stephen.

Our victory, combined with yet another defeat for rock-bottom Ilford, meant that our absolute minimum objective had been achieved - mathematically, we could no longer be relegated. More importantly, though, we were back to within a single point of the play-offs!

Next up was a home game against one of the main challengers - 4th-placed Needham Market. If we won, we'd overtake them and move into the top five, provided that other results went our way. A draw would also be enough to get us up into the play-off spots if a lot of our fellow contenders dropped points. Then again, considering how our season had gone thus far, we were bound to screw it up once more!

9 March 2013: Romford vs Needham Market

The excitement was building ahead of this game, as our biggest home league attendance of the season came to see us play one of the Isthmian North's stronger teams. We didn't take too long to show what we were capable of. In the 16th minute, a flick-on from Mitch Fellows gave Nicky Reynolds the chance to pull us ahead. His half-volley was parried away by Market keeper Alex Archer, but the ball came back towards Anthony Edgar, who agonisingly hit the post before the visitors cleared. Four minutes later, Needham Market had their first chance through former Swindon Town professional Jordan Pavett, but he missed the target. Another four minutes later, we put together a string of attacking passes, and when Archer dived too early, Reynolds sensed his chance. He completed the move with a confident low finish from Mitch's pass, and Romford fans celebrated a 1-0 lead! Their joy turned to ecstasy in the 28th minute, when Fellows headed Chris Sullivan's floating cross into the net! Needham Market attempted to get a quick goal back shortly after the restart, but Romford goalkeeper Scott Traveller was equal to Pavett's low effort. Another chance from Pavett went wide on 34 minutes. The Marketmen were surprisingly off colour, and at the end of the first half, there were no signs of them threatening our 2-0 lead.

Needham Market looked more dangerous in the second period. They launched a counter-attack in the 53rd minute, which ended with Traveller tipping away a half-volley from half-time substitute Billy Hussey to keep our two-goal lead intact. Over the next ten minutes or so, Reynolds would have three chances to put us 3-0 ahead. The last of those came in the 63rd minute, when he chested Edgar's cross, and tapped in a clinical finish. The Boro boys were in dreamland - nothing, it seemed, could stop us now! But two minutes later, Edgar suffered a knee injury - ironically at the hands of a Market defender called Mark Knee - and our star winger had to come off. Despite that blow, we were still cruising to victory with just a quarter of an hour left to play.

When Pavett hammered a stunning strike into Traveller's top corner after 76 minutes, it looked like nothing more than a consolation for Needham Market. We just had to stay calm and see the game out. But just four minutes after that, Pavett turned provider for Rhys Henry, who scored from a tight angle and made it 3-2. As Sir Alex Ferguson would say, it was "squeaky bum time", and in the 83rd minute, Sullivan got a nasty kick in the backside from Hussey. Our second creative winger was out of the game - could things get any worse for us? Unfortunately, they did. With only five minutes remaining, Needham Market winger Bradley Barber swung the ball towards goal. Traveller caught it, and then SPILT IT just as Pavett was advancing towards him! The end result was unavoidable. The Marketmen celebrated an incredible comeback, while the Boro players were stunned at having lost a three-goal lead in the space of nine minutes! I was in a total state of disbelief. This was Witham all over again, and in a way, this was even worse, because we would've finished the day in 5th place had we held on! As it turned out, we actually DROPPED a place and fell a further point behind those in the play-off spots!

Romford - 3 (Reynolds 24,63, Fellows 28)

Needham Market - 3 (Pavett 76,85, Henry 80)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 185 - POSITIONS: Romford 8th, Needham Market 5th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns, Bourgeois, Myers, Stephen, Edgar (Isa), Weight, Vassell, Sullivan (Appiah), Fellows (Benjamin), Reynolds.

Tempers flared in the dressing room afterwards as my exasperations spilled over. I tore my defenders to shreds, and reminded them of every time that we chucked away a strong position in the last few minutes of a match. This must not happen again, I warned them, otherwise their necks would be on the line!

On the Thursday after our collapse against Needham Market, I was invited to take a look at Romford's stars of the future, as some youth team candidates played in a trial match. Afterwards, I selected six players who I thought had the potential to succeed at this club, and offered them youth contracts. Midfielder Ashley Farrell and winger Peter Plummer looked the most promising of the sextet, while I also offered deals to goalkeeper Nick Yorke, centre-back Lee Goodwin, midfielder Brian Neville, and Namibian forward Sydney Samaria.

48 hours later, the senior team were back in action at Maldon & Tiptree, who like us were just outside the play-off zone. After the previous week's disaster, we were determined to prove to everyone that we were not a team of chokers.

16 March 2013: Maldon & Tiptree vs Romford

Eight minutes into the game, Romford full-back George Walters swung a promising cross into the Maldon & Tiptree box, but Chris Benjamin miscued his header and sent it well wide. On 22 minutes, Benjamin played a short pass to Nicky Reynolds on the edge of the area, and Nicky's low strike just went the wrong side of the far post. A couple of minutes later, a strong tackle from Maldon midfielder Gary Warren left Anthony Edgar down on the pitch clutching his ankle. Anthony was clearly in a lot of pain, so I made no hesitation in taking him off and bringing on Hussein Isa in his place. As soon as Edgar was stretchered off, Maldon sensed an opportunity. David Wareham dribbled almost unchallenged down the left wing until Andrew Burns came in with a sliding tackle. Alas, Burns could only knock the ball on to Ross Wall, who advanced into the area before setting up an easy tap-in for Jamie Guy. The Blues led 1-0 after 27 minutes, and we had to go back on the attack. Young Jay Vassell was in prime position to equalise in the 32nd and 36th minutes, but he shot high and wide each time. The importance of those big misses would be highlighted in the fourth minute of injury time. Romford captain Daryl Bourgeois was caught in no man's land by James Martin's through-ball to Wall, who hit a powerful finish into the net. Although we were dominating in terms of chances created, we were trailing on the most important statistic by two goals at half-time.

There were hints of a Romford fightback in the early stages of the second half. Benjamin tried to pick out Reynolds in the penalty area on 54 minutes, but Luke Adams timed his tackle to perfection and made sure Nicky didn't even get a sniff at goal. Reynolds had another chance as the game reached the hour mark, but he sent a low strike well off target. It very much looked like it wasn't going to be our afternoon. Then, with 10 minutes to go, an unlikely goal source almost pulled us back into contention. Walters' cross looked destined to fly into the net until Adams got back just in time to head it off the goal line! The Maldon centre-back was having a blinder - he didn't seem to mistime either a tackle or a header! Adams' one mistake in the whole match resulted in us finally finding the net after 85 minutes. He was too busy concentrating on Reynolds to spot Isa in a good position, and Hussein got to Scott Weight's pass before drilling it past the goalkeeper. It was too little too late, though, as the game was already lost.

Maldon & Tiptree - 2 (Guy 27, Wall 45)

Romford - 1 (Isa 85)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 63 - POSITIONS: Maldon & Tiptree 3rd, Romford 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Burns, Bourgeois, Myers (Toms), Walters, Edgar (Isa), Weight, Vassell, Oates, Benjamin (Fellows), Reynolds.

This was the second game in a row in which Anthony Edgar came off early due to injury, and this time, luck wasn't on his side. The on-loan winger had twisted his ankle, putting him out of action for six to eight weeks. That sadly means we won't be seeing Edgar in a Romford shirt again unless we make it to the play-offs. Considering our recent luck, there's less chance of that than there is of me coming home from work to find Pixie Lott in my bed!

I hoped for a change of fortunes when we hosted draw specialists Waltham Abbey a week later. Abbey's form of late had been very mediocre - they hadn't won at all in 2013, although they had taken a solitary point from seven of their last nine matches.

23 March 2013: Romford vs Waltham Abbey

Waltham Abbey may have had more draws than IKEA, but they're not a boring team. They proved that in the 8th minute, when Loren Maxwell narrowly missed the target with a fine half-volley. We survived a few more half-chances from the Abbotts before launching our first serious assault. Ricki Mackin - making his first Romford appearance since New Year's Day - hit a lovely weighted pass towards Nicky Reynolds on 28 minutes, but Abbey keeper Richard Hayward got to the ball just before Nicky could pounce. A minute later, Mackin helped out our other striker Chris Benjamin, who went just wide with his shot. In the 38th minute, Scott Weight headed Hayward's goal kick back into the Waltham Abbey half before falling awkwardly. The Boro midfielder's game ended early with a dead leg, and the first half ended with Reynolds and then Maxwell hitting the woodwork for their respective sides. Even though we were in mid-table and Waltham Abbey were third-from-bottom, this match was too close to call.

The stalemate nearly ended just three minutes after the restart. We conceded a free-kick on the edge of our area, and Waltham Abbey hit our defensive wall twice before David Bampton headed the second deflection into our net. Fortunately, a keen-eyed linesman had already flagged Bampton offside, and 0-0 it remained. However, we would be the victims of another offside call in the 66th minute. Tom Stephen's high cross was turned in by a Mackin half-volley, but Ricki's celebrations were cut short by the linesman's flag. From where I saw it, Mackin certainly didn't look offside. Apparently, though, the half-volley took a slight deflection off Benjamin, who was offside, just before going in. After those two offside goals, neither team seriously tested the other's goalkeeper... at least not until injury time. About 90 seconds into added-on time, Scott Traveller spilled a Liam Devine cross, and my heart skipped a beat before Devine's follow-up delivery was headed clear by Hussein Isa. That late clearance secured us a point, which wasn't exactly what I was hoping for before kick-off. Waltham Abbey were perhaps the better side on the day, though, so in the end, I had to be reasonably satisfied.

Romford - 0

Waltham Abbey - 0

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 121 - POSITIONS: Romford 10th, Waltham Abbey 21st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns (Appiah), Bourgeois, Myers, Stephen, Weight (Sullivan), Mackin (Senghore), Crawley, Isa, Benjamin, Reynolds.

Our failure to take maximum points against Waltham Abbey made it even more important that we beat their fellow strugglers Grays Athletic. Grays' 4-2 win over us on New Year's Day was actually the last time they had registered a victory in the league, and they'd only picked up five points since. Therefore, we were the heavy favourites to beat the Isthmian North's big underachievers, especially with us being at home.

30 March 2013: Romford vs Grays Athletic

Jeff Hammond scored a hat-trick against us when we met Grays at Rush Green, so it was important that we restricted his impact in this latest clash. Our cause was helped when, after just four minutes, Hammond overstretched himself in a sliding challenge on Andrew Burns. He came back on after receiving treatment, and three minutes later, his first pop at goal - a speculative strike from distance - went well wide. We then drew first blood after 10 minutes. Chris Benjamin layed the ball through to teenager Jay Vassell, who emphatically thrashed it into the net! That early goal sent Jay's confidence through the roof, and the young playmaker helped to create a chance for Joe Oates on 31 minutes. Vassell knocked the ball to Nicky Reynolds, who then put Oates through on goal before Grays keeper James Reading came forward to palm away Joe's shot. A couple of minutes later, Vassell frustrated the Gravelmen even more when his firm challenge on Tom Gallagher left the Grays midfielder with a torn hamstring. Benji wasted a chance to pull us 2-0 up just before half-time, but we were playing so well that a second goal after the break was surely going to happen.

I noticed in the first half that Grays' centre-backs were slower than dial-up, so during the break, I told my attackers to increase the tempo and run at them when possible. Nine minutes after the second half started, Benjamin found a gap in the centre of the defence, and picked up a Reynolds pass before beating the goalkeeper with an incisive finish! 2-0! Grays were now becoming increasingly desperate, and Darren Ebsworth hit the upright for them in the 59th minute. Eight minutes after that, Callum Crawley passed to Chris Sullivan in the middle of the park, and the winger advanced into the Grays half. What followed was absolutely incredible, as Sullivan suddenly burst into the penalty area with Usain Bolt-esque speed before sliding the ball towards Reynolds, who added his name to the scoresheet! It was Nicky's 24th goal of the campaign, but all the credit went to local boy Sully, whose brilliance set it up! We were now 3-0 up, but Needham Market overturned that big a lead earlier in the month, so we really wanted a fourth goal to put the result beyond any doubt. Vassell obliged in the 77th minute, capping off a stellar personal display with a 25-yard screamer that Reading couldn't do anything about! The three points were now secured, and we could take things easy until the final whistle. There was one late crumb of comfort for Grays when a goalmouth scramble ended with the otherwise excellent Crawley diverting the ball into our own net, but that was in the 89th minute, and by then, we'd already 'started the car'.

Romford - 4 (Vassell 10,77, Benjamin 54, Reynolds 67)

Grays Athletic - 1 (Crawley og89)

Isthmian League Division 1 North, Attendance 110 - POSITIONS: Romford 7th, Grays 21st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Traveller, Burns, Bourgeois, Myers, Stephen (Walters), Sullivan, Crawley, Vassell, Oates (Mackin), Benjamin (Fellows), Reynolds.

With only five games left to play, we were 7th in the Isthmian League Division 1 North, and just three points off the play-offs. Witham Town lead the division by 11 points and will surely wrap up the title very soon, but everyone from 2nd-placed AFC Sudbury to 12th-placed Waltham Forest has a realistic chance of qualifying for those play-offs, from which one team will join Witham in next season's Isthmian Premier.

Having been out of the play-off zone since September, could we finally get back in there at the most important time of the season: the end?