Welcome to Romford

[CFuller]

The trip to Whitehawk on the Wednesday after our FA Cup exit was, due to our exploits in that competition, just our third Isthmian Premier match since September. Although we we were now down in 10th, the teams around us hadn't really taken advantage of us not being in league action, and thus we were just two points off the top five. Another away win would give our play-off hopes a massive shot in the arm.

Despite our poor recent record against Whitehawk, we were the favourites to win this match, because the Hawks were struggling - and I mean REALLY struggling. They started off with no fewer than five consecutive 1-0 defeats, and had been grounded in the relegation zone ever since. The worst could be yet to come, though, because Whitehawk are heavily in debt and could go into administration in the near future. Talk about having their wings clipped!

11 November 2015: Whitehawk vs Romford

It'd be fair to say that things didn't start too promisingly for us. After just 22 seconds, Mark Betteridge conceded a free-kick on the edge of our penalty area. The player that he fouled - Kieran Sadlier - failed to take advantage, firing his set-piece against the wall. Whitehawk striker Sadlier received a through-ball from his captain Brian Dutton in the 18th minute, and hit the woodwork from a tight angle. In the 26th minute, Ryan Jones had our first chance of the game, but his long-distance effort flew over the bar. Four minutes later, Dean O'Halloran led Whitehawk's defenders a merry dance with his excellent dribbling skills. Dean cut the ball back to Nick Fenwick, who tried to lob it over goalkeeper Andy Young's head... and succeeded! Nick's first senior goal had given us a 1-0 lead against the run of play, and our situation would soon get even better! Whitehawk's former Boro left-back Jordan Willmore came off injured after 37 minutes. Two minutes later, his replacement Sal Dymond was beaten for pace by O'Halloran, whose delivery into the box was buried into the net by poacher extraordinaire Nicky Reynolds! Thanks to deadly Dean and his quick feet, we were 2-0 up and looking comfortable.

Whitehawk's total lack of self-belief showed in the second half, as they limped through it without even denting our lead. Aaron Gayle's 60th-minute piledriver was more threatening to a nearby seagull's life than Joel Wilkinson's net! Before long, Hawks fans were flying out of the Enclosed Ground in droves. After setting up both of our first-half goals, O'Halloran could've had one for himself on 76 minutes. Jones threaded the ball through a massive gap in Whitehawk's defence, and Deano sprinted from the left flank to get to it, but Young brilliantly kicked the Irish youngster's low shot away. We didn't need another goal, as a 2-0 win was enough to take us back into the top five.

Whitehawk - 0

Romford - 2 (Fenwick 30, Reynolds 39)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 129 - POSITIONS: Whitehawk 21st, Romford 4th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Betteridge, Allen, Guthmy, O'Halloran, Farrell, Jones (Vassell), Fenwick (Harley), Greenwood (Carroll), Reynolds.

Whitehawk fans might well have been scratching their heads at full-time, wondering why they didn't come close to getting a point. The truth of the matter was that their shooting was abysmal - they had nine shots at goal, and only two of them drew saves from Joel Wilkinson. The exact opposite was true for us, as for the second game in a row, we scored two goals from just three attempts! That's a 66% success rate - not too shabby, is it?

Our shooting needed to be accurate again when we played host to struggling Maidstone United, who boasted one of the league's meaner defences. The Stones' problem was a lack of firepower - if they had more prolific strikers, they wouldn't have been in 17th place with just two wins to their name.

14 November 2015: Romford vs Maidstone United

Maidstone's problems in front of goal were so bad that their joint-top league scorers had just three goals on their record. But by the 10th minute, one of them - Andrew White - had scored his fourth to give the Stones an early lead. Jason Collins thought he'd seen off the danger when he headed Joe Carter's free-kick out of the Romford penalty area, only to watch in disbelief as White crisply volleyed into the net from 25 yards! Four minutes later, Connor Dymond came agonisingly close to giving us a quick reply, but he headed narrowly over from Jason Harley's corner. In the 21st minute, White - whose confidence had obviously been boosted by that stunning goal - tried another 25-yard effort, and Joel Wilkinson had to make a difficult save. Our predicament worsened in the 27th minute, when Jay Vassell collapsed on the pitch with another injury and was taken off. Maidstone then took a 2-0 lead after 39 minutes with a goal that had eerie similarities with the first. Ashley Farrell jumped up to head away Carter's corner, but the ball went towards former Wycombe Wanderers midfielder Matt Bloomfield, who volleyed it home! We were left staring at the barrel of another home defeat.

United's set-pieces continued to give us problems in the second half. A 53rd-minute free-kick from Carter found the head of experienced defender Phil Baker, who flicked it wide. Davis Abbey took over free-kick-taking duties in the 68th minute, and Wilkinson turned his effort against his right-hand post before the ball bounced across the goalmouth. That was the closest Maidstone would get to moving three goals clear, and the last 20 minutes were all about our attempts to try and claw ourselves back into contention. On 74 minutes, Jason Harley hit the Maidstone wall with a free-kick from just outside the box, and then volleyed the rebound inches wide. Four minutes later, it was captain Kieron Carroll's turn to have an attempt on goal. Kieron got his head to Nick Fenwick's cross, but Aaron Butcher caught with ease. Butcher pulled off another top save in the 88th minute, when he tipped a Ryan Jones strike over the crossbar. We had our best chance of the match from the corner that followed, but George Allen agonisingly hit the top of the bar after getting his head to Harley's delivery. We had been shut out for the first time this season, and I was livid, but not necessarily at our failure to score. If we want to put together another serious play-off challenge, we must try to stop needlessly dropping points at home!

Romford - 0

Maidstone United - 2 (White 10, Bloomfield 39)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 240 - POSITIONS: Romford 7th, Maidstone 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Dymond, Betteridge (Allen), Collins, Harley, Farrell, Vassell (Jones), Fenwick, Greenwood (Carroll), Reynolds. BOOKED: Fenwick, Harley.

Another poor result at Ship Lane put us out of the play-off zone almost as soon as we had re-entered it. It was a tough defeat to take, and we were desperate to make amends in our next home match against Histon the following Saturday.

There was a midweek cup game in between, and I wasn't sure whether the distraction of playing Lewes in Round 3 of the Isthmian League Cup was a welcome one or not. Our last trip to the Dripping Pan resulted in us being knocked out of the FA Trophy. Would Lewes eliminate us from another competition, or would we get our revenge?

18 November 2015: Lewes vs Romford

Daniel Akindayini came close to scoring directly from a free-kick after just two minutes, but Lewes keeper Conor O'Donnell tipped the ball over his bar just in time. A promising start to the match for Danny was cut short four minutes later, when he was injured in a challenge from Josh Warren. That injury to Akindayini swung things in the Rooks' favour. In the 12th minute, their left-winger Peter Willacy curled in a free-kick, which was caught by Roscoe Fryatt. Four minutes after that, O'Donnell hit a long ball up to Joe Broad, who flicked the ball on to Alassan Ann. The striker then hit a low 30-yard shot that rocketed past Fryatt and into the net. 1-0 to Lewes. On 26 minutes, the hosts suffered an injury blow of their own, as Willacy broke his toe whilst challenging Akindayini's replacement Nico Ramsey. That only temporarily disrupted Lewes' rhythm, and in the 43rd minute, another of O'Donnell's long-range kicks helped them to get a second goal. This time, his kick went straight to Ann, who dribbled into the penalty area before slotting in his fourth goal in two matches against us. At 2-0 down, we needed a very strong second half to save our Isthmian League Cup hopes.

Our problem wasn't keeping hold of the ball - we had more possession than Lewes, and our passes were more often than not finding their mark. But whereas we couldn't turn possession into attempts on goal, the Rooks did just that time and time again. In the second half, Ann's partner up front - Tim Rivers - had a couple of chances to put the match completely beyond our reach. His first was fired high and wide from inside the box after 56 minutes. On 69 minutes, Rivers should've finished from Ann's through-ball, but he instead shot right at Fryatt. Later on, as time was running out, we tried to pressurise Lewes, hoping that the Rooks would make a blunder. In fact, it only created more problems for us. With seven minutes to go, shortly after Boro midfielder Brian Neville hopelessly missed a long-range shot from the halfway line, Lewes made it 3-0. Broad's free-kick hit the Romford wall, as did his follow-up volley, but the second rebound took the ball to Rivers, who buried it. Then the Rooks ran riot, with man-of-the-match Ann setting up a fourth goal for ex-Witham Town striker James Stevens in the 85th minute. As if that wasn't enough, they completed the demolition with goal number five after 88 minutes. It was Omar Rowe who had the last say with a close-range volley shortly after Kamal Guthmy compounded our night of misery with a terrible throw-in. The heaviest defeat of my Romford reign was at an end, as was our involvement in this season's Isthmian League Cup.

Lewes - 5 (Ann 16,43, Rivers 83, Stevens 85, Rowe 88)

Romford - 0

Isthmian League Cup Round 3, Attendance 295

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Chapman (Dymond), Hatch, Allen, Guthmy, O'Halloran (Harley), Neville, Jones, Hunt, Carroll, Akindayini (Ramsey).

In all honesty, we probably deserved that after fielding what was effectively a second-string team. I had completely changed the starting line-up from the Maidstone United match, but the result in Lewes was so shocking that I switched back to the original XI for our meeting with Histon.

This was set to be another tough match at Ship Lane for us. The Stutes were two places and just one point below us in the Isthmian Premier standings, although they did have a couple of matches in hand.

On another note, this game was my 200th in charge of Romford. Would it be a milestone match to remember?

[CFuller]

21 November 2015: Romford vs Histon

We needed a quick start, and that was just what we got. In the 4th minute, Histon defender Jide Maduako outjumped Duncan Greenwood to head Danny Newman's cross behind for a corner. Big Dunc got payback moments later, when he beat Maduako to Jason Harley's delivery and nodded it home. After just five minutes, it was 1-0 to Romford! Histon's first chance to equalise came through former Norwich City youth player Graham Basham in the 20th minute, and the teenage winger fired clean over the bar. Two minutes later, Harley found Greenwood with another corner, and Duncan flicked it towards Connor Dymond at the far post, but Connor's subsequent shot was parried away by Stutes keeper Tom Halsall. That was it as far as scoring opportunities went in the first half.

Just over four minutes after the restart, Greenwood got his head to another corner - this time from Dean O'Halloran - but his effort went straight into Halsall's grasp. Three minutes later, a couple of defensive errors on our part allowed Histon to equalise. A poor clearance from Ashley Farrell was headed back towards goal by Justin Read and then Ryan Oakley. Although Boro right-back Danny Newman managed to stop Oakley's header from reaching Malachi Ince, his sliding tackle diverted it to 17-year-old substitute Kelvin Austin, who scored for the Stutes. The game was now level at 1-1, and Ben Coker came within inches of putting the visitors ahead with a free-kick on 62 minutes. Six minutes later, another header from Greenwood was caught right on the goal line by Halsall. Histon's Mancunian shotstopper then blocked a 74th-minute effort from Nicky Reynolds with his feet. Nicky would have a couple more chances in the 80th and 82nd minute, but he didn't come particularly close to scoring with either of them, and two more home points slipped away.

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 5)

Histon - 1 (Austin 51)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 150 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Histon 11th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Dymond, Betteridge, Collins (Hornsey), Harley (O'Halloran), Farrell, Vassell (Neville), Fenwick, Greenwood, Reynolds. BOOKED: Vassell.

I couldn't understand for the life of me why our home form - which was absolutely brilliant last season - had suddenly deserted us. By this stage, we'd played nine league matches at Ship Lane. We had won three, drawn three, and lost... three.

Curiously, our away form was turning out to be better than our home form! While we had secured only 12 points from nine home games, we'd racked up a point less from just six away matches. So when I learned that our next four fixtures were all on the road, I was - for the first time ever - relieved to be facing such a run!

We kicked off this run of four straight away games by entertaining a Concord Rangers side who were plummeting down the table. In the previous two campaigns, Concord had come so close to qualifying for the play-offs, finishing 6th each time. But their wily old manager Viv Busby retired this summer, and he was replaced by the much less experienced Reuben Hazell. The former Football League defender was so out of his depth as a manager that he picked up just two wins from his first 16 league games.

If the Beach Boys' new boss - who it seemed could not organise a drink-up in a brewery - made it three wins from 17, then I'd probably take a boat into the River Thames, and then drown myself a la Dennis Wilson.

25 November 2015: Concord Rangers vs Romford

Concord Rangers had a chance after just four minutes, but Zimbabwean midfielder Shepherd Murombedzi fired over the crossbar. Six minutes later, though, the Shepherd did put Concord 1-0 ahead. Will McCall's cross took a deflection off Romford full-back Jason Collins and fell nicely for Murombedzi, who took the loose ball and buried it. Murombedzi was actually playing his first game for Rangers after joining them from their local rivals Canvey Island - and his debut wouldn't last very long. He was forced to come off after 26 minutes, when he was badly hurt by a challenge from Danny Newman. Without their new hero, Concord struggled to take a firm grip on proceedings. In the 31st minute, winger Pat Harding tried to lob Joel Wilkinson from distance, and instead put the ball well over. The Beach Boys would regret that miss, as two minutes from half-time, we equalised with our first shot on target. It came from Ashley Farrell's excellent free-kick, which Mark Betteridge headed into the net from point-blank range.

That Betteridge goal would turn out to be our ONLY shot on target in the whole match. We found it almost impossible to break down a defence marshaled superbly by Swedish centre-back Doug Bergvist, and Scottish partner Cameron Burgess didn't miss a single header all game. At the other end, Concord Rangers had plenty of chances to win, but we were fortunate that they couldn't keep them on target. Jack Page had their best effort after 66 minutes, when Wilkinson pushed his long-range strike away. After the final whistle blew on a dire match, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. We really should have lost that game and were lucky to end up with a point.

Concord Rangers - 1 (Murombedzi 10)

Romford - 1 (Betteridge 43)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 87 - POSITIONS: Concord Rangers 21st, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Dymond, Betteridge, Collins (Guthmy), O'Halloran (Greenwood), Farrell, Jones (Vassell), Hunt, Carroll, Reynolds.

That was a big let-off, certainly, but despite going three league matches without victory, we were still just a couple of points outside the play-offs. If we ended our winless run at 14th-placed Dulwich Hamlet, and other results went our way, then it was possible that we could sneak back into the top five.

28 November 2015: Dulwich Hamlet vs Romford

Dulwich Hamlet had the edge in the first quarter of an hour, as Alex Dyer had a couple of chances, but he put both of them well wide. Duncan Greenwood fared a bit better for Romford in the 18th minute, when his low shot was parried by Dulwich keeper Jamie Butler. After that first chance, we steadily increased the pressure on our hosts. Greenwood burst through on goal in the 25th minute, only for Butler to come forward and push the ball away from him. On 38 minutes, a header from Duncan set up a half-volley for Nicky Reynolds, but Nicky narrowly missed the target. Our last opportunity to break the deadlock before half-time came in the closing seconds of normal time, when Dean O'Halloran's corner was headed over the bar by centre-back Mark Betteridge. Mark wasn't having the best of games, and he'd already been booked earlier, so he was substituted during the break.

Mark's replacement George Allen didn't have the best of starts in the second half. After 50 minutes, he was shown a clean pair of heels by Dyer. The Montserrat international raced through, and then hit the side of the net when he looked odds-on to find the back of it. To be fair to George, he recovered quickly after that brush with danger. In the 62nd minute, O'Halloran swung a corner towards Allen, who volleyed it into the Dulwich net with his left foot! That goal gave us a 1-0 lead, which we extended seven minutes later thanks to some shoddy defending from Hamlet. Jay Vassell's attempted through-ball to Brian Neville was intercepted by Dulwich defender Joel Magill, but he dawdled on the ball and then lost it to Neville, who slotted past a perplexed Butler! That effectively wrapped up the game for us, because the hosts never looked remotely like getting on the scoresheet. Their lack of accuracy in front of goal was summed up by Dyer's 84th-minute effort that, like his previous five attempts, missed by some distance. After a poor run of form, we were back to winning ways. Results elsewhere meant that we climbed back into the play-off spots, though we were only ahead of 6th-placed Faversham Town by a goal difference of +1.

Dulwich Hamlet - 0

Romford - 2 (Allen 62, Neville 69)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 265 - POSITIONS: Dulwich Hamlet 15th, Romford 5th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Chapman, Dymond, Betteridge (Allen), Guthmy, O'Halloran (Harley), Neville, Vassell (Hunt), Fenwick, Greenwood, Reynolds. BOOKED: Betteridge, Guthmy, Chapman.

To be honest, I wouldn't read anything into the fact that we are now in the top five again. There are a host of teams who could move back above us in the standings if they won their games in hand, so although our current position may look good, we're not quite on course of the play-offs. We could be doing better.

[CFuller]

                                   [b]P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
1.          Lewes                  14    10    2     2     25    14    +11   32
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2.          Bognor Regis           17    9     4     4     21    12    +9    31
3.          Sutton Utd             18    7     8     3     15    14    +1    29
4.          Enfield Town           15    8     3     4     26    14    +12   27
[color="#0000FF"]5.          Romford                17    7     6     4     27    18    +9    27[/color]
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6.          Faversham              18    7     6     5     27    19    +8    27
7.          Carshalton             18    7     6     5     21    16    +5    27
8.          Cray                   13    8     2     3     21    11    +10   26
9.          Potters Bar            18    6     8     4     23    14    +9    26
10.         Bury Town              15    7     4     4     17    15    +2    25
11.         Histon                 15    8     1     6     17    20    -3    25
12.         Hastings               16    6     6     4     24    21    +3    24
13.         Maidstone              17    5     8     4     20    16    +4    23
14.         Billericay             17    6     4     7     17    21    -4    22
15.         Dulwich Hamlet         17    6     2     9     28    27    +1    20
16.         Margate                14    3     9     2     22    19    +3    18
17.         Thurrock               18    3     9     6     23    30    -7    18
18.         St. Albans             17    4     6     7     23    33    -10   18
19.         Aveley                 18    5     3     10    16    27    -11   18
20.         Welling                18    4     4     10    20    31    -11   16
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21.         Brentwood              17    3     7     7     19    31    -12   16
22.         Concord Rangers        18    2     8     8     22    28    -6    14
23.         Whitehawk              16    4     2     10    13    20    -7    14
24.         Merstham               17    3     4     10    16    32    -16   13

[CFuller]

In this middle part of the season, a good streak of form could make all the difference between being amongst the leading promotion contenders and playing catch-up with the top five. After beating Dulwich Hamlet at the end of November, I hoped that we could keep the momentum going in December - but the odds would be most certainly stacked against us in our next match.

For the third time in the space of just seven weeks, we faced a daunting trip to Lewes, and this time, important league points were at stake rather than knockout cup survival. Our last three visits to the Dripping Pan ended in a trio of defeats by an aggregate score of 9 goals to 1, so there were no prizes for guessing that we would be rank outsiders.

Oh, and did I mention that Lewes were top of the Isthmian Premier, and unbeaten in home league games this season?

2 December 2015: Lewes vs Romford

There was some good news from the Lewes teamsheet - their leading scorer Alassan Ann was out with a twisted knee. The bad news was that the Rooks' dangerous winger Omar Rowe was in fine fettle. After just four minutes, he put Lewes ahead, thanks to yet another mistake from Kamal Guthmy. Kamal's sliding tackle on James Stevens in the Romford box knocked the ball on to Rowe, who placed it first-time into the net. It was the perfect start for Lewes, who by the 21st minute were leading 2-0. After putting us under intense pressure for almost a minute, the Rooks got that inevitable second goal when Ben Godfrey volleyed in a cross from David Adedipe. The hosts could've gone even further ahead seven minutes later through Joe Broad, whose free-kick went just too high. Broad's game was ended by injury in the 38th minute, but that didn't derail the league leaders' charge. Three minutes later, Kelvin Lomax cut a cross into the Romford area, and Rowe hit it on the half-volley to secure his second goal of the match. It was Lewes' third, and they were already running away with all three points. A fortnight on from our 5-0 thrashing at the hands of the Rooks, an even bigger humiliation looked likely.

The lads got a stern telling-off at half-time, and our two worst performers - Kamal and Kieron Carroll - were both substituted. We charged out of the blocks for the second half, as Kieron's replacement Nicky Reynolds volleyed a shot into the net after just 36 seconds! Lewes hadn't even touched the ball! One could feel a wind of change blowing after that quickfire start to the second half, and sure enough, we cut the deficit down to one goal in the 57th minute. The move resulting in our second goal started when Mark Betteridge - who had moved from the centre to take Guthmy's place at left-back - superbly tackled Stevens just outside the Romford area. Lewes wouldn't get a sniff of the ball again before Daniel Akindayini finished off a superb counter-attack with a befitting strike! Having pulled the Rooks back to 3-2, I started believing that we would complete the comeback and level the game. It wasn't to be, though, because five minutes later, the hosts struck back. An outswinging corner from Rowe found Stevens, who headed towards goal before team-mate Aidan Sherlock flicked in the final touch. Our fightback was dead in the water, but we carried on attacking, as we tried to at least save some more pride. On 75 minutes, Jason Harley - who had just replaced the injured Sean Hunt - lobbed the ball up to Akindayini, whose header was caught by Lewes keeper Daren Hawkes. We did put the ball past Hawkes for a third time in the 89th minute, but Connor Dymond's header was chalked off as he had barged into the goalie. The final whistle blew minutes later. Lewes had beaten us yet again, although we at least went down fighting this time.

Lewes - 4 (Rowe 4,41, Godfrey 21, Sherlock 62)

Romford - 2 (Reynolds 46, Akindayini 57)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 402 - POSITIONS: Lewes 1st, Romford 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Dymond, Betteridge, Guthmy (Allen), Vassell, Farrell, O'Halloran, Carroll (Reynolds), Hunt (Harley), Akindayini.

After losing to the best team in the Isthmian League Premier Division, we swiftly moved on to another match against arguably the worst. We were widely expected to win at rock-bottom Merstham, who had lost six of their last seven league matches, including the last three consecutively. Defeat to that lot was unthinkable.

5 December 2015: Merstham vs Romford

Despite being at the bottom of the table, Merstham certainly didn't start off like whipping boys, and the match began with some exciting end-to-end action. After three minutes, Nicky Reynolds had a close-range header caught by Merstham keeper Nicky Eyre. Three minutes later, Moatsiders forward Jamal Branker aimed a header at our goal and missed by some way. His next effort was slightly better. It came in the 19th minute, when Harry Gerard cut the ball across to Branker in the middle of the penalty area, and the former Southampton youth-teamer buried it. Just when a frustrating season couldn't get any worse, we were trailing 1-0 to the worst team in the division... but only for four minutes. Nicky teamed up brilliantly with Duncan Greenwood, as the pair exchanged passes before Duncan placed a low shot into the corner. Shortly after our equaliser, Merstham threatened to restore their advantage. Restored Boro goalkeeper Roscoe Fryatt had to make three top-drawer saves in the space of five minutes to deny the Moatsiders' Welsh striker Chike Kandi. The best save was the second of those, in the 33rd minute, when Roscoe got his fingertips to a fierce strike from the ex-Chelsea academy player. Merstham were perhaps the slightly better side in the first half, but we actually went into the break leading 2-1 thanks to another goal from Greenwood five minutes from time! Nick Fenwick floated a superb cross towards the six-yard box, and our Geordie giant timed his header perfectly. Would that be the decisive blow?

Compared to the first half, the second was rather short of drama, but that didn't mean neither team had any chances. A highly-promising attack from Romford in the 59th minute could have seen Duncan complete his hat-trick. Unfortunately, he couldn't make a clean connection to Fenwick's delivery, and the attack petered out. After 74 minutes, Fryatt continued an impressive comeback performance with a stunning save to turn Matt Spring's long-range shot away from the top corner. Merstham's best chance to equalise came in the second minute of injury time, when Fabio Saraiva tried to find winger Greg Kaziboni with a through-ball into the middle of the penalty area. Kaziboni couldn't quite reach it, and the ball drifted out of play. That meant we could celebrate another important away win, and a return to the top five.

Merstham - 1 (Branker 19)

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 23,40)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 184 - POSITIONS: Merstham 24th, Romford 4th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Chapman, Hatch (Dymond), Allen, Collins, Harley (O'Halloran), Neville (Fisk), Jones, Fenwick, Greenwood, Reynolds.

That ended a run of four straight away matches, and to be honest, I was satisfied with how they went. We won twice, got beat by a Lewes team that is nigh on unplayable, and also stole a barely-deserved point against Concord Rangers. Seven points from a possible 12 was not a bad return, and it left our play-off hopes looking a bit brighter.

[CFuller]

It was back to Ship Lane for our next match, which was against Colchester United's reserves in Round 4 of the Essex Senior Cup. They were the team that we beat to reach the 2014 Final, but could we upset them again?

8 December 2015: Romford vs Colchester United Reserves

A month after recording our highest attendance of the season against Portsmouth, we registered our lowest when just 27 souls bothered to watch us play a strong Colchester team. Their side included ex-Watford forward Gavin Massey, whose 9th-minute header was caught by Roscoe Fryatt. Four minutes later, Massey had a shot from just outside the penalty area, and put it narrowly off target. The gap in class was clear to see, and the U's had another great opportunity in the 16th minute. Connor Dymond's interceptions from a Sam Saunders cross only went as far as James Dunne, and the United midfielder hit a half-volley that Fryatt punched clear. Colchester eventually broke through in the 24th minute, and it took a top-quality 20-yarder from Massey to break the deadlock. Eight minutes later, Massey got another goal through more fortuitous circumstances. Saunders' corner took a deflection off Dunne, and the loose ball was tucked in by 23-year-old Massey, who had made 15 league appearances for Colchester's first-team this term. After 40 minutes, United's star performer had a chance to wrap up his hat-trick, and effectively the tie. However, he dragged his shot through the mud and wide. We remained 2-0 down at half-time, though we weren't quite out of the Essex Senior Cup. We just had to keep on fighting.

We could have pegged one goal back in the opening minute of the second half, when Dunne tripped Jay Vassell up just outside Colchester's penalty area. Jay's free-kick struck the U's wall, but the deflection caught out keeper Rob Lainton, who dived too early and allowed young Bobby Fisk to volley the ball into a gaping net! That reduced our arrears to 2-1 - did we have what it takes to restore parity? Erm... not quite. Mark Betteridge headed wide a chance to level in the 54th minute, and six minutes later, we fatally shot ourselves in the foot. We gifted a penalty to Colchester after their youngster Macauley Bonne went down under an apparent trip from Danny Newman. Despite our players' remonstrations with the referee, the penalty stood, and 20-year-old Bonne confidently fired it down the middle of the goal. Colchester now led 3-1, and we were lucky not to hand them a fourth goal shortly after the restart. Bonne caught Wayne Hatch dithering on the ball and took it off him before passing to Massey, but Wayne recovered and managed to block the treble-chaser's shot. Massey wouldn't get his hat-trick in the end, as Colchester settled on three goals. We would finish on two after substitute Duncan Greenwood scored a consolation goal from Fisk's excellent long ball in the third minute of injury time, but it was too little and far too late. No more cup football for us this season.

Romford - 2 (Fisk 46, Greenwood 90)

Colchester United Reserves - 3 (Massey 24,32, Bonne pen61)

Essex Senior Cup Round 4, Attendance 27

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman (Farrell), Dymond (Hatch), Betteridge, Guthmy, Fisk, Vassell, Neville, Akindayini (Greenwood), O'Halloran, Reynolds.

We now had put all our efforts into the Isthmian League Premier Division. Midweek results meant that we were no longer in the play-off zone, and it made our home match against Welling United a must-win encounter.

Welling were a pitiful second-from-bottom, despite having played more games than everyone else, and the prospect of consecutive relegations was looming large over them. Not even the appointment of one-time England striker Kevin Davies as manager in October had managed to bring about a change in fortunes.

Basically, if we couldn't beat these losers on our home ground, we would be better off taking up another sport. Yes, I was aware that they owned us 2-0 in a friendly at Ship Lane last year, but they were a Conference South team back then. This was a totally different ball game (well, technically, it was still football, but you know what I mean).

Before the game, I completed my first mid-season signing in a bid to try and cure our defensive blues. The signing in question was an 18-year-old central defender called Simon Rofe, who had been without a club since his release by Southend United in the summer. Essex boy Simon is a rather fiery character, but hopefully he can keep cool and give us some more security at the back.

12 December 2015: Romford vs Welling United

In a lot of our home games this season, we have been rather slow to get going. We decided to do things differently this time, and go on the attack right from the start. After two minutes, this more ambitious strategy paid off. Nicky Reynolds got to a Duncan Greenwood through-ball, and his subsequent tap-in gave us the lead very early on! Three minutes later, Ashley Farrell's attempt to volley us into a bigger advantage went wide. Welling had two fantastic opportunities to equalise within the next five minutes, as Matthew Harris hit the bar with a 7th-minute free-kick before Matt Green struck the post three minutes later. Despite that promising spell for United, the Wings couldn't get off the ground, and we were soon dominating again. Farrell lobbed a lovely pass to Greenwood in the 18th minute, but after going one-on-one with Welling keeper Liam Priestley, Duncan volleyed past a gaping goalmouth. He did, though, play a part in our second goal when it came after 33 minutes. He passed the ball ahead of Farrell, who lost it after being tackled by Welling defender Sean Rowson, but the deflection found Sean Hunt and the winger scored with a first-time finish! That sent us into the break with a two-goal cushion, and it looked like we were finally going to win a home game for the first time since October.

We continued to attack in the second half, as Farrell tried a banana shot from just outside the area on 47 minutes. Ashley's effort was pushed out of play by Priestley, who a minute later made another excellent save to deny Reynolds his second goal. Priestley wasn't having a particularly bad game in the Welling goal, but that changed after 57 minutes. Anthony Chapman sent a long ball into the Welling box, and Priestley slipped in the mud as he tried to gather it up! Greenwood then rushed forward to slot an easy third goal past the embarrassed goalkeeper! A 3-0 lead was inches away from becoming 4-0 in the 66th minute, when Greenwood's header from a Jason Harley corner skimmed the bar. Two minutes later, the Wings opened up our defence for the first time, and Isaiah McManus thundered in what was surely only going to be a consolation goal for Welling. But after Kieron Carroll had a goal disallowed for offside in the 74th minute, we started to get edgy. Within a couple of minutes, we lost Connor Dymond to injury, and Simon Rofe had to come on for his debut. Then, with ten minutes to go, Welling skipper Lee Bell sent a corner over to centre-back Josh England, whose header found the back of the net. Were Welling United going to be the latest team to come back from a precarious position against us? No, they weren't. Reynolds wrapped up the three points for us when he flicked in Harley's free-kick just three minutes later. It was Nicky's second and our fourth goal of a crucial and very satisfying win.

Romford - 4 (Reynolds 2,83, Hunt 33, Greenwood 57)

Welling United - 2 (McManus 68, England 80)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 148 - POSITIONS: Romford 4th, Welling 23rd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Chapman, Dymond (Rofe), Allen, Guthmy, Harley, Fisk (Jones), Farrell, Hunt, Greenwood (Carroll), Reynolds.

Connor Dymond was thankfully not injured in that win. Just a few days later, though, he was struck down with food poisoning, meaning that he would miss our next match after all. It was not what we wanted ahead of a trip to one of this season's biggest overachievers.

Kicking off a run of three straight away games was perhaps the trickiest one of the lot, against in-form Faversham Town. The Kent side finished 18th last season and not many people expected them to get anywhere near the play-off places this term, but they had so far confounded the critics and moved all the way up to 2nd place.

19 December 2015: Faversham Town vs Romford

After a quiet start, Faversham had the first shot on goal in the 15th minute. Andy Fowler's long-distance strike was no problem for Joel Wilkinson in the Boro goal, and a minute later, Fowler's strike partner Jamie Calvin-Pay missed the target with his first attempt. The Sorters then took the lead in the 26th minute, following some chaotic Romford defending. Harrison Georgiou's shot hit the bar, and then Wilkinson's back, before another deflection off Jason Collins sent it back towards our goal line! Finally, Anthony Chapman tried in vain to clear the ball off the line, only to send it across for an own goal! I probably would have found it hilarious if we weren't on the receiving end! The rest of the first half wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs from our perspective, though Wilkinson's impressive performance in goal was a highlight. He turned over a vicious strike from Fowler on 31 minutes, and cleared away another effort by the former Everton youth striker two minutes later. At the other end, Nicky Reynolds drilled our only meaningful chance of the half into the side netting after 38 minutes.

We took over 30 minutes to trouble Faversham in the first half, but in the second half, we would only need 30 seconds. Although Ryan Jones' 25-yard strike went clean over the bar, it gave me a reason to be encouraged. Faversham were soon back on the front foot, as Calvin-Pay curled the ball just over Wilkinson's crossbar in the 53rd minute. After an hour, the Sorters replaced the unfortunate Fowler with Charlie Moone. The substitute gave us an early warning in the 68th minute, when his free-kick was nearly dropped by Wilko. Four minutes later, Duncan Greenwood headed wide from Dean O'Halloran's corner, and the optimism I had from earlier on ebbed away. Then, with five minutes to go, Faversham got a second goal that put the game out of our reach. Ashley Farrell lost the ball just inside the Faversham half, and within a matter of seconds, Moone finished off a breakaway goal that sent the Sorters to the top of the table. Greenwood and O'Halloran did force a couple of late saves out of Faversham goalkeeper Callum Kitscha, but our generally poor shooting had once again brought about our downfall.

Faversham Town - 2 (Chapman og26, Moone 85)

Romford - 0

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 414 - POSITIONS: Faversham 1st, Romford 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Chapman, Betteridge (Rofe), Allen, Collins, Harley, Farrell, Jones (Vassell), Fenwick (O'Halloran), Greenwood, Reynolds.

After losing another game (our tenth defeat already this season), we lost one of our players. Left-winger Sean Hunt decided to leave Ship Lane after 18 months and sign for Slough Town, who were flying high in the Southern League Premier Division. To be honest, he wasn't having a great season, so I doubt we'll miss him too much.

[CFuller]

Our next trip was to Enfield Town, who had dropped down to 12th place after a promising start. The Towners usually give us a stern test, although up to this point, they had never beaten us in the league.

23 December 2015: Enfield Town vs Romford

Our proud record against Enfield Town could've come under threat after just ten minutes, when Mohammed Dikuiza blasted an excellent shot towards goal. Fortunately, Joel Wilkinson pulled off a stunning fingertip save, and the scoreline remained at 0-0... though not for too much longer. Duncan Greenwood rattled the Enfield crossbar in the 18th minute, and went one better moments later, finding the net from Nick Fenwick's deflected cross! On 22 minutes, our slender lead should've been strengthened by captain Kieron Carroll. Jason Harley's corner reached George Allen, who then cut it back to Carroll, but the skipper put his shot the wrong side of the post. Kieron was kicking himself after that miss, and a couple of minutes later, so were the rest of his team mates. We failed to clear an Enfield Town corner, and Joseph Yoffe made us pay when he got on the end of full Romford debutant Simon Rofe's poor headed 'clearance' and poked in the equaliser. Two minutes after that setback, Greenwood came close to restoring our lead. Moments after Enfield goalkeeper Sam Baxter's long free-kick was intercepted, Duncan fired a volley at goal, and Baxter recovered to make an excellent save. Greenwood and Baxter came face-to-face again on 40 minutes, when the latter blocked Big Dunc's close-range effort. While Enfield's number 1 was playing a good game, Wilkinson was having a blinder in the Romford goal! A mistake from Jason Collins gifted Yoffe a chance to put Town ahead in the 44th minute, and Wilko spectacularly turned it away! Thanks to that save, a very exciting match was still level at half-time.

Things had been pretty tight in the first half, but when the second half got underway, the pendulum swung ever so slightly towards us. Greenwood headed wide on 50 minutes after an excellent cross from Collins. Ten minutes later, Enfield Town tried to hit us on the counter-attack. They cleared Dean O'Halloran's corner, and winger Lamar Hurley made a lung-busting run from their penalty area to ours... but Ashley Farrell tackled Hurley just before he could take or create a scoring opportunity! Hurley was still suffering from the effects of that run when, after 62 minutes, he headed a poor clearance straight to Farrell. A string of Romford passes followed before Harley put the ball into the box for Duncan to convert his and our second goal! After that, the game pretty much descended into an anti-climax, as Enfield Town failed to trouble us again until the 89th minute. Yoffe saw an edge-of-the-area shot parried by Wilkinson, and then retook the loose ball on the byline. Just as he prepared to cross it into the six-yard box, Rofe made a great last-ditch tackle on him, and Danny Newman booted the danger away. Yoffe would have another chance for Enfield Town about a minute later, but his shooting deserted him and the ball went wide. That meant three more points - and a new season-high position of 3rd - for us!

Enfield Town - 1 (Yoffe 24)

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 19,63)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 302 - POSITIONS: Enfield Town 12th, Romford 3rd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Rofe, Allen, Collins, Vassell (Neville), Farrell, Harley, Carroll, Fenwick (O'Halloran), Greenwood. BOOKED: Fenwick.

The next match, which came at lowly St Albans City on Boxing Day, would see us reach the halfway point of the Isthmian League Premier Division season. If we won, we would be on 39 points - just one shy of our tally from the first half of last season.

26 December 2015: St Albans City vs Romford

St Albans made the better start of the two teams. Javlon Campbell - an old nemesis of ours from his Hendon days - had their first chance in the third minute, though it went far too high and far too wide. His next attempt in the 6th minute did at least force a save out of Joel Wilkinson, who was back in action again seconds later, when he pushed away Theo Brown's low shot. As the Saints threatened to swamp us with shots, the tide turned suddenly in the 19th minute. Nicky Reynolds' 25-yard strike failed to trouble Lewis Kidd in the St Albans goal, but it did at least give the hosts something to think about. We launched our next meaningful attack after 32 minutes. A long ball from Mark Betteridge flew over Saints captain Lee Chappell and landed near Dean O'Halloran, who ran towards the byline and put in a low, hard cross from the right flank. Dean's delivery was aimed for Reynolds, but St Albans right-back Henry Muggeridge beat Nicky to the ball... and turned it into the net himself! Muggeridge's stroke of ill fortune gave us a slender lead to take into the second half, which we had to play without the services of left-winger Nick Fenwick, who was forced off injured just prior to half-time.

Just like in the first half, St Albans started the second period in a positive manner. After 53 minutes, Jordan Woodley played a killer pass towards the Romford six-yard box. Hassan Janneh shrugged off Brian Neville to get to it and tap an equaliser past Wilkinson. However, there was no need for us to panic over losing our lead. Five minutes later, Danny Newman's long ball into the St Albans box was met by a horrendous clearance from Louis Hollingsworth, giving Jay Vassell the perfect opportunity to make it 2-1 Romford. Jay's first effort hit Kidd and then the post, but he didn't make any mistake at the second time of asking, and we were leading again! St Albans boss Paul Joynes was so annoyed with Hollingsworth's mistake that he took off his underperforming defender almost immediately. The damage had already been done, though, and we could easily have afflicted more on them after that. In the 72nd minute, Kidd pulled off a fine save to stop Vassell scoring again from a tight angle. Jay looked to have caught St Albans out once more in the 84th minute, when he sent Reynolds through on goal with a wonderful pass. Kidd then parried Nicky's strike before City substitute Liam Thomas made a crucial sliding tackle to stop Jason Harley from banging in the rebound. St Albans went gung-ho for the closing stages, but we mostly restricted them to shooting from distance, and did enough to grind out another away victory.

St Albans City - 1 (Janneh 53)

Romford - 2 (Muggeridge og32, Vassell 58)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 201 - POSITIONS: St Albans 19th, Romford 3rd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Dymond, Betteridge, Guthmy, Jones, Neville, O'Halloran, Reynolds (Greenwood), Fenwick (Vassell), Akindayini (Harley).

For the first time, our play-off status looked pretty healthy, with a three-point gap between us and 6th place. We had a great chance to further enhance our position in the days that followed, with two home matches either side of the New Year.

As the fixture list would have it, the old year ended with an opportunity to avenge our opening-day defeat to local rivals Aveley. Even though it was four months in the past, our collapse from 2-0 leaders to 3-2 losers at Mill Field still felt very recent.

That stunning result gave Aveley the confidence to start the Isthmian Premier season with three straight wins, but after that, they steadily dropped down the table to the point where they were just above the relegation zone. The Millers' fortunes had improved slightly in recent weeks, but I was determined that we would end their good form, and in turn banish our demons.

29 December 2015: Romford vs Aveley

Alex Parsons scored a hat-trick for Aveley on the fateful day of 22 August. Six minutes into the return fixture, he was fouled by Romford vice-captain Ashley Farrell and picked up a knock. Parsons recovered from that, though neither he nor his team-mates would have much of the ball in the first half. We had near-total control of possession in the middle part of the half, during which we had several scoring opportunities. A 17th-minute volley from Jason Harley was saved by goalkeeper Jordan Clement, who Aveley signed from Hastings United last month. A minute later, Nick Fenwick - whose cross set up that chance for Harley - hit the crossbar with a header, and Clement dramatically pushed it away before Nick could convert the rebound. In the 21st minute, Boro full-back Kamal Guthmy was floored by Jay Folkes as he tried to cut into the centre. Kamal picked up an injury that meant we couldn't risk keeping him on, so Simon Rofe replaced him. Four minutes later, Aveley defender Tom Hamblin hit a fierce shot from just outside the area and found the side netting. Following that close shave, we put the Millers under more intense pressure. Farrell skimmed the crossbar with another volley in the 29th minute, while Jay Vassell missed with a close-range free-kick three minutes later. We were knocking the ball about very nicely, but it seemed that we couldn't turn possession into goals. We finally broke through after 37 minutes, courtesy of none other than our top scorer. Anthony Chapman crossed from deep, and Nicky Reynolds outjumped Hamblin to nod his delivery into the net. Having gone 1-0 up, we could easily have been pegged back again very quickly, but Parsons missed a couple of chances for Aveley in the 38th and 40th minutes. We then made the Millers pay for those misses, as Jason Harley doubled our advantage with a well-executed curler over the diving Clement in the 44th minute! At half-time, the score was Romford 2 Aveley 0... but we all know what happened after the last time that happened.

I was fearing another collapse five minutes into the second half, when George Allen's poor header fell to Aveley striker Patrick Drmola. His shot from just inside the area cannoned off the crossbar, and on the Romford bench, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. Drmola got the ball again about 20 seconds later, and this time, his shooting was spot on. Fearing that this would become Groundhog Day again and that I would soon morph into Phil Connors, I urged the Boro boys to press forward and restore our cushion. Two minutes after the restart, another firm Farrell challenge on Parsons gave us the chance to hit Aveley on the counter, and it was an opportunity that we took with both hands. Assist machine Harley came up with the goods again, lobbing a superb right-wing pass for Kieron Carroll to drill into the net! That made it 3-1, and I hoped for my sanity that the drama would end right there. Of course, it did not. In the 59th minute, Vassell had to be replaced by Ryan Jones after clashing heads with Aveley midfielder Ross Neil. Another Romford midfielder came off injured eight minutes later. Millers defender Greg Butler got stuck in on Fenwick, and his risky challenge on fragile Fenwick left the injury-prone winger unable to continue. Aveley sensed that we were wounded, and they turned to their star striker in a bid to kick-start another comeback. In the 70th minute, a vicious strike from Drmola flew high and wide. Seven minutes later, he converted first-time from Parsons' pass to the edge of the six-yard box, making it 3-2. Surely the Millers weren't going to come back from the dead again?!

Two minutes after Aveley reduced our lead to a solitary goal, our injury woes returned. Jones picked up a neck injury after being fouled by Neil, but at this tense stage of the match, we couldn't afford to lose a man, so I told Ryan to play through the pain. The Aussie did so, and in the 84th minute, he played an excellent lob to Duncan Greenwood just outside Aveley's area. Big Dunc rose above Butler to nod it on to Reynolds, who then beat Clement with a left-footed volley. Alas, the linesman's flag stopped us from putting the match beyond doubt, so we had to try and survive the next six minutes - plus injury time - without making any mistakes. In the 86th minute, Drmola could've broken our hearts with a hat-trick goal, but he hit a shot that had too much power and not enough accuracy. That was the Millers' last chance, and we held on... just.

Romford - 3 (Reynolds 37, Harley 44, Carroll 52)

Aveley - 2 (Drmola 50,77)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 196 - POSITIONS: Romford 2nd, Aveley 20th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Chapman, Hatch, Allen, Guthmy (Rofe), Vassell (Jones), Farrell, Harley, Carroll, Fenwick (Greenwood), Reynolds.

After the match, I received an injury update from John Kelly, the Boro physio. While Kamal Guthmy, Jay Vassell and Nick Fenwick were all in the clear as far as John was concerned, but he also told me just how big a risk I took in keeping Ryan Jones on. Ryan had strained his neck, and one nasty collision could have easily broken it, so we could count our blessings that the Australian would only be out for a fortnight.

Considering that we had around 65% possession in the first half and 59% in the whole match, we perhaps should've beaten Aveley by a bigger margin. Overconfidence seemed to creep into our game after the break, and we could easily have ended up as the losers again. At the end of the day, that didn't happen, but we obviously cannot keep on doing this.

Of course, I'm always delighted to take three points, regardless of whether we play like Manchester City in the Premier League or Manchester Rovers in the Sunday League. Those three points were enough to take us up to 2nd place, just one point behind Lewes. Can we possibly launch a title challenge in 2016?

[CFuller]

                                   [b]P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
1.          Lewes                  22    13    4     5     40    25    +15   43
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[color="#0000FF"]2.          Romford                24    12    6     6     42    31    +11   42[/color]
3.          Carshalton             25    12    6     7     33    24    +9    42
4.          Faversham              25    10    9     6     36    26    +10   39
5.          Cray                   20    12    3     5     31    21    +10   39
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Hastings               24    10    7     7     37    32    +5    37
7.          Maidstone              25    9     9     7     31    23    +8    36
8.          Bury Town              22    10    6     6     28    23    +5    36
9.          Sutton Utd             25    9     8     8     20    27    -7    35
10.         Enfield Town           22    10    4     8     32    22    +10   34
11.         Bognor Regis           22    10    4     8     24    21    +3    34
12.         Histon                 24    10    4     10    26    33    -7    34
13.         Potters Bar            24    7     11    6     35    26    +9    32
14.         Thurrock               24    7     11    6     33    34    -1    32
15.         Billericay             24    8     7     9     25    28    -3    31
16.         Dulwich Hamlet         24    8     5     11    37    36    +1    29
17.         Margate                22    5     12    5     30    26    +4    27
18.         Concord Rangers        25    6     8     11    32    37    -5    26
19.         St Albans              24    6     8     10    32    42    -10   26
20.         Aveley                 24    7     5     12    21    34    -13   26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.         Whitehawk              23    7     4     12    21    27    -6    25
22.         Brentwood              24    5     10    9     26    38    -12   25
23.         Welling                25    5     6     14    28    43    -15   21
24.         Merstham               23    4     5     14    22    43    -21   17

[CFuller]

New Year's Day. It's a great song by U2, and it would also potentially be a great day for us if we recorded our fourth win in a row at home to mid-table Potters Bar Town. If that happened, and leaders Lewes could not win at Enfield Town, then Romford FC would be at the top of the Isthmian League Premier Division for the first time this season.

1 January 2016: Romford vs Potters Bar Town

This match pretty much started like a repeat of our last home win against Aveley. We moved the ball around Potters Bar's half with consummate ease, although our shooting wasn't as fluid as our passing early on. Duncan Greenwood scuffed a shot wide in the 4th minute, as did Nicky Reynolds ten minutes later. When we inevitably scored the first goal after 17 minutes, it came from the rather less prolific feet of Brian Neville. Daniel Akindayini played an excellent pass to the defensive midfielder, who weaved past the Potters Bar defence like a wing wizard before dinking his shot over Josh James. Greenwood came close to making it 2-0 in the 22nd minute, only for James to tip his shot away. Potters Bar had their first meaningful shot on goal two minutes later, as Kyle Perry headed Charlie Stimson's cross into the safe hands of Joel Wilkinson. Wilko also got hold of a long-distance strike from Aaron Scott in the 31st minute. Notwithstanding those two chances, there were few signs of the momentum shifting towards Potters Bar. We continued to teach the Scholars a lesson in passing and keeping the ball... and also putting it into the ol' onion bag. After 36 minutes, Neville set up yet another goal for Reynolds, who pulled us two clear. However, a 2-0 half-time lead could and perhaps should've been increased to 3-0. Duncan had a couple of headed opportunities late in the first half, but the first was saved by James on 41 minutes, and he nodded just off target two minutes later.

Potters Bar showed signs of life after the break. In the 52nd minute, Perry had a crack from inside the 'D', and Wilkinson had to beat the ball away from his goal-line. The Scholars then withstood a 54th-minute cross from Akindayini that hit the crossbar before going on the attack again. On 62 minutes, Elliott Cox tried to curl the ball into the net, and it instead sailed wide. Two minutes later, Scott got on the end of midfielder Brett Thomas' lob, and neatly controlled it before firing it in off the post to give Potters Bar renewed hope. Thankfully, a Scholars fightback did not materialise. The Hertfordshire side's only chance to level in normal time was a 72nd-minute Thomas header that Wilko would've caught in his sleep. Early in added-on time, Wilkinson pushed George McCluskey's low strike behind his goal. Reynolds tried to head away the resulting corner, but Cox got the ball back into our six-yard box, and Matt Drage should've buried an equaliser for the Scholars. Instead, the defender shot meekly at Wilkinson, who then initiated a Boro counterstrike. Within moments, Kieron Carroll sent a through-ball to Nicky, who got round James before knocking in the third, game-clinching goal for Romford.

While we quietly congratulated ourselves on a fourth win in a row, news filtered through from Lewes' match at Enfield Town. The Rooks had been held to a 2-2 stalemate, so we went from being one point behind Lewes to being one point ahead of them. We were top!

Romford - 3 (Neville 17, Reynolds 36,90)

Potters Bar Town - 1 (Scott 64)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 183 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Potters Bar 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Chapman, Dymond, Betteridge (Rofe), Collins, Neville, Fisk, Harley, Reynolds, Akindayini (O'Halloran), Greenwood (Carroll). BOOKED: Betteridge.

After that win, we wouldn't play again until 10 January, but we clung onto top spot as Lewes continued to splutter. Successive 3-2 defeats at home cast serious doubts over the Rooks' title credentials. The team we now had most reason to be concerned about was Cray Wanderers, not least because we would be playing them on their own ground next.

Saturday's results went largely in our favour, so when we arrived at Hayes Lane on Sunday afternoon, we knew that victory would put us three points clear of the new 2nd-placed team, Carshalton Athletic. A draw would also keep us in first place, though only by a solitary point. If the hosts came out on top, Cray - who had played three games fewer than us - would take our place at the summit and knock us back down to 3rd.

10 January 2016: Cray Wanderers vs Romford

One player in the Cray line-up that we had to keep quiet was their prolific goalgetter Joey Butlin. He had an ambitious shot from distance after just 15 seconds, though it didn't come close to enhancing his 20-goal season tally. That moment aside, we started out as the more attacking side. After winning a couple of early corners that didn't amount to much, we started testing Cray's defensive mettle in the 27th minute. Jason Harley came close to finding George Allen's head with a well-taken corner, but Will Bor headed it away for the Wands. Later on in that same minute, Allen pumped the ball back into the box, where Harley got on the other end before Lewis Cumber brought him down. Penalty! Nicky Reynolds would once again have a chance to score from the spot... but Daniel Bygrave read his penalty perfectly and made a superb reflex save towards his left-hand post. Moments later, we won another corner, from which Allen came agonisingly close with a header that rattled the crossbar and went out. We continued to attack following that disappointment, and our persistence would be rewarded after 37 minutes. After Cumber failed to clear Ashley Farrell's long ball from the Cray area, Harley nicked it off him and drilled a low shot in off the far post! Jason's goal would be the difference at half-time.

Danny Newman gifted a free-kick to Cray Wanderers shortly after the restart. Bor swung it powerfully towards goal, and Joel Wilkinson caught firmly. Harley tried to follow up his earlier goal by setting up a second for Romford in the 52nd minute, but his cross hit the corner of the goal frame. That would be Jason's last notable contribution to the match. In the 67th minute, the winger was involved in another clash with Cumber near our dugout, and picked up an injury that forced him off early. Three minutes later, left-winger Nick Fenwick had our next chance to pull two clear, but he pulled it beyond the far post. We then survived a 73rd-minute strike from Cray midfielder Tamer Tuna that fizzed just past our goal. Four minutes later, Duncan Greenwood beat the Wands' offside trap to receive Brian Neville's through-ball and leave himself with just the keeper the beat. However, rather than advance into the penalty area and knock in a shot from close range, Duncan opted to get a quick shot in, and he missed by inches. At least two great opportunities to effectively secure victory had gone up the swanee. Now we had to defend a single-goal lead against a late Cray onslaught. In the 89th minute, Martel Powell spurned a golden opportunity to level for the men in gold when he hit the post. The ball rebounded back towards Powell, and after slide-tackling it off Allen's feet, he finished the job and pinched a point for Cray! This had been a very close match, so a draw was perhaps the fairest result.

Cray Wanderers - 1 (Powell 89)

Romford - 1 (Harley 37)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 300 - POSITIONS: Cray 4th, Romford 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Dymond, Allen, Collins (Rofe), Neville, Farrell, Harley (O'Halloran), Reynolds (Vassell), Fenwick, Greenwood.

You might be thinking that I was disappointed to miss out on two points so late on. To be honest, I would've been satisfied with one point before kick-off, so I was satisfied. That one point was also enough to keep us at the top of the table by the time we played our next home game against 18th-placed Margate.

This match would be goalkeeper Roscoe Fryatt's first start in over a month. Like Joel Wilkinson earlier in the season, he moaned about not getting enough first-team action and asked for a run in the team. I considered Joel to be my number 1, but he hadn't kept a clean sheet in seven games, so I agreed to Ros's polite request.

However, Fryatt was very much in the last-chance saloon as far as his Romford career was concerned. In his previous 11 competitive matches for the Boro, he had let in 23 goals and shut out the opposition only once. If that record did not improve in the coming games, he would more than likely be dropped for good.

The visit of Margate to Ship Lane would also mark a Romford debut for 18-year-old left-winger Giorgos Andreou, who joined us on an initial four-week trial just after the draw against Cray. Cypriot-born Giorgos played in the same Fulham youth side as Dean O'Halloran and had been unattached since his exit from Craven Cottage last summer.

16 January 2016: Romford vs Margate

Jack Simmons pulled a shot dreadfully wide for Margate in the third minute, while Kieron Carroll's half-volley for Romford two minutes later also missed the target. Meanwhile, Boro trialist Giorgos Andreou had an eventful start to his debut. He badly hurt the visitors' ageing midfielder Neil Barrett with a rough foul in the 11th minute. Five minutes later, he was on the receiving end of a strong challenge from Gate right-back Phil Starkey. Giorgos picked up a knock, so I substituted him early and brought on Dean O'Halloran in his place. The match then went into a bit of a lull before Dean came close to edging us ahead in the 32nd minute. Unusually, he was receiving a cross from Nicky Reynolds, but the Irishman got his diving header all wrong and sent it well wide. That was one of five shots on goal that we had in the opening 40 minutes, and worryingly, none of them troubled Margate. After 42 minutes, we made it sixth time lucky. Kieron Carroll thought he'd hit the jackpot when he got on the end of Gate defender Ollie Lee's terrible attempted clearance from Jason Harley's cross, and our skipper promptly blasted it into the net! Admittedly, we were rather fortunate to be in the lead at the break.

Just seconds after the restart, O'Halloran was floored by a firm tackle from Margate skipper Kenny Davis. That challenge left Dean with a dead leg that would rule him out for three weeks. The substitute had to be substituted, and his replacement Duncan Greenwood would quickly make a big impact. After 53 minutes, Big Dunc headed the ball to Nicky Reynolds in the Margate box. Although Nicky was muscled off the ball by Lee, Greenwood got to the loose ball and thrashed it into the net! Margate were stunned, and when Carroll scored from outside the penalty area five minutes later to give us a 3-0 lead, the away support fell silent. Their team had only just ended a five-match losing streak, but any confidence they had from beating Whitehawk in midweek seemed to vaporise. That was evident in their shooting, as Simmons missed from a ludicrously long distance in the 64th minute before Barrett panicked from slightly closer range a couple of minutes later. In contrast, we were playing with so much freedom that it felt to us more like a kickabout in the street. Jay Vassell was denied a fourth Romford goal by a magnificent 87th-minute save from Joseph Lumley, who was one of the few Margate players to come out of this match with any credit. We were more than happy with a 3-0 win that was arguably our most comfortable of the season so far.

Romford - 3 (Carroll 42,58, Greenwood 53)

Margate - 0

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 222 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Margate 20th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Chapman, Dymond, Allen, Guthmy, Vassell, Neville (Jones), Harley, Carroll, Andreou (O'Halloran (Greenwood)), Reynolds.

The Boro fans were obviously delighted with that result, as they applauded us off at full-time, and the feelgood factor seemed to rub off on the players. They had every right to feel jovial, because this was our fifth win in six matches, and our first clean sheet for nearly two months!

As a result, we stretched our lead over 2nd-placed Carshalton Athletic to three points... but our very next match would be against them at the War Memorial Sports Ground, where the Robins' defence has proved notoriously difficult to break down.

Make no mistake, this was going to be a big, BIG match in the context of our season. Would this be where our purple patch came to an end, or would we keep our excellent run going - and establish ourselves as the new favourites for automatic promotion?

[CFuller]

19 January 2016: Carshalton Athletic vs Romford

This was meant to be a clash between 2nd and 1st, but Carshalton started so brightly that the gap between the two teams appeared to be much bigger. The Robins' experienced midfielder Matty Young put a volley over the crossbar in the 4th minute. Seven minutes later, his much younger team-mate Kendall Appleyard - an 18-year-old winger - broke through the defence before seeing his shot parried by Roscoe Fryatt. We had our first scoring chance on 20 minutes, but Nicky Reynolds' strike was pushed away by Neil Murphy. Carshalton's teenage keeper denied Nicky again two minutes later, getting his fingertips to Reynolds' close-range header. Normal service then resumed for the hosts, as Nicke Kabamba narrowly missed three chances midway through the half. In the 37th minute, Athletic had their best opportunity yet. Appleyard's swerving free-kick hit the crossbar and rebounded to his team-mate Dwayne Coultress, who astonishingly missed the open target when he should've fired into it with ease. Carshalton eventually got the goal their dominance merited after 42 minutes, when former Queens Park Rangers youth scholar Appleyard finished from captain Declan Benjamin's delivery.

Carshalton carried over their first-half performance into the second period. Fryatt made a comfortable catch from Appleyard's free-kick after 62 minutes, but the young winger would beat him again eight minutes later. A Daniel Akindayini free-kick was easily intercepted, and the Robins flew towards our goal for a counter-attack that ended with Appleyard striking a low shot past Fryatt. Carshalton now held a much deserved 2-0 lead. We weren't having a particularly bad game by all accounts, but our shooting earlier in the game was poor, and when we did start to seriously test Carshalton's defence, it was too late. I was now chiefly concerned about keeping the deficit down, because two more goals for Carshalton would take them above us on goal difference. In the 74th minute, Benjamin played a pinpoint pass to Appleyard on the edge of our area, but the promising winger wasn't accurate enough to complete his hat-trick. Five minutes later, another Appleyard chance from further out went begging. Though our six-match unbeaten run was coming to an end, we were relieved to have only lost 2-0.

Carshalton Athletic - 2 (Appleyard 42,70)

Romford - 0

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 419 - POSITIONS: Carshalton 2nd, Romford 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Chapman, Dymond, Allen, Guthmy, Jones, Neville (Farrell), Harley (Akindayini), Carroll, Andreou (Fenwick), Reynolds.

That was our first defeat of the year, but we were still hang onto top spot. It was imperative, though, that we got back to winning ways at home to Hastings United, so that Carshalton couldn't gain any more ground. Hastings were a free-scoring mid-table team who had the capacity to cause us some problems.

23 January 2016: Romford vs Hastings United

After just three minutes, Hastings striker Zac Attwood bent a long-distance shot that didn't come close to testing Roscoe Fryatt. We registered a shot at the Arrows' goal in the 12th minute, but Nicky Reynolds cut it wide from a tight angle. Though it wasn't a particularly promising effort, it did start a period in the game during which we were all over Hastings. Duncan Greenwood hit a point-blank header straight at goalkeeper Gavin Manning on 15 minutes, and moments later, Big Dunc struck wide from the edge of the area. Our dominant spell continued in the 26th minute, when Jay Vassell tried his luck from 25 yards out, and brought a save out of Manning. Three minutes later, Hastings' resistance was broken. Nicky Reynolds found namesake Nick Fenwick in acres of space on the left flank, and the younger Nick dribbled to the byline, from where he centred the ball to Jason Harley. Jason turned it into the net, and we were off the mark. United could've got a swift equaliser through their on-loan Leyton Orient striker Junior Yusuf, but the teenager missed from close range. He then picked up a knock in the 38th minute that limited his impact thereafter. By half-time, our 1-0 lead looked more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.

Between the 57th and 61st minutes, we won no fewer than four corners, and it was from the last of those that we increased our lead to 2-0. Hastings substitute Lewis Taaffe was made to pay for a missed interception from Harley's corner as Mark Betteridge squirmed it over the line. After that, I half-expected Hastings to launch something resembling a comeback. That did not happen, as every time they got a sniff at our goal, the Arrows missed the target by miles. It was so, so comfortable for us that this felt more like a holiday than a league game! I even gave the underperforming Wayne Hatch a rare run-out towards the end! After two minutes of added-on time, Hastings were finally put out of their misery by the ref's whistle.

Romford - 2 (Harley 29, Betteridge 61)

Hastings United - 0

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 212 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Hastings 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Rofe (Hatch), Betteridge, Collins, Jones (Farrell), Vassell, Harley, Reynolds, Fenwick, Greenwood (Akindayini).

A sixth win in the space of eight games meant that confidence was high as we headed to our next home match against Brentwood Town, who were finding the going tough in their first ever Isthmian Premier season. The visitors were second from bottom, and earlier this month, they were given a 6-0 hiding at the hands of Hastings United - the very same team that we had just played off the park.

[CFuller]

27 January 2016: Romford vs Brentwood Town

They say there are no easy games in football, and this certainly wasn't. I used the same tactics that had got us up to the top of the table, in the belief that the result would come. After 11 minutes, the underdogs made us pay for our arrogance. Jay Vassell was slide-tackled off the ball by Fraser McConville, and Brentwood counter-attacked. Jay tried to stop the move by tackling Wade Small, but he only made things worse by knocking it to Gavin Cadwaller, whose first-time pass set up the opening goal for ex-Fulham youth striker Sol Jackson. Vassell was seething with rage after giving Brentwood the lead, and five minutes later, he boiled over. The Boro midfielder gave Cadwaller a face full of elbow right in front of the referee, who gave him the first red card of his career. Jay's dismissal meant we had to change things around. Kieron Carroll moved from the hole to the centre of midfield, and though we were now a man short, we decided to really take the game to Brentwood. On 22 minutes, Giorgos Andreou hit a dreadful long-range swinger that George Michael would've done better with. Four minutes later, a Kamal Guthmy cross into Town's area was headed away by their captain Russell Short, but Ashley Farrell intercepted the ball and fiercely struck it into the net! That was the equaliser - would it also be the game-changer? After half an hour, Brentwood answered that with an emphatic NO. Small ghosted past Guthmy to pick up Charlie Day's lobbed pass into the penalty area, and the veteran - who scored against us in my very first match as Romford boss - found the net again. It was now 2-1 to the away team, and that was how the scoreline remained at half-time. With Connor Dymond and Carroll both fortunate not to be sharing an early shower with Vassell for cynical fouls late in the first half, it was clear that we needed to calm down, dears.

I managed to settle the lads down at half-time without the need to play them any whale music in lieu of giving a team talk. We weren't the only ones feeling more placid at the start of the second half, as Brentwood couldn't create any real chances to stretch their lead. On 55 minutes, Andreou narrowly missed the target with another poor strike. The Cypriot wasn't getting his shots on target, and the same was true about his crosses, but one of those did find Jason Harley in the six-yard box after 67 minutes. Unfortunately, Jason's diving header went wayward, and after blowing a great chance to equalise, the underperforming winger was subbed. In the 70th minute, Jackson volleyed home his second goal and made it 3-1, effectively sealing all three points for Brentwood. He wasn't finished yet, because five minutes later, he looped a header over the despairing Roscoe Fryatt and into the net. Jackson hadn't scored in any of his previous eight league games for Town, but his perfect hat-trick (right foot, left foot, head) gave Brentwood a perfect result that lifted them out of the relegation zone. We were so far from perfect that Ashley's goal was our only shot on target in the whole match! No wonder that we lost a game we should've won easily.

Romford - 1 (Farrell 26)

Brentwood Town - 4 (Jackson 11,70,75, Small 30)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 197 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Brentwood 19th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Chapman, Dymond (Betteridge), Allen, Guthmy, Vassell, Farrell, Harley (Fenwick), Carroll (Neville), Andreou, Reynolds. BOOKED: Dymond, Carroll. SENT OFF: Vassell.

Isn't it funny how quickly things can change in football, ladies and gentlemen? In one home game, you could be playing like Barcelona and coasting past a solid top-half team, and in the next, you could be getting a horse-whipping from the second-worst team in your division!

I certainly wasn't laughing in the dressing room at full-time, and neither were the players by the time I was finished with them. They'd heard all sorts of insults and unrepeatable phrases that would make Miley Cyrus blush, and they were also treated to a display of plate-smashing that - at the very best - made Giorgos feel right at home!

The result of my tirade was a team stripped of its self-confidence, and there was still a sense of anxiety when we travelled to Bury Town at the end of the month. Getting a positive result at Ram Meadow - where Bury had lost just three league games all season - was difficult enough with Jay Vassell serving the first of his three-game suspension. I was now worried that my moment of madness would have ramifications, both in the short and long term.

30 January 2016: Bury Town vs Romford

Aside from a dreadful attempt at goal by Bury Town winger Jordan Wilson in the very first minute, the opening stages passed without incident. Then Daniel Akindayini carelessly gave away a penalty to Bury Town in the 18th minute. The player that he fouled - former Ipswich Town midfielder Billy Clark - promptly dispatched the spot-kick, to the delight of the home fans. They were ecstatic by the 29th minute, as defender Aaron Brown's lightning-quick strike from just inside the area put us 2-0 down and in deep trouble. A couple of terrible efforts from Kieron Carroll and Mark Betteridge in the 31st and 33rd minutes didn't make things much better. Indeed, only a stunning save by Roscoe Fryatt stopped Brown from heading Bury into a 3-0 lead after 36 minutes. The Blues lost winger Taylor Nathaniel to injury just before half-time, but they were still in cruise control. We were all over the shop.

Thomas Strain nearly put us under further strain in the 54th minute, as he missed the target by a matter of inches. In the 67th minute, a Wilson cross towards the Romford penalty area narrowly missed substitute Jack Randall and hit the post before falling into Ros's grateful hands. Bury Town keeper Rob Peet made just his second save of the match six minutes later, when he caught Ryan Jones's ambitious 30-yarder. We were playing so poorly that I was resigned to a 2-0 defeat, but in the 87th minute, we got an unexpected ray of hope. Brown made a sliding challenge on Romford debutant Colin Ingham and diverted the ball towards Carroll, who buried the strike and pulled us back to within one goal of parity. I felt even more hopeful when Nick Fenwick won a free-kick in the last minute of injury time. Alas, he curled it straight into Peet's grasp, and our fate was sealed.

Bury Town - 2 (Clark pen18, Brown 29)

Romford - 1 (Carroll 87)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 193 - POSITIONS: Bury Town 10th, Romford 2nd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Rofe (Hatch), Betteridge, Collins, Jones, Farrell (Neville), Akindayini, Carroll, Fenwick, Greenwood (Ingham). BOOKED: Neville.

This was our third defeat in the space of four games, and results elsewhere couldn't have gone much worse from our perspective. Carshalton Athletic comfortably saw off St Albans City 4-1 to not only take top spot, but also go three points clear. Meanwhile, Lewes and Cray Wanderers picked up a point each to leave themselves just four and two points behind us respectively - and both have four games in hand.

Our title charge is seemingly fizzling out, and if our decline carries on into February, then we could be in danger of dropping out of the play-off places altogether.

[CFuller]

                                   [b]P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
1.          Carshalton             31    16    7     8     44    28    +16   55
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[color="#0000FF"]2.          Romford                31    15    7     9     53    41    +12   52[/color]
3.          Cray                   27    15    5     7     43    27    +16   50
4.          Enfield Town           30    14    6     10    45    30    +15   48
5.          Lewes                  27    14    6     7     49    35    +14   48
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Sutton Utd             31    12    10    9     27    31    -4    46
7.          Maidstone              31    11    12    8     38    29    +9    45
8.          Histon                 31    13    6     12    33    39    -6    45
9.          Faversham              30    11    11    8     40    32    +8    44
10.         Bury Town              28    12    8     8     33    28    +5    44
11.         Hastings Utd           29    11    9     9     49    42    +7    42
12.         Bognor Regis           29    11    7     11    27    28    -1    40
13.         Thurrock               30    9     13    8     40    42    -2    40
14.         Billericay             31    11    7     13    33    37    -4    40
15.         Potters Bar            30    9     12    9     42    34    +8    39
16.         Dulwich Hamlet         28    10    6     12    45    42    +3    36
17.         Margate                29    8     12    9     37    37    0     36
18.         St Albans              30    9     8     13    43    53    -10   35
19.         Brentwood              30    8     11    11    34    50    -16   35
20.         Welling                31    9     7     15    41    52    -11   34
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.         Aveley                 30    9     6     15    26    40    -14   33
22.         Whitehawk              31    8     8     15    26    38    -12   32
23.         Concord Rangers        30    7     10    13    35    40    -5    31
24.         Merstham               31    6     6     19    29    57    -28   24

[CFuller]

February was likely to be a bit of a strange month for us. We only had three matches scheduled for that month, but all of them were of great significance to our play-off challenge.

After a poor end to January, it was vital that we got back to winning ways as quickly as possible when we started February at home to Bognor Regis Town - a middle-of-the-road team who don't score many goals, and don't concede many either.

6 February 2016: Romford vs Bognor Regis Town

I brought my iPad along with me for this game, so that I could indulge in a spot of Angry Birds if this turned out to be another Bognor Regis borefest. In the very first minute, it became apparent that I wouldn't need it. Bognor Regis flew out of the traps, and after just 27 seconds, Luke Gent hit a powerful strike from Nabil Shariff's delivery to give them the lead! Our terrible start almost got even worse in the 9th minute. Gent's corner was headed against the crossbar by Bognor Regis defender Brian Parker, and Daniel Akindayini had to hoof the ball into touch. Lewis Tallack threw the ball back into the penalty area for Shariff, who was then hacked down by a reckless Ashley Farrell. The referee pointed to the spot, and Rocks captain Jordan Berry had the opportunity to put his side 2-0 up. However, Joel Wilkinson justified his reinstatement to the Romford goal as kept the penalty out with a fabulous reflex save! The Boro fans celebrated that save as if we had equalised, and they urged us on to try and level the scores for real. In the 12th minute, Duncan Greenwood's long-range free-kick hit the crossbar and then went out out of play. We would have to wait some time for our next - and last - chance to equalise before half-time. In the 41st minute, Akindayini's header was easily saved by Tom McNeil.

The momentum shifted back to Bognor Regis after the half-time break. Wilkinson spared the blushes of our disorganised back four on 48 minutes, when he parried away a low strike from Parker. In the 61st minute, Rocks winger Reece Loudon eased his way past Mark Betteridge - who had just been moved to right-back after the woeful Danny Newman was replaced by Simon Rofe. Only another top-drawer save from Wilko stopped Loudon from finding the net. The visitors would have another great opportunity after 78 minutes. Joel and Simon morphed into the Chuckle Brothers, with their 'to me, to you' passing antics that were eventually ended by an intervention from Bognor Regis striker Carel Tiofack. The Irishman should've killed us off there and then, but he somehow missed an open goal, leaving Wilko and Rofe mightily relieved!

For the last ten minutes, we threw everything we had left at Bognor Regis, hoping to save at least a point. With eight minutes to go, Betteridge aimed a cross into the box for the head of Kieron Carroll. He found his target, and so did the Romford captain, whose equaliser delighted the home fans! It was now 1-1, and with a dramatic victory now in sight, we carried on attacking! Kieron went for glory in the 86th minute, only to see his 20-yard strike fly over the crossbar. We passed our way back into the Rocks' area three minutes later, and when Nicky Reynolds' pass to Kieron was hammered into the top corner by the skipper, Ship Lane began to rock! Another classic comeback from the Boro boys was complete, and this was just the tonic we needed after a dose of bad form!

Romford - 2 (Carroll 82,89)

Bognor Regis Town - 1 (Gent 1)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 211 - POSITIONS: Romford 2nd, Bognor Regis 14th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman (Rofe), Allen, Betteridge, Collins, Neville, Farrell (Jones), Akindayini, Carroll, Fenwick, Greenwood (Reynolds). BOOKED: Farrell.

I checked the division's other results online later that evening. After reading that Carshalton Athletic had won away from home, I realised just how close we had come to being six points off the lead.

The following day, Giorgos Andreou's trial at Romford came to an end. The Cypriot winger played three times for the Boro, and contributed a grand total of zero goals and zero assists. Needless to say, we didn't offer him a contract.

We were back at Ship Lane in midweek for our fourth - and possibly final - meeting of the season with our bogey team, Lewes. Our last four matches against the Rooks had all ended with us being checkmated, although to be fair, all of those games were played at the Dripping Pan.

If Lewes turned us over for a fifth time in a row, they would be only three points behind us - and they would still have four extra games to get through.

9 February 2016: Romford vs Lewes

After just over 10 minutes, Boro captain Kieron Carroll tried a spectacular 30-yard drive that narrowly went over the bar. Lewes' makeshift forward Aidan Sherlock missed the target by some distance five minutes later. In the 25th minute, his fellow defender-turned-striker Aaron Dalhouse brilliantly controlled a Luke Bottomer cross in the Romford 'D', and volleyed it just over. That nearly gave Lewes the opening goal, but two minutes later, we scored instead! Jason Harley's outswinging corner reached Mark Betteridge in the six-yard box, and Mark slotted the ball through the tiniest defensive gap, delighting our supporters! The Romford fans were getting drenched in the stands, but they were still feeling right as rain by half-time, as Lewes seldom threatened to equalise.

The rain stopped in time for the second half, and nine minutes into it, our 1-0 lead went down the drain. A first-time cross from Bottomer found our old nemesis Alassan Ann, but rather than shoot himself, he laid it off to Joe Broad. A simple finish from the experienced Bristolian levelled the scores. In our first meeting with the Rooks this season, a Lewes equaliser was swiftly followed by a winner... but that didn't happen this time. After 58 minutes, Nick Fenwick drilled the ball towards Carroll, who knocked it past Sherlock for Nicky Reynolds to fire home! We had the lead again, and we tried to increase it later on. Bobby Fisk came close to getting us another goal from a free-kick in the 73rd minute. With three minutes to go, Carroll sent Harley through on goal, and Jason poked his shot just wide! By that point, we had lost Jason Collins to a bruised thigh, and Lewes put our weakened defence under pressure in the late in injury time. David Adedipe sent a deep cross towards the far post, and Bottomer broke free to strike it into the net from the tightest of angles! The Rooks celebrated a late equaliser... and then the offside flag went up. With that decision, we secured a massive win over one of our biggest challengers for promotion!

Romford - 2 (Betteridge 27, Reynolds 58)

Lewes - 1 (Broad 54)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 160 - POSITIONS: Romford 2nd, Lewes 6th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Chapman, Dymond, Betteridge, Collins (Allen), Fisk, Neville (Farrell), Harley, Carroll, Fenwick (O'Halloran), Reynolds.

Carshalton Athletic lost at Margate, meaning that we went back level on points with the leaders as we headed into an incredible 18-day break before our next match! That break gave us plenty of time to sharpen up our tactics and skills, and it went by largely without incident... until 16 February, when we received some worrying news. Our landlords Thurrock wanted to sign Dean O'Halloran.

Although Dean has been overshadowed by our other right-winger Jason Harley this season, there was no way that I was letting one of our most talented footballers go without a fight. I offered the gifted Irishman a part-time contract worth £160 per week until the end of this season, at which point I would immediately renew it for another year. Four days later, Dean put his pen to paper and committed his future to Romford. He wasn't going anywhere.

The same couldn't be said of Wayne Hatch, because 24 hours later, I allowed the centre-back to sign for Southern League Division 1 Central side Barton Rovers. Wayne had recently fallen out of favour with me after a string of poor performances this season, and he left Ship Lane having made 99 senior appearances in three-and-a-half years at Romford.

On that same day, I added another player to the squad after securing the loan services of Harrow Borough winger Kyle Vassell for the rest of the campaign. The 23-year-old Londoner is a quick and technically-gifted left-footer who has played in the Conference South for no fewer than six different teams over recent seasons.

Kyle was all set to make his Romford debut in our next game, but he would have to wait for the chance to play alongside his namesake Jay Vassell. Having just returned from a three-match suspension, Jay pulled a hamstring in training, meaning that he wouldn't be able to return until mid-March.

We returned to action on 27 February with an away date at 14th-placed Billericay Town. By that point, Cray Wanderers and Lewes had both used up all their games in hands. Cray snuck just above us and Carshalton to take top spot by a single point, while Lewes moved to within three points of us in 4th spot. The promotion race was tightening up, so an away win against a dangerous Billericay side would help us out no end.

27 February 2016: Billericay Town vs Romford

Romford goalkeeper Joel Wilkinson made a save after just seven minutes, when he caught a long-range strike from Billericay's on-loan Braintree Town midfielder Khari Oriogun. At the other end in the 14th minute, Ricay keeper Dave Watson beat away a Nicky Reynolds effort taken from just inside the penalty area. After that, Billericay took control. Matt Villis had a couple of dreadful misses in the 22nd and 26th minute, but it was a case of third time lucky for the centre-back after half an hour. Lee Hildreth played a free-kick into the Boro area, where teenager Rob Bredbury saw his shot parried by Joel Wilkinson before Villis buried the rebound. Villis' goal would be the difference between the two sides at half-time, as we could hardly string enough passes together to create any real equalising opportunities.

Billericay had two chances to go two up inside the 49th minute, as Greg Pearson hit the post before Jamie Hand shot wide moments later. They did go 2-0 ahead after 61 minutes through Chris Henderson, whose first-time strike from Kurt Robinson's excellent pass was too quick for Wilko. I made a substitution almost immediately, and took off Dean O'Halloran, who responded to signing a new contract with one of his most unproductive performances in a Boro shirt. Within half a minute of the restart, Kieron Carroll fired Kyle Vassell's cross into Billericay's net, only to be caught out by the linesman's offside flag. Ricay later had several more chances to put the tie well and truly to bed. The most notable of those came from substitute Warren Richens, whose header was comfortably dealt with by Wilkinson. Carroll gave us an unexpected glimmer of hope with six minutes to go, when he received a fine pass from debutant Vassell and tucked it home from close in on the keeper. If we scored again, it wouldn't have been the first time that we stunned Billericay with two late goals. Alas, that didn't quite happen again, and the Blues indeed scored a third goal in the last minute of normal time. Henderson curled the ball across our goalmouth, and after the Romford defenders failed to clear it, Bredbury made them pay with a clinical finish.

Billericay Town - 3 (Villis 30, Henderson 61, Bredbury 90)

Romford - 1 (Carroll 84)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 273 - POSITIONS: Billericay 12th, Romford 4th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Chapman (Rofe), Dymond, Betteridge, Guthmy, Jones, Neville, O'Halloran (Harley), Carroll, K Vassell, Reynolds (Greenwood).

We lost quite comfortably there, and we were bumped down to 4th after Carshalton Athletic beat Cray Wanderers to overtake them at the top, and Lewes also won their match. However, it wasn't a disastrous afternoon for us, and there are - of course - still 12 matches left to play in this title race.

[CFuller]

With 12 matches to go, it looked like there was a four-way battle for the Isthmian League Premier Division's one automatic promotion place, and we were most certainly still in the mix. Although we were behind Carshalton Athletic, Lewes and Cray Wanderers in the title race, there was still plenty of time for us to catch up.

Following our defeat to Billericay Town at the end of February, we began March with two more 'away' games in quick succession, although the first of them was at Ship Lane against our rivals and landlords Thurrock.

This was the first derby between us since October, when we beat the Fleet 2-0 in a match that was cut short by gale-force winds. This time, the weather was much better. It was only raining.

I took a big gamble with my team selection, particularly on the right flank. 16-year-old full-back Jordan Peters was given just his second senior start, while I dropped both Jason Harley AND Dean O'Halloran from the squad over their respective dips in form.

1 March 2016: Thurrock vs Romford

You won't be surprised to read that this local derby started off scrappily. The two teams each had a player booked inside the first seven minutes - Anthony Howell for Thurrock, and Duncan Greenwood for us. Howell would also have the first shot of the game, and he ballooned it high and wide in the 15th minute. Four minutes later, Daniel Akindayini - who got the nod on the Boro right wing - hit a promising strike from just inside the Fleet area. Thurrock goalkeeper Gareth Deane turned it against his crossbar, but he couldn't keep the rebound away from Greenwood, who reacted quickly to score an easy goal! That gave us the lead, and two minutes later, Big Dunc looked set to score again after receiving a Ryan Jones through-ball, but agonisingly struck the post! Deane was coming under increasing pressure, and he did brilliantly to push away a header from George Allen on 25 minutes. At the other end, Boro custodian Joel Wilkinson saved in the 29th minute from a Tom Vickers shot set up by our former striker James Hartson. Ten minutes later, Howell crossed low to Vickers, who rounded Connor Dymond and poked the ball beyond Wilkinson's reach. The game was back level, but within three minutes, we retook the lead. It was a memorable moment for Australian midfielder Ryan Jones, who neatly controlled Kieron Carroll's lobbed pass and thrashed in his first competitive goal for Romford! Ryan's thunderbolt gave us a 2-1 lead at the break.

Akindayini flicked a header towards Greenwood in the 53rd minute, and a fine block from Thurrock defender Faisal Hemati prevented Duncan from finding the target again. The Afghanistan centre-back made another excellent interception in the 61st minute, when he headed Carroll's corner away from the lurking Ashley Farrell. After 76 minutes, Kieron had a wonderful opportunity to send us into a 3-1 lead. After Greenwood found him in space, Carroll was crowded by Thurrock players, and the captain hit a panicked shot that went well wide. Four minutes later, though, we went 3-1 up. Jones knocked a fantastic long ball to 18-year-old substitute Pat Redhead, and the winger stroked in his first senior goal from the byline! Ryan was enjoying his best game of the season, and he was nearly involved in another Romford goal after 82 minutes. He played a cheeky backheel to Carroll, whose shot was parried away by Deane. In the opening seconds of injury time, Thurrock pinched a second goal through Vickers' looping header, which set up a tense final three minutes. We managed to get through that without conceding an equaliser, and the full-time whistle was greeted by loud cheers from the Boro fans! We had done the double over our landlords! The tenants ruled supreme!

Thurrock - 2 (Vickers 39,90)

Romford - 3 (Greenwood 19, Jones 42, Redhead 80)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 360 - POSITIONS: Thurrock 15th, Romford 2nd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Peters (Newman), Dymond, Allen, Collins, Jones, Farrell, Akindayini (Redhead), Carroll, Fenwick, Greenwood (Ingham). BOOKED: Greenwood, Peters, Farrell.

That win moved us back to 2nd behind Carshalton Athletic, though only temporarily, because Lewes won their match the following day.

Our last couple of matches had come against mid-table teams, and that was the case again when we went to Sutton United on the first Saturday of March. Sutton were the second-lowest scorers in the Isthmian Premier ahead of this game, although they boasted the fifth-best defence.

5 March 2016: Sutton United vs Romford

The game started at a ferocious pace, with both sides having early chances. Romford defender George Allen did very well to block a second-minute shot from Karl Oliyide. We then launched a quickfire counter-attack that resulted in Duncan Greenwood heading Daniel Akindayini's cross into the hands of Sutton keeper Tom Lovelock. On six minutes, United midfielder Tommy Fraser fired a 25-yard effort over the crossbar. The next big moment came in the 12th minute. After Sutton failed to clear a corner, Danny Newman got the ball back into their penalty area. His cross was headed towards the six-yard box by Kyle Vassell, and Duncan Greenwood then controlled the ball with his chest before hitting an unstoppable left-footed volley! 1-0 to the Boro! Sutton sought a quick equaliser, and on 15 minutes, they almost got it. Sam Rents swung his free-kick into the Romford box, where captain Teddy Ngoy nodded just over. A nervy time for us got more worrying in the 26th minute. Kyle Vassell aimed a floating cross to Duncan Greenwood in Sutton's area, and then pulled up clutching his thigh. Kyle received some treatment and played on for the rest of the half before being replaced at half-time. We went into the break still leading 1-0, though not without a couple more scares. In the 29th minute, U's winger Simon Russell jetted past our left-back Jason Collins to go clean through, and then dragged his shot into the side netting. On 42 minutes, a poor clearance from Brian Neville almost cost us dearly, but Joel Wilkinson spared his blushes with a fine save to deny Oliyide.

Sutton had a couple of equalising chances shortly after the break. Oliyide fired a 49th-minute shot into the stands, and Fraser drilled the ball into Wilkinson's hands about eight minutes later. Kieron Carroll then tried to put us 2-0 up with a 30-yard strike in the 59th minute, and though it hit the crossbar, it shifted the momentum back towards us. Two minutes later, Greenwood cynically tripped Ngoy to go through on the United goal, and while the U's cried foul, Big Dunc failed to capitalise on his big opportunity - ballooning the ball dismally over. The giant Geordie threw away another opportunity on 66 minutes, when he thanked Carroll for his killer pass by blazing the ball far too high again. Three minutes later, our Aussie midfielder Ryan Jones spotted an unmarked Akindayini making a run towards the Sutton box. He played a pinpoint pass to Danny, who calmly placed a low strike into the net from 20 yards out! That goal gave us a 2-0 advantage that we didn't look like losing in the final 20 minutes. Sutton's only shot in those closing stages came from the experienced Richard Pacquette in the 81st minute. His effort was blocked by the impressive Allen, who two minutes earlier had come close to getting us a third goal, only for Lovelock to save his close-range header. This was our fourth win in five games, and Carshalton Athletic's 5-0 capitulation at Bury Town meant that it lifted us back into first place on goal difference!

Sutton United - 0

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 12, Akindayini 69)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 182 - POSITIONS: Sutton Utd 15th, Romford 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Dymond (Betteridge), Allen, Collins, Neville, Farrell (Jones), Akindayini, Carroll, K Vassell (Harley), Greenwood. BOOKED: Farrell.

We were on top again, but our win at Gander Green Lane wasn't perfect. Kyle Vassell bruised his thigh in the first half, and the loanee left-winger was ruled out of our next home game.

Regardless of whether the impressive Kyle was fit or not, we were still expected to beat 20th-placed Whitehawk fairly easily. I had the Hawks down as title favourites before the campaign started, but they had instead endured the season from hell. Even a change of management back in November hadn't got them out of a relegation battle.

My message to the players before kick-off was simple. These are the sorts of matches that champions seldom lose.

12 March 2016: Romford vs Whitehawk

My reliable scout informed me that Whitehawk were particularly vulnerable on the wings, so I told the players to focus their passes down the flanks. In the 5th minute, Brian Neville's attempted pass to winger Daniel Akindayini just outside the Whitehawk area was cut out by defender Alan Inns, but the ball went loose. Ryan Jones gathered it, cut past Hawks midfielder Troy Ferguson, and then fired a shot hard and low into the net! It was a great start to the match for us, and it soon looked like getting even better! In the 17th minute, captain Kieron Carroll blazed an edge-of-the area shot over the crossbar, as did Neville a minute later from slightly further out. That was followed by our third chance in as many minutes. Nick Fenwick floated a left-wing cross into the box, and on the other end was an Akindayini effort that James Spencer couldn't keep out of the Whitehawk net. The Hawks now trailed 2-0, and they couldn't create any chances until after half an hour. Midfielder Charlie Clough shook off a knock to set up an effort for Charlie Ide, who never looked like scoring from long range. Akindayini hoped to find the net again after cutting inside in the 35th minute, but Spencer caught his latest effort easily. Spencer made another save from Carroll two minutes later after a mini-scramble in the Hawks area. But just when it looked like he had regained his composure, Spencer had another nightmare in the 40th minute that sent us into a 3-0 lead. Akindayini headed Connor Dymond's free-kick into the box, and the ex-Stockport County keeper thought he had it covered until Big Dunc popped up and headed home from point-blank range! Even by Whitehawk's miserable standards, this match was becoming embarrassing for them... and embarrassingly easy for us!

Our visitors had something that fleetingly resembled a good chance in the 47th minute, when Chris Crossley flighted a free-kick inches wide. Moments later, Greenwood accidently ran into Inns in the Whitehawk area. The collision seemed to affect him, because in the 52nd minute, he got on the other end of a deflected Jones shot, and fired a great opportunity to put us 4-0 up against the upright! Big Dunc was later replaced by Nicky Reynolds. After 64 minutes, Nicky received a deep cross from Jason Collins, advanced into the area, and powered in his 20th goal of the season! At 4-0, there was surely no way Whitehawk were going to recover - not in their current state. But within half a minute of play restarting, Connor needlessly fouled Crossley and conceded a penalty that gave the Sussex chance a chance to at least salvage some pride. It was a chance that captain Brian Dutton duly took, as his powerful and well-placed penalty left Joel Wilkinson standing. It would have been nice to have kept a clean sheet, but the priority was always to win, and we never looked like failing our mission objective. That was despite Whitehawk dominating the closing stages of the match. Any chance that the Hawks had was promptly fired well off target, except in injury time, when Crossley dribbled from the centre circle to the Romford 'D', where he forced a save out of Wilkinson. By full-time, we still had a comfortable 3-0 lead, which was more than enough to secure our third consecutive victory.

Romford - 4 (Jones 5, Akindayini 19, Greenwood 40, Reynolds 64)

Whitehawk - 1 (Dutton pen66)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 254 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Whitehawk 21st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman (Rofe), Dymond, Allen, Collins, Jones, Neville, Akindayini (O'Halloran), Carroll, Fenwick, Greenwood (Reynolds).

As well as registering our 20th league win in just our 37th match of the Isthmian Premier campaign, we managed to establish a two-point lead over 2nd-placed Carshalton Athletic. We were now favourites to win the title - and with it promotion to the Conference South.

But then Lady Luck - who had been pretty lenient to us on the injury front of late - decided to strike against us.

[CFuller]

I spent the Sunday afternoon after our win against Whitehawk running the rule over some potential youth team recruits. Of those players that Ricki Mackin and I decided to sign up for the Under-18s, two stood out - Greek forward Vasilis Koutinis and Scottish-born midfielder Daniel Morrison. The other four players we signed were defenders Liam Georgiou and Iain Liggett, left-winger Dean Kurrant, and striker Kenny Pollard.

A couple of days later, Jay Vassell returned to full training following a hamstring injury. At long last, we had a clean bill of health... until another central midfielder, Ryan Jones, twisted painfully just a few minutes into the session. It looked a pretty nasty injury at first glance, and our worst fears were soon confirmed by the physio.

Strained ankle ligaments. That's what Ryan had. It meant he would have to sit out at least six weeks of action, ruling out until our last match of the regular season against Faversham Town in May. Considering how impressive his form had been in recent weeks, losing the Australian was a big setback.

We could well have lost another important player later that week when George Allen received an offer to sign for Grays Athletic. The centre-back thought better of it, though, and pledged to stay at Ship Lane until at least the end of this season.

When Saturday came round again, we were hopeful of extending our winning streak against Enfield Town, who were 7th and right in contention for the play-offs.

19 March 2016: Romford vs Enfield Town

We had the first shot of the game after just six minutes, but Brian Neville's 30-yarder was speculative to say the least. Enfield Town's first chance came in the 19th minute, when Joseph Yoffe's strike from just inside our area was saved by Joel Wilkinson. Unlike Whitehawk the week before, Town weren't short of confidence, and their swift counter-attacking style caught us by surprise. After 31 minutes, Jason Collins made a last-ditch sliding tackle to stop Bradley Woods-Garness from going clean through, but Yoffe picked up the diverted ball and went through himself. Yoffe hit a low shot that was Joel inadvertently parried straight towards Enfield winger Dayle Grubb, who just had to apply the finish into an empty net. However, Wilko miraculously saved the day by catching Grubb's shot slap bang on his goal line! Grubb had his hands on his head in despair, as did Woods-Garness in the 40th minute, when the Canvey Island loanee's free-kick rebounded off the crossbar. Three minutes later, Kieron Carroll came close to putting us ahead with a header that was finely caught by Towners goalie Sam Baxter.

We were lucky not to be behind going into the break, and we continued to struggle for a while after play resumed. Another poor effort from captain Kieron went wide of the mark in the 53rd minute, and the Boro faithful were fast becoming disgruntled. After 68 minutes, that all changed. Brian Neville played a cross into the Enfield Town penalty area, where Kyle Vassell centred a header towards Duncan Greenwood. The big man neatly controlled the ball and knocked it in to break the deadlock! The Boro fans wered delighted, but just a couple of minutes after lauding Greenwood, they were barracking Dean O'Halloran for a horrible close-range shot that instead of doubling our lead flew clean over the bar! Had our chance to finish off Enfield slipped by? It certainly looked like it when, after missing a couple of half-chances earlier on, Town launched another quick counter-attack in the first minute of added-on time. Greig Stewart hoofed the ball from his area to the centre-circle, where Yoffe played in Mohammed Dikuiza. Despite George Allen putting him under pressure, the quick striker made his way into the Romford box, where he prepared to shoot. It was then that Jason Collins made an all-or-nothing sliding challenge on Dikuiza. The striker went down under Jason's challenge, but Collins knocked the ball on to Wilkinson, who picked it up to secure possession - and three more points.

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 68)

Enfield Town - 0

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 258 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Enfield Town 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman (Allen), Dymond, Betteridge, Collins, Neville, Farrell, Akindayini (O'Halloran), Carroll, K Vassell, Greenwood. BOOKED: Akindayini.

Another win for us - our fourth in succession - and another defeat for Carshalton Athletic stretched our lead at the top to four points ahead of the new 2nd-placed team, Cray Wanderers.

In all honesty, though, we barely deserved to beat Enfield Town. There were some signs of cockiness and overconfidence in our team during that match, so it was up to me to keep the players' feet firmly on the ground. If we played like that in our next match at Maidstone United, the chances were that we would lose, and our rivals would have the opportunity to make up ground.

22 March 2016: Maidstone United vs Romford

Maidstone had dominated us in our last few meetings, and the early minutes of this match suggested that would be the case again. A poor Connor Dymond long ball in the eighth minute was intercepted by Scott Rogers and headed back into our area. Andrew White gathered the loose ball and ran with it to the edge of the area, where he hit a weak shot that Joel Wilkinson parried away. Three minutes later, Kent's answer to Roberto Carlos helped Maidstone to take the lead. Brazilian left-back Gílson passed to winger Scott Shulton in the area, and Shulton then crossed the ball over the despairing Wilkinson and into our net. After taking the lead, the Stones heaped more pressure on us. White hit another fierce shot for the hosts in the 15th minute, and Wilko again pushed it away. After 23 minutes, a Shulton corner led to a goalmouth scramble that ended with Joe Peacock stabbing in Maidstone's second goal. The rest of the first half passed by without much incident, meaning that we had to turn around a 2-0 deficit in the next 45 minutes. Considering we had mustered just one measly shot at goal in the first 45, that was easier said than done.

Kieron Carroll had our second attempt on goal after 55 minutes, but his shot was bulleted well off target. Seven minutes later, Maidstone gunned us down with a fatal third blow. Shulton had terrorised our right-back Anthony Chapman in the first half, and he did the same to his replacement Mark Betteridge with an extraordinary left-wing dribble to the byline. His cross was intercepted by Jason Collins, but the Stones regained possession, and within seconds, full-back David Hunt made it 3-0 with a low 18-yard drive. Hunt is more renowned for his long throws than his goalscoring, and in the 64th minute, one of his trademark bullets almost led to a fourth goal for Maidstone. White got his head to Hunt's delivery, and fortunately for us, he couldn't keep his header down. There was no chance of us fighting back from 3-0 behind to extend our four-match winning streak. We did, however, bag a consolation goal after 74 minutes, when Jason Harley's corner was placed into the net by George Allen.

Maidstone United - 3 (Shulton 11, Peacock 23, D Hunt 62)

Romford - 1 (Allen 74)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 593 - POSITIONS: Maidstone 10th, Romford 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Chapman (Betteridge), Dymond, Allen, Collins, J Vassell (Neville), Farrell, Harley, Reynolds, Fenwick, Greenwood (Carroll).

Anthony Chapman had been a major disappointment at right-back this season, and when he once again took offence to my criticism of his error-strewn performance, that was the last straw for me. After he threatened to storm out of the dressing room again, I told him in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't be playing for the first-team again unless he dramatically changed his attitude. He will almost certainly be looking for a new club in the summer.

As a team, this was not the first time we had been completely outclassed by Maidstone since Charlie Burns became their manager midway through last season. Fortunately, neither Carshalton Athletic nor Cray Wanderers could take full advantage, and we still had a four-point lead to take into our next home game - versus rock-bottom Concord Rangers.

We had hoped to host Concord on Saturday, but due to a waterlogged pitch, the game was postponed until the following Tuesday. That also resulted in our trip to Histon - which was due to take place on Monday - being rescheduled for early April.

Thanks to our unexpected Saturday afternoon off, Cray Wanderers and Carshalton Athletic both trimmed our lead down to a solitary point, and the latter then earned a draw at Ship Lane against Thurrock on Monday evening. As a result, we headed into our rescheduled meeting with Concord 24 hours later with just goal difference keeping us above Carshalton.

If we defeated Rangers, then we'd have a significant three-point lead, and the ball would be back in our court. However, it wasn't likely to be straightforward against a Concord team who held us to a draw earlier this season.

29 March 2016: Romford vs Concord Rangers

Four minutes into the game, an exquisite cross from teenage full-back Jordan Peters found Kyle Vassell in the Concord area. Kyle hit a vicious strike that Ryan Mellars could only parry away, and Nicky Reynolds couldn't quite get himself into enough space to pounce on the rebound. A minute later, Emmanuel Monthe headed in Will McCall's cross to give Rangers a shock lead... but the visitors were shocked when the linesman ruled it out for offside! If you expected those first five minutes to set the tone for the next 85, then you could not be more wrong. This was, instead, the football equivalent of two sexagenarian boxers trying hopelessly to hit each other with anything resembling a punch. Mellars did save a 21st-minute effort from Jay Vassell, but the few other chances in the first half all went off target.

In the second half, both sides were restricted to a couple of long-distance efforts each. On 55 minutes, our left-back Kamal Guthmy nearly got lucky with a cross-shot that rattled the crossbar. Six minutes later, George Allen was dispossessed by Monthe, and the ex-Maidstone United forward hit a piledriver that Joel Wilkinson easily caught. The Boro keeper made another comfortable save from Jack Page on 77 minutes. Those moments aside, the second half was just as poor as the first, and after 90 mostly dire minutes, the referee spared all of us any more misery with the final whistle. This was our first goalless draw of the season, and absolutely nobody will remember it.

Romford - 0

Concord Rangers - 0

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 186 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Concord Rangers 24th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Peters, Rofe (Betteridge), Allen, Guthmy, Neville, J Vassell, Akindayini (O'Halloran), Carroll, K Vassell, Reynolds (Greenwood).

Have you woken up yet? Then I'll continue...

After the least exciting football match since West Germany played Austria in 1982, we held a single-point lead at the top of the Isthmian League Premier Division. There are now just six more games left to get through, and our date with destiny is looming large.

[CFuller]

                                   [b]P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
[color="#0000FF"]1.          Romford                40    21    8     11    69    52    +17   71[/color]
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2.          Carshalton             41    20    10    11    56    42    +14   70
3.          Cray                   40    20    9     11    61    40    +21   69
4.          Lewes                  41    18    10    13    63    55    +8    64
5.          Bury Town              41    17    12    12    53    38    +15   63
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6.          Hastings               41    17    10    14    66    59    +7    61
7.          Faversham              40    16    12    12    54    46    +8    60
8.          Margate                41    15    15    11    55    49    +6    60
9.          Enfield Town           41    17    8     16    53    41    +12   59
10.         Maidstone              41    15    13    13    53    42    +11   58
11.         Dulwich Hamlet         41    15    12    14    59    55    +4    57
12.         Bognor Regis           41    16    9     16    40    42    -2    57
13.         Histon                 40    15    10    15    44    53    -9    55
14.         Potters Bar            41    14    12    15    58    52    +6    54
15.         Thurrock               41    13    15    13    52    54    -2    54
16.         Billericay             41    14    12    15    47    49    -2    54
17.         Sutton Utd             40    13    15    12    37    42    -5    54
18.         St Albans              41    13    12    16    62    69    -7    51
19.         Welling                41    12    11    18    64    69    -5    47
20.         Brentwood              40    11    14    15    46    62    -16   47
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21.         Merstham               41    12    8     21    50    73    -23   44
22.         Whitehawk              41    11    9     21    37    60    -23   42
23.         Aveley                 40    11    8     21    30    53    -23   41
24.         Concord Rangers        40    8     14    18    45    57    -12   38

[CFuller]

As April dawned, it was still anybody's guess as to whether we would win the Isthmian League Premier Division title. We were still just about in the box seat, as we held a two-point advantage over Cray Wanderers, and a one-point lead on Carshalton Athletic, who had played a game more.

Realistically, the title race was between us and those two south London sides, as Lewes had fallen away in recent weeks following a run of five consecutive losses.

As you'll see, the three of us had similar run-ins, so everything was set for a grandstand finish:

Romford's run-in

2 April: vs Dulwich Hamlet (H), 6 April: vs Histon (A),

9 April: vs Brentwood Town (A), 16 April: vs Merstham (H),

23 April: vs Welling United (A), 4 May: vs Faversham Town (H).

Carshalton Athletic's run-in

2 April: vs Whitehawk (H),

9 April: vs Sutton United (A), 16 April: vs Enfield Town (H),

23 April: vs Maidstone United (A), 4 May: vs Concord Rangers (H).

Cray Wanderers' run-in

2 April: vs Enfield Town (H), 6 April: vs Sutton United (A),

9 April: vs Maidstone United (A), 17 April: vs Concord Rangers (H),

23 April: vs Histon (A), 4 May: vs Dulwich Hamlet (H).

We kicked off our sprint to the finish with a home match against Dulwich Hamlet, who still had a slight chance of making it through to the play-offs for the second year in a row. Carshalton and Cray were also at home, so any slip-up for us at Ship Lane could be potentially costly.

2 April 2016: Romford vs Dulwich Hamlet

At first, this felt like an action replay of our last home match against Concord Rangers. The first half-hour was as dull as it comes, with both teams struggling to keep hold of the ball for long periods. Dulwich forward James Dance - who was carrying an injury from a fifth-minute clash with George Allen - had the first shot on goal after 31 minutes, and it was from too far out to trouble Joel Wilkinson. After 40 minutes, we managed to win a corner, which Dulwich frantically scrambled behind to give us another. This time, Kyle Vassell crossed it to the far corner of the six-yard box, where Connor Dymond spectacularly volleyed the ball home! We were in the lead, and Ship Lane was rocking! But if the Romford fans thought we were going to take this lead into half-time, Dulwich Hamlet proved them wrong. In the 44th minute, Mark Wright (that's the former Walsall winger, not the TOWIE 'star') cut his way into the area and smashed a powerful strike right into the top corner. Dulwich's late equaliser stunned us, and we had to stew over it during the break.

When play resumed, there was no doubt that the tide had turned towards the men in pink. Jordace Holder-Spooner tried to drill in a 25-yard goal for Dulwich on 47 minutes, and Wilkinson brilliantly pushed it into touch. Ten minutes later, our substitute left-back Kamal Guthmy made a poor headed clearance that was intercepted by Peter Adeniyi. The Nigerian passed to Wright, who compounded Guthmy's mistake by cutting past him and hitting a lobbed cross that flew directly into the net! That mix of human error and incredible fortune put us 2-1 behind, and we had to hammer everything we had left at Hamlet. Just after the hour mark, Kyle Vassell made an incredible run from the Boro half to the Dulwich box. But when he got there, he couldn't decide whether to deliver a killer pass or a cool finish, and he ended up giving the ball away to defender Sam Pemberton. In contrast, Ashley Farrell had his sights clearly on goal in the 67th minute, when Duncan Greenwood played the ball back to him from the penalty area. Ashley hit a vicious first-time strike that went over by a matter of inches. That would be our last chance to equalise. On 75 minutes, Wright curled a close-range free-kick just wide of the goal. The 34-year-old - who hadn't scored in nine previous Dulwich Hamlet appearances - was chasing a hat-trick, and he clinched that in the first minute of injury time. Taylor Miles swung a free-kick into the area, and Wright beat Farrell to head it home for 3-1. That clinched Wright's hat-trick and an excellent win for the visitors, who weren't quite finished. Three minutes of added-on time somehow stretched into five, and it was during that final minute that Alex Dyer grabbed a fourth goal.

This Saturday could not have gone any worse for us, because Carshalton Athletic and Cray Wanderers both won to move ahead of us in the standings. Were our title chances about to go up in smoke after losing to Hamlet?

Romford - 1 (Dymond 41)

Dulwich Hamlet - 4 (Wright 44,57,90, Dyer 90)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 239 - POSITIONS: Romford 3rd, Dulwich Hamlet 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Newman, Dymond, Allen, Rofe (Guthmy), Neville (J Vassell), Farrell, Akindayini, Carroll (Reynolds), K Vassell, Greenwood.

I was absolutely livid, and I made my feelings perfectly clear to the players at full-time. Once again, I had serious concerns about whether we had the mental fortitude to clinch promotion.

Four days later, we had the opportunity to make amends for our Hamlet horror by taking our frustrations out on another mid-table side - Histon. This was our game in hand on Carshalton Athletic, so if we won at the Glassworld Stadium, and Cray Wanderers couldn't beat Sutton United, then we would be back into a single-point lead!

Since Christmas, I had persisted with a 4-2-3-1 formation that produced some excellent results, but after three games without victory, I switched back to good old 4-4-2 for this match.

6 April 2016: Histon vs Romford

One of the Histon players that we had to be wary of was their young Welsh striker Jake Eyre. After five minutes, a strong challenge from George Allen nearly ended Eyre's game prematurely. He returned to the pitch after receiving treatment, and soon forced Connor Dymond into conceding a corner. Ben Coker crossed it into the box, and Jide Maduako's looping header was guided into the Boro net by the slightest flick from Eyre. If it wasn't for the offside flag, we would have been 1-0 down after just seven minutes. Histon threatened again in the 10th minute, as Eyre played the ball back to Ryan Oakley, whose ferocious screamer missed the target by a few inches. Our first chance to score finally came after 22 minutes, but Duncan Greenwood's low strike didn't have enough power to seriously worry Arron Pratt in the Stutes goal. After those chances came and went, the first half petered out and the scoreline remained goalless. Four minutes before half-time, we lost left-back Simon Rofe to a thigh injury that would put him out for three weeks. In the short term, 16-year-old right-back Jordan Peters would have to switch flanks for the rest of this game.

The first half had been a disappointment for us, but I urged the players to put that that behind them after the break. In the 47th minute, George tapped in a well-executed corner from Dean O'Halloran, giving us the lead against the run of play! Seven minutes later, Joel Wilkinson kept us in front by tipped away a stunning effort from David King. Histon had another chance through Kelvin Austin in the 63rd minute, and Wilko pushed that one aside before substitute full-back Allan Sparrow professionally got it out of danger. A minute later, Greenwood hit a long-range free-kick into the Histon box and found Dymond, whose header was pushed away by Pratt. There must have been four Histon outfielders around the loose ball, but Nicky Reynolds beat all of them to it and softly slid in our second goal of the evening! Nicky would soon look for a third Romford goal that would finish off the Stutes. In the 67th minute, he broke clear of the last defender to reach Kyle Vassell's through-ball, but he could only drag it into the side netting. Six minutes later, he got another chance to make it 3-0, as Histon's defence had another nightmare. First, Andy Goodling slide-tackled the ball off Big Dunc and inadvertently knocked it to Reynolds. Nicky then brushed off a meek Connor Marshall challenge before bursting through on goal. This time, he guided his shot into the far corner to seal our first win in four attempts! It would also be a rare clean sheet for us, because seven minutes from time, Joel made a stunning fingertip save to deny Austin a consolation for Histon.

As for Cray Wanderers' game at Sutton United, they could only manage a draw, so we went back to the top! With four games remaining, we were ahead of both Cray and Carshalton Athletic by just one point!

Histon - 0

Romford - 3 (Allen 47, Reynolds 64,73)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 239 - POSITIONS: Histon 14th, Romford 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Peters, Dymond, Allen, Rofe (Sparrow), O'Halloran (Harley), Farrell, J Vassell, K Vassell, Greenwood (Carroll), Reynolds.

We now only needed one more win from our last four matches to guarantee a play-off place. However, I was after much more than that. I knew that after just six more hours of football, we could - and I stress could - be in the Conference South as champions of the Isthmian League.

[CFuller]

The situation at the top of the Isthmian League Premier Division was so tight that any mistake from any of the three title contenders could be costly. However, if we picked up maximum points from our final four games, it wouldn't matter if Cray Wanderers and Carshalton Athletic finished perfectly. We would be champions.

Of course, we couldn't afford to get too far ahead of ourselves - not when our next match was away to a Brentwood Town team who had earlier this season humiliated us 4-1 at Ship Lane. Ian Goodison's team were still in a fight against relegation that they were just about winning, so there was no doubt that the Blues would give everything in front of their home supporters.

This match would be difficult enough if we weren't suffering a crisis at left-back, but Jason Collins and Simon Rofe were both injured, and Kamal Guthmy - to quote Big Sam Allardyce - couldn't defend a fish supper. Therefore, I decided to take a punt on 16-year-old Rhys Turner, and give the youth player his senior debut.

9 April 2016: Brentwood Town vs Romford

The first 20 minutes were pretty much all Brentwood's. In just the second minute, a horrible back-pass from Duncan Greenwood handed experienced Town striker Wade Small an early opportunity. Fortunately, Small's shot deflected off his team-mate Sol Jackson, and Connor Dymond cut out the danger. Small hit a much more promising strike in the 10th minute, and Joel Wilkinson pulled off a great reflex save to keep it out. Three minutes later, a powerful effort from Brentwood midfielder Gavin Cadwallader missed the target. On 17 minutes, Wilkinson dealt with a low shot from Jackson, who got a hat-trick against us at Ship Lane in January. This was turning into a nervy game for me, as whenever we tried to launch an attack, Greenwood more often than not gave the ball away to Brentwood. One such occasion was in the 19th minute, when Town defender Marcus Rose muscled him off the ball and started a counter-attack that ended with Joel having to save from Aaron Mitchell. Big Dunc was struggling so badly that I called him over to the touchline, and warned him that he'd be substituted if he continued to be wasteful. Duncan heeded my advice, and upped his game big time. After 41 minutes, Greenwood played a one-two with Nicky Reynolds and got past the goalkeeper before turning Nicky's through-ball into the net! Having been on the back foot for almost the entire half, we had snatched the opening goal and silenced the home fans!

Just three minutes after the restart, in-form winger Kyle Vassell had to come off with a knock following a tough challenge from Brentwood full-back Dan Evans. Without Kyle, we struggled on the attacking front for a good while until the 68th minute, when Duncan scooped a shot over the crossbar. Meanwhile, Brentwood showed little of the confidence they had in the first half. Their opening salvo of the second half came all the way in the 74th minute, when Fraser McConville's long-range strike was parried by Wilkinson. Five minutes later, our substitute winger Nick Fenwick sent a dangerous cross to the newly-introduced Daniel Akindayini, whose header went straight at Town keeper Tom Godfrey. We wouldn't need a second goal in the end, because our defence admirably shut out a Brentwood attack who had 13 shots at goal in total. Particularly impressive were our pair of 16-year-old full-backs, as Rhys Turner enjoyed a solid debut and Jordan Peters was named man of the match.

Brentwood Town - 0

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 41)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 205 - POSITIONS: Brentwood 21st, Romford 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Peters, Dymond, Allen, R Turner, Harley, Neville (Akindayini) Farrell (Fisk), K Vassell (Fenwick), Greenwood, Reynolds. BOOKED: Neville.

That was the win we needed to guarantee a top-five finish, and with Carshalton Athletic and Cray Wanderers both suffering surprise defeats, we opened up a four-point lead!

We could now almost taste the title, because if we beat struggling Merstham at Ship Lane the following week, and both Carshalton and Cray lost on their own grounds, then it would be ours with two games to spare! I didn't expect it to be THAT easy, though. Our two title rivals just happened to boast the best home records in the Isthmian Premier.

I did, however, feel confident about our chances at home to a Moatsiders defence that looked fairly easy to crack open. The Surrey side had conceded 79 league goals to date - and 52 of them came on their travels.

16 April 2016: Romford vs Merstham

I always expected there to be plenty of goalmouth action - I just didn't see it mostly happening in our goalmouth! Merstham flew out of the traps, winning a corner within the opening minute. Harry Gerard sent a hanging ball over to centre-back Jake Cunningham, whose header was palmed behind by Joel Wilkinson for another corner. That second corner didn't amount to much, but Merstham attacked again in the seventh minute. Slovakian midfielder Filip Lesniak played the ball first-time to ex-Chelsea striker Chike Kandi, who hit a powerful low effort into the net! It was 1-0 to Merstham, and the Moatsiders were in total control from that point. Kandi came close to smashing in a second goal after 12 minutes, and Gerard had an effort bravely blocked by Connor Dymond two minutes later. On 24 minutes, Merstham knocked passes around our half until Steven Bennett's lay-off was tapped into the net by Kandi. We were more than a quarter of the way through the match, and not only were we 2-0 down, but we had also yet to register a shot at goal! The latter stat would change quickly, as within 20 seconds of the restart, Brian Neville found Nicky Reynolds free in the Merstham area, and Nicky dispatched the shot. We were back in the game at 2-1 - but three minutes later, Merstham restored their two-goal cushion. Kandi needed just 29 minutes to complete a hat-trick, which was sealed when right-winger Samuel Smith centred the ball to the former Wales youth international, who placed it first-time into the goal. This was turning into an embarrassment, and I quickly took action. Dymond and Mark Betteridge were both having nightmares at centre-half, so I replaced Connor with George Allen. It didn't alter the game much, mind. In the 36th minute, a wayward pass from Reynolds allowed the Moatsiders to hit us on the break. Kyle Vassell prevented Bennett's cross from finding Kandi, but when Gerard did get the ball to the prolific youngster, cheeky Chike slotted in his and Merstham's fourth goal! He just couldn't stop scoring!

The Romford dressing room was almost silent at half-time. We were being massacred on our home patch, and some of the players could be forgiven for not wanting to come back for the second half. I had to remind them that our pride was at stake, and although there was no realistic prospect of us salvaging any points from 4-1 behind, I wanted us to at least win the second half.

There were some promising signs of recovery in the 54th minute. Bringing on Boro captain Kieron Carroll to replace Duncan Greenwood at half-time seemed to be a good move, as Carroll outmuscled Ibrahim Mansaray and fed the ball to Reynolds on the left flank. Nicky then tried a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but he pulled it a long way wide. Four minutes later, the Moatsiders should've made it 5-1 through Bennett, who missed the target from close range. Things then went from bad to worse in the 64th minute, as Nicky twisted his knee after a challenge from Fabio Saraiva in the centre circle. Reynolds was still able to play on, but the injury would hamper him for the rest of the game, after which our star striker was ruled out of action for three weeks. A couple of minutes later, it was 5-1 to Merstham. A terrible day for Betteridge got even worse when Bennett took the ball off his feet and played it through to... surprise, surprise, Chike Kandi. The 20-year-old ran to the penalty area at top speed, and calmly finished his FIFTH goal of the day! This was such an incredible feat of goalscoring that even I was applauding him after that last strike! Moments later, as we got ready to restart play again, some Romford fans started chanting, "I WANT KANDI!" To be honest, I wasn't quite sure whether or not it was a serious request directed at me! In the 74th minute, the supporters had something to be cheerful about. Dean O'Halloran's cross deflected off Merstham defender Chris Sessegnon into the path of Carroll, who scored our second goal of the day. By now, it was all about damage limitation for us, but in the 90th minute, Bennett opened up our defence again with another killer pass to the man of the moment. Fortunately, Kandi couldn't quite bag an incredible sixth goal, as he curled his shot off target. After the game, Merstham's five-goal hero was given a standing ovation by both sets of supporters, and even our beaten players did the same. Sometimes, there just isn't anything you can do about an opponent.

Romford - 2 (Reynolds 26, Carroll 74)

Merstham - 5 (Kandi 7,24,29,36,66)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 247 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Merstham 22nd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Wilkinson, Peters, Dymond (Allen), Betteridge, Turner, Harley (O'Halloran), Neville, Farrell, K Vassell, Greenwood (Carroll), Reynolds.

I'll admit that I felt like screaming and shouting at my players once they'd returned to the dressing room, but I only lost my temper with Mark Betteridge. Mark played so dreadfully that he'll be having nightmares about Chike Kandi rather than the bogeyman in future! The other players were all devastated by what had just happened, so to stop morale from hitting rock bottom, I reserved the rest of my anger for my bed pillow when I got home.

Before heading home, I phoned a friend to ask for the Carshalton Athletic result. He said that Carshalton were winning 1-0... until Enfield Town equalised with just five minutes to go. The Robins had not taken full advantage of our predicament, and they were still three points behind.

24 hours later, Cray Wanderers tried to cut out lead to one point when they hosted relegation battlers Concord Rangers. They lost 2-0, and remained four points adrift.

Incredibly, even though we had lost our last two home games by an aggregate of 9 goals to 3, we were now only four points short of securing promotion. If our rivals continued to slip up, even a draw at Welling United the following week might well be enough! But with Nicky Reynolds unlikely to play again this season, and his team-mates still shocked by the Merstham result, there was still time for things to go horribly wrong.

[MRFB]

First time on these forums these stories are brilliant! keep up the good work and best of luck!

[CFuller]

First time on these forums these stories are brilliant! keep up the good work and best of luck!

Welcome to the SI Community, MRFB. There are plenty of excellent stories here on FMS to keep you interested.

[CFuller]

23 April is a significant date for any patriotic Englishman like myself. St George's Day 2016 had the potential to be a day that I would remember forever, as my Romford team stood on the verge of promotion to the Conference South.

With just two rounds to go in the Isthmian League Premier Division title race, this is how the top of the table looked:

                                   [b]P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
[color="#0000FF"]1.    Pl    Romford                44    23    8     13    76    61    +15   77[/color]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.    Pl    Carshalton             44    21    11    12    59    45    +14   74
3.          Cray                   44    21    10    13    65    46    +19   73

If we won at Welling United, and 2nd-placed Carshalton Athletic failed to do likewise at Maidstone United, we would be promoted as champions. If we drew, Carshalton lost, and Cray Wanderers didn't take maximum points from Histon, that would also be enough for the title.

However... if we LOST, and Carshalton WON, then it would be advantage Athletic on goal difference ahead of the final game.

Of course, we had to concentrate on getting a result against our opponents before we could worry about other results. 19th-placed Welling were on a six-game unbeaten run that had all but secured their Isthmian Premier status, and they boasted one of the division's best strike partnership in the form of veteran Matt Green and teenager Claudio Johnson.

23 April 2016: Welling United vs Romford

In the third minute, Romford forward Daniel Akindayini had a low shot saved by Welling keeper Liam Priestley. The Wings were soon on the counter-attack, as Ashley Carew made a strong goalward run before firing just too high. On 13 minutes, Priestley had to tip over a wayward cross from Boro full-back Danny Newman to stop it from flying straight into his net! Welling cleared the subsequent corner, and when an attempted headed back-pass from Ashley Farrell went astray, Matt Green found himself with a golden opportunity to put United ahead. The ex-Mansfield Town striker raced clear, but Roscoe Fryatt bravely came off his line and pushed the ball away just in the nick of time! Ros pulled off another save a minute later to thwart Green again. In the 21st minute, a right-wing cross from Romford's Dean O'Halloran struck the Welling crossbar and went out of play at the other side. Dean nearly got very lucky there, but after half an hour, our other winger's luck ran out. Nick Fenwick suffered whiplash in a collision with Wings defender Isaiah McManus and had to come off. We were still coming to terms with that when, after 33 minutes, Green fired an excellent strike in off the crossbar to make it 1-0 Welling. That was how it remained at half-time, so as it stood, the title race was set to go to the final day. However, unbeknownst to me, Carshalton Athletic and Cray Wanderers were both trailing in their matches, so a second-half equaliser would put us back on the brink of promotion.

Early in the second half, it looked more likely that Welling would grab a second goal than we would an equaliser. A couple of early long-rangers from Jerry Nash and Ashley Miller did not trouble Fryatt, who caught a better effort from Claudio Johnson in the 62nd minute. Midway through the second half, we started to put Welling under sustained pressure for the first time. Priestley caught another drilled effort from Akindayini in the 69th minute, while young defender Allan Sparrow skimmed the bar with a header four minutes later. We were still behind with just over ten minutes to go, at which point I made one last throw of the dice. Off came Kieron Carroll, and on went Big Duncan Greenwood. Carew blazed a shot high and wide for Welling on 82 minutes. Two minutes later, we sensed an opening. Connor Dymond intercepted a poor header from Welling's Grant Spencer, and started a string of attacking passes that involved most of our outfield players. The final ball was from O'Halloran to Greenwood, who from the edge of the area unleashed a powerful shot that deflected into the net off Priestley's right shoulder! It was our 100th goal of the season, and Duncan's 20th individually, and it looked like being by far our most significant! Whether it actually was depended on other results, but just as thoughts of promotion started to enter my head again, Welling went back on the counter. In the 88th minute, Spencer played a pinpoint cross to Carew in the Romford area. After controlling the ball with his head, Carew went for glory with a stunning left-footed half-volley! United's fans jumped up in celebration... only to see the ball ricochet off the bar and exit at the touchline! That was the final chance in a thrilling 1-1 draw, and we headed back into the dressing room wondering whether a point would actually be enough.

Welling United - 1 (Green 33)

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 84)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 330 - POSITIONS: Welling 18th, Romford 1st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond, Allen (Sparrow), Guthmy, O'Halloran, J Vassell, Farrell, Fenwick (Harley), Carroll (Greenwood), Akindayini.

I sat in the dressing room with the players for a good couple of minutes, anxiously awaiting news on how our rivals fared. Then, our chairman Leo Jones entered the room, and we all turned towards him. I asked him, "How did the other guys do?", and he said, "They both lost."

After asking him again for confirmation, Mr Jones suddenly burst into a Cheshire cat smile and roared, "THEY BOTH F***ING LOST!" Just as he'd finished, the players went wild in celebration! We had done it!

My own personal celebrations weren't as joyous as when we were promoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division, but after losing the Play-Off Final last year, this felt even sweeter. The hard work we had put in over the last eight months - and indeed over the last four seasons - was now worthwhile because, for the very first time, Romford FC were on their way to the Football Conference!

Two promotions down, only five more to go...

[CFuller]

For once, we had nothing to fight for in our final game of the season. The Isthmian League Premier Division title had already been wrapped up with time to spare. Even though our form in April was very average, Carshalton Athletic and Cray Wanderers played even worse last month, and both were now unable to catch us.

With the title and a place in next season's Conference South now assured, we hoped to bow out in style when we welcomed Faversham Town to Ship Lane. We'd failed to win any of our last three home matches, but we were eager to change that in front of our largest league crowd in recent years.

Faversham, though, were potential party poopers. They were in 6th place, just behind Bury Town and Hastings United on goal difference, and were hoping to finish in the top five. Their play-off prospects largely depended on other results, because even victory against us might not have been enough.

4 May 2016: Romford vs Faversham Town

Faversham showed in the first minute just how dangerous they would be. Andy Fowler broke free of the Boro defence to latch onto Jorell Johnson's long ball, and he entered the penalty area before blazing his shot over. The Sorters had another chance in the 5th minute through Mark Wood, whose low strike was parried away by Roscoe Fryatt. Two minutes later, our excellent loan signing Kyle Vassell dribbled down the left flank before crossing to Duncan Greenwood, who flicked a header past Faversham keeper Callum Kitscha. It was 1-0 to the champions, and Ship Lane was rocking! Faversham would be frustrated in their attempts to get back level, as they found Fryatt in superb form. Ros turned a Fowler strike over his crossbar in the 18th minute, and pushed away Charlie Moone's close-range header just moments later. We looked for a second goal later in the half, but Greenwood couldn't quite get a clean connection to Jason Harley's 27th-minute cross. A couple of minutes later, Kyle lifted a superb ball up to Kieron Carroll, whose header was comfortably caught by Kitscha. After 38 minutes, another Harley cross found its way to Greenwood via a deflection off Faversham midfielder Andy Bond. Big Dunc just had to stab it in from six yards, but Sorters captain Ellis Sands blocked his shot, which deflected off the post and went out for a Romford corner. We failed to make the most of that, so we were still only leading 1-0 at half-time.

The second half started off much like the first, with Faversham attacking early on. Johnson got his head to Harrison Georgiou's corner in the 47th minute, and Fryatt caught it well. Georgiou himself had a shot from long-range two minutes later. It rebounded off Fowler before falling to team-mate Charlie Mapes, who half-volleyed it into the stand. On 55 minutes, we launched our first significant attack of the second half. Simon Rofe picked out Greenwood with an exquisite long-range pass, and Duncan advanced into the penalty area, where he went down under a challenge from Wood. The referee pointed to the spot almost straight away. In the absence of the injured Nicky Reynolds, captain Carroll took the penalty himself, and he fired it in so hard that it almost ripped through the net! 2-0 to Romford, and surely three more points were in the bag... but Faversham thought otherwise. After restarting play, they skilfully moved the ball around our half until Jamie Angus centred the ball into the six-yard box. While Romford teenager Jordan Peters couldn't reach the cross, Moone did, and he got a goal back for the Sorters. After 57 minutes, it was game on again. Three minutes later, a poor header from Wood allowed Greenwood to put a cross into the Faversham box, where Carroll's header was kept out by Kitscha. We'd wasted a chance to restore our two-goal lead, and by the 67th minute, we weren't leading at all. Rofe made an excellent challenge on Fowler to stop him from reaching Angus's drilled cross, but the ball returned to Faversham's young full-back, who beat Fryatt at his near post. Just like in our very first game of the season, we'd been pegged back to parity from 2-0 up! Would the Sorters do an Aveley and complete the comeback? Before they had a chance to do that, Pat Redhead crossed to fellow young Boro sub Gerald Stroud in the 73rd minute, only to see Gerald head straight at Kitscha. Three minutes later, the excellent Angus found Fowler in space, and the former Everton trainee hit a powerful strike from inside the 'D'. Would it be the strike that gave Faversham a 3-2 lead?

No, it wouldn't. Much to our relief, Fowler's shot fizzed past the post. That would be the Sorters' last chance to wrap up victory, as we defended strongly for the closing stages, despite left-back Jason Collins picking up a thigh injury in the 89th minute. A draw was not enough for Faversham in the end - they narrowly missed out on the play-offs because Bury Town and Hastings United both won their matches. As far as we were concerned, this wasn't the best way to bow out of the Isthmian League, but at least we'd already got what we wanted.

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 7, Carroll pen55)

Faversham Town - 2 (Moone 57, Angus 67)

Isthmian League Premier Division, Attendance 503 - POSITIONS: Romford 1st, Faversham 6th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman (Peters), Rofe, Allen, Collins, Jones, Neville, Harley (Redhead), Carroll, K Vassell, Greenwood (Stroud).

After the match came the moment we had all been waiting for, as we finally got to lift some silverware! As club captain, Kieron Carroll had the honour of being the first Romford player to lift the Isthmian League trophy, and when he did, the celebrations well and truly got underway!

The following weekend, we paraded the trophy around Romford in an open-top bus - something that I never would have imagined a few years ago.

It was a great time to be connected with Romford FC. We had an exciting young team, our finances were healthier than ever, and we would soon be gracing the Conference South. However, I felt we had to keep moving forward, by making significant changes both on and off the pitch.

[CFuller]

The open-top bus parade was our last activity as a team before the players broke up for the off-season. But for me, there was still plenty of work to do.

On the Tuesday after our final game, I met once again with Leo Jones to discuss our future plans. As a chairman, Mr Jones has been an absolute godsend to us. He's allowed me to do my job as I see fit, which is how it should be for any manager, and he's also generously pumped around £200,000 of his own money into the club since he succeeded Steve Gardener nearly two years ago.

Thanks to Mr Jones, and to lesser extents our Isthmian Premier victory and our historic FA Cup run, we now had a cool £150,000 in the bank. Rather than just let it sit there, I decided that we should put it to good use.

Not for the first time, I asked Mr Jones to upgrade our dilapidated training facilities. As it transpired, he had already worked out the cost of a new training ground - around £150,000! This time, he said yes!

I couldn't thank him enough for making this decision, because in all honesty, we needed new facilities. The step up in class from the Isthmian Premier to the Conference South is likely to be a big one, and without a better training ground, we cannot hope to compete with the other teams on the pitch.

The next day, while I was at home watching TV, I got a phone call from Mr Jones. This time, it was to congratulate me on winning the Isthmian League Premier Division's Manager of the Season award!

I was speechless. I hadn't come anywhere near winning the award in each of my previous two Isthmian Premier seasons, when we greatly surpassed expectations, but obviously winning the title made me the odds-on favourite this time.

Disappointingly, only one of my players would be honoured at the awards ceremony. Kieron Carroll was incredibly the only Boro name in the Team of the Season. Although Kieron, Duncan Greenwood and Nicky Reynolds all scored at least 15 league goals, none of them came close to winning the Golden Boot, which went to Joey Butlin of Cray Wanderers.

Speaking of Greenwood and Reynolds, they were among several Romford players to be rewarded with new deals.

One of the upshots from our promotion to the Conference South was that we could now sign players on contracts for up to two years rather than just one. Duncan was one of the first two players that I tied down to two-year deals - the other being our 18-year-old left-back Jason Collins. I also kept Nicky on for one more year, albeit on reduced terms, while wingers Nick Fenwick and Dean O'Halloran both committed to another season as well.

I still had to consider the futures of our other contracted players, but with almost all of our money going into building that new training ground, I knew I wouldn't have much room for manoeuvre in regard to the wage budget. Inevitably, some players would have to go.

[CFuller]

                                   [b]P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
[color="#0000FF"]1.    C     Romford                46    23    10    13    79    64    +15   79[/color]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Carshalton             46    22    11    13    62    48    +14   77
3.          Cray                   46    22    10    14    67    48    +19   76
4.    P     Bury Town              46    20    13    13    61    45    +16   73
5.          Hastings               46    21    10    15    78    65    +13   73
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Faversham              46    19    14    13    64    52    +12   71
7.          Maidstone              46    17    15    14    60    48    +12   66
8.          Dulwich Hamlet         46    18    12    16    69    62    +7    66
9.          Thurrock               46    17    15    14    59    58    +1    66
10.         Lewes                  46    18    11    17    66    63    +3    65
11.         Enfield Town           46    18    10    18    59    48    +11   64
12.         Margate                46    15    19    12    61    58    +3    64
13.         Billericay             46    17    12    17    54    55    -1    63
14.         Bognor Regis           46    17    12    17    46    47    -1    63
15.         Sutton Utd             46    15    18    13    47    50    -3    63
16.         Histon                 46    17    12    17    51    62    -11   63
17.         Potters Bar            46    15    13    18    62    58    +4    58
18.         Welling                46    15    13    18    74    73    +1    58
19.         St Albans              46    15    13    18    72    74    -2    58
20.         Brentwood              46    13    15    18    53    72    -19   54
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Concord Rangers        46    12    15    19    53    59    -6    51
22.   R     Merstham               46    14    8     24    60    87    -27   50
23.   R     Whitehawk              46    11    10    25    44    72    -28   43
24.   R     Aveley                 46    11    9     26    34    67    -33   42

[CFuller]

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Roscoe Fryatt             18      34   3    0    88%  -    -    0    0    6.87
Joel Wilkinson            38      52   11   0    87%  -    -    0    0    6.95

OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Daniel Akindayini         20 (7)  4    5    1    79%  1.60 58%  1    0    6.79
George Allen              33 (12) 7    1    4    68%  1.84 54%  1    0    7.16
Giorgos Andreou           3       0    0    0    83%  2.52 0%   0    0    6.70
Mark Betteridge           28 (8)  5    2    2    71%  2.63 67%  2    0    6.92
Kieron Carroll            36 (7)  16   5    3    81%  1.85 36%  3    0    7.01
Anthony Chapman           21      0    1    0    78%  3.17 -    1    0    6.73
Jason Collins             29      0    2    1    76%  3.50 0%   1    0    6.84
Connor Dymond             35 (4)  1    1    5    63%  1.42 71%  1    0    7.11
Ashley Farrell            34 (5)  2    2    0    79%  4.22 22%  4    0    6.84
Nick Fenwick              25 (6)  1    10   0    79%  2.24 67%  2    0    6.94
Bobby Fisk                8 (5)   1    2    0    73%  3.44 33%  0    0    6.92
Duncan Greenwood          28 (18) 21   3    4    75%  1.76 51%  2    0    7.10
Kamal Guthmy              23 (6)  1    1    0    75%  3.63 100% 1    0    6.69
Jason Harley              28 (12) 5    16   4    78%  1.91 44%  1    0    7.01
Wayne Hatch               11 (4)  0    0    0    62%  1.54 -    0    0    6.62
Craig Hornsey             1 (1)   0    0    0    81%  3.36 -    0    0    6.70
Sean Hunt                 14 (4)  3    2    0    75%  2.05 46%  2    0    6.96
Colin Ingham              0 (2)   0    0    0    83%  0.00 -    0    0    6.90
Ryan Jones                24 (6)  2    5    0    82%  2.61 35%  1    0    6.95
Brian Neville             27 (8)  2    5    2    77%  3.81 46%  2    0    6.91
Danny Newman              28 (1)  0    0    0    77%  2.81 -    2    0    6.84
Dean O'Halloran           20 (14) 2    9    1    80%  2.31 25%  0    0    6.93
Jordan Peters             6 (1)   0    1    1    76%  1.83 -    1    0    6.80
Nico Ramsey               0 (2)   0    0    0    74%  1.86 0%   0    0    5.95
Pat Redhead               0 (2)   1    0    0    83%  -    100% 0    0    7.00
Nicky Reynolds            38 (8)  23   7    2    81%  1.21 56%  0    0    7.09
Simon Rofe                7 (8)   0    0    0    69%  2.46 -    0    0    6.82
Allan Sparrow             0 (2)   0    0    0    90%  2.47 0%   0    0    7.00
Gerald Stroud             0 (1)   0    0    0    50%  -    100% 0    0    6.50
Rhys Turner               2       0    0    0    78%  1.00 -    0    0    6.30
Jay Vassell               22 (9)  3    4    0    81%  3.79 57%  2    1    6.88
Kyle Vassell              9       0    6    0    80%  1.99 25%  0    0    6.89

APPS - Appearances (Substitute apps), GLS - Goals, AST - Assists,
CON - Goals conceded, CLN - Clean sheets, MOM - Man of the Match awards,
P% - Pass completion %, TR - Tackles per 90 mins, ST - Shots on target %,
Y - Yellow cards, R - Red cards, AV RAT - Average match rating

[Crackers786]

congratulations on the promotion . looking forward to following the story in the conf south.

I won promotion to lvl10 after a unbeaten season. I received 38 job offers lol.

[Bridgford Ram]

Well done on promotion but more importantly on a great story. I love the style of match reports and end of season summary and will be looking to bring both into my Torino story.

[CFuller]

congratulations on the promotion . looking forward to following the story in the conf south.

I won promotion to lvl10 after a unbeaten season. I received 38 job offers lol.

That's 38 more job offers than I've received!

Thanks for the kind message, and well done on the promotion. Looks like you're just one promotion away from the level where I started.

Well done on promotion but more importantly on a great story. I love the style of match reports and end of season summary and will be looking to bring both into my Torino story.

I really appreciate the comments, Bridgford, and I look forward to seeing how your story develops. It's always good to take ideas from stories/writers that inspire you.

[CFuller]

When June came around, Leo Jones gave me a maximum weekly wage budget of around £3,000. After considering our current financial situation, I decided to restrict myself to only using half of it. There was no chance of me plunging us into serious and needless debt before our debut season in the Conference South had even started.

Centre-back Connor Dymond had been a rock in our defence for the last three seasons, and I was keen to extend his stay at Ship Lane. Contract talks with Dymond lasted several weeks until I offered him a two-year contract worth £300 a week - the absolute maximum I will offer to any player at this moment.

Connor agreed to this new deal, which would keep him here until 2018. He was now our highest-paid player, but I was sure that the 21-year-old would be worth the expense.

With the signature of a current Boro hero on the dotted line, I looked to bring at least one new face to Ship Lane. I would be frustrated in my attempts until the middle of June, when I at last persuaded someone to sign for us.

The player in question was 28-year-old left-winger Graeme Montgomery, who agreed to join Romford when his contract with Bromley expired at the end of the month. Monty was a big signing for us, because he boasted plenty of technical ability, he could play anywhere in midfield, and he had previously played in the Football League for Dagenham & Redbridge.

Romford fans with long memories may remember that Graeme scored two goals AGAINST us in an FA Cup qualifying match for Boreham Wood two years ago - and one of them was a real doozy from 35 yards! Well, if you can't beat them, sign them!

Following Monty's arrival, I made my final decisions on those Boro players whose contracts were expiring. Teenage goalkeeper Roscoe Fryatt conceded goals at a rare of nearly two per game in his first season at Ship Lane - but I decided to give him another chance. At 19, Ros still has plenty of time to realise his full potential, and I reckon he can eventually become a capable keeper at Conference South level.

I did not feel the same way about last season's first-choice goalie Joel Wilkinson. When he received two offers to remain in the Isthmian Premier with another club, I advised him to take one of them. After four seasons at Romford, during which he made 68 appearances, Joel made the short move to Brentwood Town, having turned down an offer from newly-promoted Burgess Hill Town.

I then offered a two-year contract to midfielder Brian Neville, while I also retained anchor man Bobby Fisk and striker Gerald Stroud for another year each. However, contract talks with vice-captain Ashley Farrell broke down completely, and he was released after 103 games for the Boro.

As well as Ashley, five other Romford players were let go. I though right-back Anthony Chapman was too wildly inconsistent to cope with the increased demands of Conference South football, while youth players Matt Griffiths, Craig Hornsey, Pat Redhead and Allan Sparrow failed to make the grade.

We also said goodbye to winger Kyle Vassell, who'd finished his loan spell with us and returned to Harrow Borough.

I now knew who was or wasn't in my plans for next season, though our squad still needed more reinforcements. As I continued to look for new signings, another avenue opened up just as the new season's fixtures were about to be announced.

[CFuller]

The 2015/2016 season was truly wrapped up for us when the Romford supporters club announced their Fans' Player of the Year. For once, it wasn't Nicky Reynolds, who top-scored for us again in all competitions. Instead, they chose right-winger Jason Harley, whose goal-creating brilliance was at its height during the first half of the campaign.

Surprisingly, Nicky didn't even get into the fans' best XI for the season! Those that did were Joel Wilkinson, Danny Newman, George Allen, Connor Dymond, Jason Collins, Ashley Farrell, Brian Neville, Jason Harley, Kieron Carroll, Nick Fenwick and Duncan Greenwood. Two of those eleven players - Joel and Ashley - won't be with us in the new season.

I arrived at work on the Friday morning that the Conference South fixtures were to be released, and I expected it to be a relatively quiet day... but it most certainly wasn't!

Romford chairman Leo Jones called me into his office to meet someone who introduced himself as Brian Keen - the chairman of Football League newcomers Barrow. Just as I started to wonder why Mr Keen had travelled over 300 miles from Cumbria to a little club in Essex, he explained that the two clubs had agreed a 'special partnership'.

Basically, that means Barrow can loan us some players as and when we want or need them. Brilliant! In addition, we will play a friendly against them at Ship Lane next year.

After thanking Mr Keen for agreeing this deal, I gave him a tour around our football club, and then wished him a safe journey back to Cumbria. As Mr Keen headed back home, Mr Jones asked me to stay in his office. Then, out of the blue, he handed me a new contract! As a reward for getting Romford into the Conference South, I was given a one-year contract extension, and an increased salary of £625 per week!

Just as I put pen to paper on a new deal tying me to Romford until 2018, an email from the Football Conference popped up in Mr Jones's inbox. It was the fixture list for the 2016/2017 Conference South season.

Our much-anticipated opening game would be at Bromley on 6 August. We would then play successive home matches against Havant & Waterlooville on 9 August and Chelmsford City four days later. The closest thing we will have to a local derby will perhaps be against Canvey Island, who we'll visit on 12 November and then host on 1 April.

Three days after the fixture list came out, the Boro players returned from their holidays refreshed and with renewed hunger. Apart from Graeme Montgomery, there were no new additions to the playing staff, but our coaching team had undergone a bit of a facelift.

Tony Reid, my trustworthy assistant manager who had been by my side for four seasons, left this summer to pursue other interests. I replaced him with a 39-year-old Brummie called Wayne Daniel, who had just finished his playing career as a defender at nearby Waltham Abbey.

In addition, I appointed 34-year-old former AFC Hornchurch and Enfield Town midfielder Simon Glover as a coach. Simon is already studying for his UEFA Pro Licence, so he undoubtedly has a great future in coaching!

Everything was now set for my fifth pre-season as Romford manager. This time, we had to hit the ground running - because our first competitive match was just three weeks away!

[CFuller]

Premier League

Roberto Mancini has created a monster! Manchester City stormed towards an unbelievable fifth straight Premier League title, as after losing their opening game at Swansea City, they only suffered two more defeats in their next 37. Two City players who particularly impressed were left-back Leighton Baines, who made 12 assists, and tenacious midfielder Yaya Touré. Nine points behind the champions were perennial runners-up Arsenal, who lifted the League Cup in their first season since Italian coach Luciano Spalletti replaced the legendary Arsene Wenger.

Liverpool enjoyed a renaissance under former Lyon boss Rémi Garde, who succeeded Brendan Rodgers in the summer. As well as finishing in the top three for the first time since 2009, the Reds claimed memorable victories in the FA Cup and the UEFA Europa League. Much of their success was down to Luis Suárez, who was named PFA Player of the Year in his final season at Anfield before moving to Real Madrid. 4th place went down to the wire, with Tottenham Hotspur just about pipping Manchester United and Newcastle United to it.

19-goal Carlos Tevez won the Golden Boot for Newcastle, who looked like dark horses for the title until a second-half slump saw them drop down to 6th. Chelsea had a terrible season in the league, despite replacing manager Diego Simeone with Valencia's Marcelo Bielsa in November. The Blues limped home in 8th place, although they did get all the way to the UEFA Champions League Final before falling short against Real.

The return of former manager David Moyes could not prevent Everton from dropping out of the top flight for the first time in over 60 years. They were, though, spared the ignominy of finishing bottom by Bolton Wanderers' awful defence. On the final day, Swansea City's five-year Premier League adventure was ended by a home defeat to Wigan Athletic, combined with a crucial victory for Aston Villa in their relegation 'six-pointer' with Burnley.

Top Four: Manchester City (1st, 87 pts), Arsenal (2nd, 78 pts), Liverpool (3rd, 77 pts), Tottenham Hotspur (4th, 64 pts).

Relegated: Swansea City (18th, 37 pts), Everton (19th, 36 pts), Bolton Wanderers (20th, 35 pts).

Championship

Stoke City took a while to get back on their feet, but when Ian Holloway left for Swansea mid-season, they were top of the Championship. Owen Coyle kept Stoke there and brought them back to the Premier League. Wolverhampton Wanderers also made a swift top-flight return after winning nine of their last eleven games to come second!

The Championship Play-Offs saw wins for Reading and Blackburn Rovers in their respective Semi Finals against Ipswich Town and Huddersfield Town. When the two victors met at Wembley, Blackburn used their weapon of mass destruction to great effect. Jordan Rhodes bagged his 34th and 35th league goals of the season following Victor Anichebe's first-minute penalty to give Rovers a 3-0 win, and a place back in English football's elite.

Sunderland's season ended in heartbreaking fashion, as they were denied a play-off place by Franck Nouble's last-minute winner for Ipswich against Sheffield Wednesday. Just below the unlucky Black Cats were Cardiff City, who were on course for automatic promotion at the end of January but fell to 8th after a sharp decline in form.

Crystal Palace lost their first six matches, and after a similar sequence in December, they were pretty much rooted to bottom spot. Tranmere Rovers were not solid enough defensively to stay in the Championship, and Sheffield United also made an instant return to League One.

Promoted: Stoke City (1st, 92 pts), Wolverhampton Wanderers (2nd, 81 pts), Blackburn Rovers (4th, 74 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Reading (3rd, 81 pts), Huddersfield Town (5th, 74 pts), Ipswich Town (6th, 70 pts).

Relegated: Sheffield United (22nd, 47 pts), Tranmere Rovers (23rd, 42 pts), Crystal Palace (24th, 40 pts).

League One

After suffering Play-Off agony in back-to-back seasons, Charlton Athletic upped their game this term, and won League One by four points. Brentford and AFC Bournemouth were locked in an epic battle for second place, with the Bees clinching promotion only because of their superior goal difference.

Bournemouth put that disappointment behind them to beat Swindon Town in the Play-Off Semi Final. Their reward was a Wembley showdown with Coventry City, who halted Shrewsbury Town's bid for back-to-back promotions. It finished 2-0 in the Cherries' favour, and so Bournemouth will be in the second tier again after a 26-year absence.

Shocking late-season collapses resulted in both Northampton Town and Morecambe being relegated, and they were joined on the final day by Bury and Fleetwood Town. It was a bittersweet campaign for Fleetwood, whose historic run to Round 6 of the FA Cup clearly had a detrimental effect on their league form.

Promoted: Charlton Athletic (1st, 88 pts), Brentford (2nd, 84 pts), AFC Bournemouth (3rd, 84 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Coventry City (4th, 81 pts), Shrewsbury Town (5th, 75 pts), Swindon Town (6th, 73 pts).

Relegated: Fleetwood Town (21st, 50 pts), Bury (22nd, 49 pts), Morecambe (23rd, 46 pts), Northampton Town (24th, 46 pts).

League Two

Yo-yo club Scunthorpe United made an incredible start, picking up maximum points from their first 13 games! Unsurprisingly, they remained top for the rest of the season and had the title wrapped up by mid-March. Rochdale came a distant second, while Dagenham & Redbridge also celebrated promotion back to League One.

Mansfield Town withstood a Play-Off Semi Final fightback from Portsmouth and made it through to the Final against Gillingham, who saw off Torquay United in a penalty shoot-out. Mansfield looked set for successive promotions when they took a 1-0 lead, but the ten-man Gills battled back to steal a 2-1 win at the death.

Grimsby Town crashed back out of the Football League, as did Cheltenham Town after 17 years there. That meant a narrow escape for York City, who spent much of the middle part of the campaign inside the bottom two.

Promoted: Scunthorpe United (1st, 96 pts), Rochdale (2nd, 77 pts), Dagenham & Redbridge (3rd, 73 pts), Gillingham (7th, 66 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Torquay United (4th, 72 pts), Portsmouth (5th, 70 pts), Mansfield Town (6th, 67 pts).

Relegated: Cheltenham Town (23rd, 46 pts), Grimsby Town (24th, 46 pts).

Conference Premier

This season's surprise winners of the Conference Premier were unfancied Cumbrian side Barrow. The solid Bluebirds lost just six times as they emphatically ended their 44-year exile from the Football League.

2nd-placed Stockport County lost their Play-Off Semi Final in extra-time to Forest Green Rovers, while the other Semi saw Aldershot Town knock out Accrington Stanley. Aldershot showed their experience in the Final to beat Forest Green 3-0 and clinch the other promotion place.

The four lowest scorers in this season's Conference Premier were the same four teams who would suffer relegation. Alfreton Town, Ebbsfleet United, Dover Athletic and Gateshead all paid the price for their impotence.

Promoted: Barrow (1st, 88 pts), Aldershot Town (3rd, 77 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Stockport County (2nd, 78 pts), Accrington Stanley (4th, 73 pts), Forest Green Rovers (5th, 72 pts).

Relegated: Gateshead (21st, 46 pts), Dover Athletic (22nd, 44 pts), Ebbsfleet United (23rd, 39 pts), Alfreton Town (24th, 37 pts).

Conference North

Promoted: Chester (1st, 85 pts), Altrincham (2nd, 77 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Nuneaton Town (3rd, 74 pts), Tamworth (4th, 71 pts), Guiseley (5th, 69 pts).

Relegated: Chorley (20th, 44 pts), Lowestoft Town (21st, 38 pts), Market Drayton Town (22nd, 30 pts).

Conference South

Promoted: Barnet (1st, 101 pts), Dartford (5th, 65 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Farnborough (2nd, 75 pts), Canvey Island (3rd, 74 pts), Bath City (4th, 66 pts).

Relegated: Maidenhead United (20th, 37 pts), Bishop's Storftord (21st, 37 pts), Harrow Borough (22nd, 32 pts).

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: FC United of Manchester (1st), Salford City (4th).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: Romford (1st), Bury Town (4th).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Kettering Town (1st), Solihull Moors (5th).

[CFuller]

Major Transfers

• The big transfer story of the summer revolved around Wales winger Gareth Bale, who asked to leave Tottenham Hotspur after they missed out on a UEFA Champions League place. He eventually got a lucrative move to Bayern Munich, who paid £37.5million to make him the most expensive British footballer ever! But although Bale scored 19 goals during his first season in Germany, he is still waiting to win a major trophy with Bayern.
  
• Manchester City once again spent big, and their £94million spending spree produced mixed results. Full-back Sébastien Corchia (£28million from Lille) and former Manchester United centre-half Phil Jones (£20million from Tottenham) both established themselves as mainstays in the City defence. However, Spain midfielder Isco started just 14 Premier League games following his £30.5million signing from Malaga.
  
• Eyebrows were raised when Liverpool made a £16.5million swoop for Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher on deadline day. By the end of the season, anyone who had doubted the Scotland international's class was eating their words. As well as scoring 17 Premier League goals, he found the net twice in the UEFA Europa League Final against Celtic, and bagged the extra-time winner against Manchester United in the FA Cup Final.
  
• Much was expected of nouveau riche Fulham when they paid £19.25million for Sunderland winger Adam Johnson, £15.5million for Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross, and £14.25million for AC Milan midfielder Andrea Poli. But spending lots of money on top-class players does not guarantee you a top-class team, as an 11th-place finish proved. Johnson and Poli are now both seeking transfers away from Craven Cottage.
  
• England defender Chris Smalling joined Chelsea from Manchester United in a £22million move that reunited him with former United team-mate Jonny Evans. Smalling fared pretty well at Stamford Bridge, but the same could not be said of Israeli striker Omer Damari. The Blues signed Damari from Dutch side FC Twente for £12.75million - and gave him just nine minutes of Premier League football in a whole season!
  
• Chelsea's season was already falling apart when, on New Year's Day, they lost their star player Eden Hazard to Paris Saint-Germain for £38million. The French giants had already splashed out on AC Milan winger Stephan El Shaarawy and Newcastle United left-back Davide Santon, who along with Hazard played key roles in securing PSG's fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title.
  

Managerial Movements

• Chelsea weren't the only big London team to change their manager mid-season. Tottenham Hotspur were forced into a change in November when Michael Laudrup left to take over at Athletic Bilbao, who ironically had just sacked his Spurs predecessor André Villas-Boas! Tottenham then turned to Napoli's Laurent Blanc, who would ultimately lead them into the Champions League.
  
• Fulham also went for a change in manager, with David Moyes losing his job to Uruguayan Pablo Correa - another former Athletic Bilbao head coach. Moyes then returned to former club Everton in the New Year as Brian McDermott's successor, but he couldn't save the Toffees from relegation. Another club who looked back to the past were Norwich City, who got rid of Steve Bruce and restored Paul Lambert, who had walked out on them back in 2012.
  
• In mid-January, sleeping giants AC Milan caused a major shock by replacing Robert Maaskant with... Mark Hughes of Aston Villa! That kicked off a chain of managerial moves in the Premier League, as Tony Pulis (Watford to Villa), Steve McClaren (West Bromwich Albion to Watford), Martin O'Neill (Swansea City to West Brom) and Ian Holloway (Stoke City to Swansea) all went club-hopping.
  
• After their worst ever Premier League season, 5th-placed Manchester United parted company with the not-so-special José Mourinho. His successor was none other than his old adversary Josep Guardiola, as the Spaniard left a Bayern Munich side who had just surrendered their Bundesliga title to Schalke 04. Guardiola's own replacement at Bayern also caused a stir - because they poached Slaven Bilic from rivals Borussia Dortmund!
  
• Inter Milan finished runners-up in Serie A after naming a ninth new manager in just over five years! Former CSKA Moscow boss Leonid Slutskiy is the latest man to fill a hotseat previously vacated in recent seasons by Manuel Pellegrini, Walter Mazzarri and, more latterly, Alberto Malesani.
  
• A new boss seemed to do Sevilla plenty of good. They had failed to finish in La Liga's top six in their last four seasons before Joaquín Caparrós took over - and led them to 5th place at the end of his first campaign. They lost out on a Champions League place to Real Sociedad on the final day, but the signs are looking promising for Sevilla and Caparrós.
  

Other Major Stories

• Manchester United sensationally failed to qualify for the Champions League Group Stage for the first time since 1996/1997! The Reds suffered a 4-2 aggregate defeat to French side Valenciennes in the qualifying Play-Off. As a result, they dropped into the Europa League, where they were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Barcelona, who surprisingly failed to get out of their Champions League group.
  
• The Champions League Final saw Real Madrid make history as the first team to win 10 European Cups. Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo secured 'La Decima' with the decisive goals for Rafa Benítez's men in a 2-1 win against Chelsea, for whom Demba Ba grabbed a consolation.
  
• This season represented the end of an era for Chelsea, whose legendary captain John Terry hung up his boots after a career spanning 18 seasons and 456 league appearances. Goalkeeper Petr Cech is now the only remaining member of the Blues' 2005 and 2006 title-winning squads, but he too is set to leave after losing his starting place to Belgian shotstopper Thibaut Courtois.
  
• Juventus won Serie A in emphatic style, scoring 78 league goals and losing just three matches on the way to their 30th scudetto. £30million midfielder Christian Eriksen delighted Juve fans following his summer move from Ajax, while former Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster was a surprisingly impressive replacement for the now-retired Gianluigi Buffon.
  
• In France's Ligue 1, Valenciennes enjoyed their best ever season by finishing second behind Paris Saint-Germain. But four years after being crowned champions, Montpellier came 19th and were relegated to Ligue 2!
  
• Twelve months on from losing an epic title battle with PSV, Martin Jol's Ajax finally got their hands on the Eredivisie again. Indeed, Ajax won by a massive 20-point gap from FC Utrecht, and they actually looked on course to go the whole league campaign unbeaten until AZ Alkmaar tripped them up in their 30th game!
  

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Liverpool 3-2 Manchester United (aet).

League Cup: Arsenal 2-1 Everton (aet).

Community Shield: Manchester City 2-1 Manchester United.

Football League Trophy: Charlton Athletic 3-0 Fleetwood Town (aet)

UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid 2-1 Chelsea - at San Siro, Milan.

UEFA Europa League: Liverpool 3-2 Celtic - at Estádio do Dragao, Porto.

UEFA Super Cup: Valencia 0-0 Porto (3-0 penalties) - at Mikheil Meskhi, Tbilisi.

FIFA Club World Championship: Porto 4-1 Botafogo - at FNB Stadium, Soweto.

Major European Leagues

Dutch Eredivisie: Ajax (1st), FC Utrecht (2nd), FC Twente (3rd).

French Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain (1st), Valenciennes (2nd), Marseille (3rd).

German Bundesliga: Schalke 04 (1st), Bayern Munich (2nd), Borussia Dortmund (3rd).

Italian Serie A: Juventus (1st), Inter Milan (2nd), Lazio (3rd).

Portuguese Primeira Liga: Sporting CP (1st), Benfica (2nd), Porto (3rd).

Russian Premier League: CSKA Moscow (1st), Spartak Moscow (2nd), Anji Makhachkala (3rd).

Scottish Premier League: Celtic (1st), Heart of Midlothian (2nd), Rangers (3rd).

Spanish La Liga: Real Madrid (1st), Atlético Madrid (2nd), Barcelona (3rd).

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Luis Suárez (Liverpool).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Neymar (Manchester United).

FWA Footballer of the Year: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City).

Premier League Manager of the Season: Rémi Garde (Liverpool).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Sébastien Corchia (Manchester City), Matija Nastasic (Manchester City), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Leighton Baines (Manchester City), Oscar (Chelsea), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), David Silva (Manchester City), Neymar (Manchester United), Carlos Tevez (Newcastle United), Luis Suárez (Liverpool).

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Lionel Messi (Barcelona).

World Soccer World Player of the Year: Lionel Messi (Barcelona).

European Golden Shoe: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid).

UEFA Best Player in Europe: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid).

FIFA/FIFPro World XI: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Javi Martínez (Bayern Munich), David Alaba (Manchester United), Yaya Touré (Manchester City), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Isco (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Luis Suárez (Liverpool).

[CFuller]

Qualification

With 24 teams competing in the European Championship finals for the first time, most of the continent's big guns got through the qualifiers without breaking much sweat. Spain and Italy remained unbeaten in qualifying along with Romania, but the only 100% records were held by Germany (who only conceded one goal) and, er, Slovenia. FIFA World Cup holders Ukraine won their group despite suffering an early home defeat to Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Holland came close to missing out on another major tournament, and only a shock final-round defeat for Serbia against Belarus allowed them to qualify automatically. In the end, only two teams from the Euro 2012 finals failed to make it through to the next edition - Greece and Republic of Ireland.

With 12 goals, the top scorer in the qualifiers was Jordan Rhodes, who helped Scotland reach their first major tournament at senior level since 1998. Along with the aforementioned Bosnia, Slovakia will make their European Championship debut, as will Serbia for the first time in their current form.

QUALIFIERS: Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France (hosts), Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (holders), Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine.

Group Stage

Ukraine entered Euro 2016 as one of the favourites, but after winning their Group A opener against Bosnia & Herzegovina, they drew their next two games and could only finish second behind Czech Republic. In Group B, Germany continued their 100% record and went through along with Belgium.

Holders Spain started strongly with two wins and a draw in Group C, while Russia snuck through to the last 16 after Arseny Logashov got them a last-round victory against Sweden. Group D saw just eight goals - none of them coming in the final round - as Switzerland won it, and Turkey took second just ahead of Italy on goal difference.

The decline of Dutch football continued when Holland finished bottom of Group E, which was headed by unbeaten Poland and inconsistent Portugal. England and France held a duopoly over Group F, and the Three Lions topped it after two goals from Danny Welbeck helped them to thrash Slovakia 6-1.

When the dust settled, the four best third-placed teams joined the top two sides from each group in Round 2. The lucky quartet were Croatia, Italy, Sweden... and Scotland, who reached the knockout stages for the very first time.

GROUP A: Czech Republic* (1st, 7 pts), Ukraine* (2nd, 5 pts), Slovenia (3rd, 2 pts), Bosnia & Herzegovina (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP B: Germany* (1st, 9 pts), Belgium* (2nd, 6 pts), Scotland* (3rd, 3 pts), Serbia (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP C: Spain* (1st, 7 pts), Russia* (2nd, 4 pts), Sweden* (3rd, 3 pts), Romania (4th, 2 pts).

GROUP D: Switzerland* (1st, 7 pts), Turkey* (2nd, 4 pts), Italy* (3rd, 4 pts), Norway (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP E: Poland* (1st, 7 pts), Portugal* (2nd, 4 pts), Croatia* (3rd, 3 pts), Holland (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP F: England* (1st, 7 pts), France* (2nd, 7 pts), Denmark (3rd, 1 pt), Slovakia (4th, 1 pt).

* through to Round 2

Round 2

Belgium were the first team through to the Quarter Finals after Christian Benteke, Eden Hazard and Thomas Vermaelen all scored against Czech Republic. The Red Devils will take on hosts France, who saw off Poland 2-0. New Arsenal signing Moussa Sissoko got the first goal, and that was followed by one from Gunners team-mate Antoine Griezmann.

Germany's charge towards the title continued with a 2-0 win against Italy, as Bayern Munich's Mario Gómez scored both goals to take his tournament tally to six. Later on, England's hopes were undone by a supreme display from Sweden. A penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic - who was playing in his final tournament before retiring - and Pontus Wernbloom's header sent the Three Lions home early.

Ukraine overcame a potentially difficult test against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, as the world champs won 3-1. That was followed by one of the biggest upsets in international football. Holders Spain were sensationally dumped out by Scotland, for whom Blackburn Rovers ace Rhodes scored two goals in a historic game!

Croatia showed true grit in their Round 2 match against Switzerland, fighting back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to force extra-time. Young striker Marko Kolar then scored his second goal of the game to put the Croats through. The final game of the round was an ill-tempered affair between Turkey and Russia that went to penalties. Russia had full-back Konstantin Rausch sent off just before the shoot-out, which they eventually won 5-4 against the nine-man Turks.

RESULTS: Belgium 3-0 Czech Republic, France 2-0 Poland, Germany 2-0 Italy, Sweden 2-0 England, Ukraine 3-1 Portugal, Scotland 2-1 Spain, Croatia 3-2 Switzerland (aet), Russia 1-1 Turkey (5-4 penalties).

Quarter Finals

France's title bid continued in the Quarter Finals, whilst Belgium's fell apart spectacularly. Olivier Giroud scored the only goal of a close game after 15 minutes, and Belgium lost Radja Nainggolan to a second yellow card five minutes later. Vermaelen also saw red for the Red Devils later on in the game. Meanwhile, Germany made extremely light work of Sweden. The Mannschaft grabbed two second-half goals through Toni Kroos and Mario Gotze, and they controlled possession so efficiently that the Swedes didn't even manage a single shot at goal!

Russia's pair of AKs gunned down Croatia in the third Quarter Final. Alexandr Kokorin and Alexandr Kerzhakov both found the net, and to make matters worse for the beaten Croats, they lost defender Dejan Lovren to a late red card. Not content with dumping out the European champions, Scotland scalped world champions Ukraine to complete the Semi Final line-up. A goal from Gary Mackay-Steven and a magnificent lob from Rhodes ensured that Gordon Strachan's Tartan Army marched on to the final four.

RESULTS: France 1-0 Belgium, Germany 2-0 Sweden, Russia 2-0 Croatia, Scotland 2-0 Ukraine.

Semi Finals

In a rematch of the 2014 World Cup Semi Final, France took on Russia in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. Russia looked set to gain revenge after just seven minutes, when Rio Mavuba's foul in the penalty area allowed Artem Dzyuba to score from the spot. But Jérémy Menez equalised in the 38th minute for Les Bleus, who went from strength to strength in the second half. A 61st-minute strike from Jimmy Briand and another Menez goal ten minutes later put France into their third European Championship Final.

Scotland's big day at Parc des Princes in Paris turned out to be an anti-climax, with Joachim Low's Germany proving one obstacle too many. Once again, it was the midfield duo of Kroos and Gotze that excelled for the Mannschaft, as they scored in the 10th and 84th minutes respectively. After a decade of disappointment, would Low finally take a major trophy home to Berlin?

RESULTS: France 3-1 Russia, Germany 2-0 Scotland.

Final

France vs Germany at Paris's Stade de France promised to be a European Championship Final to remember - but it wasn't. Les Bleus struggled terribly without Giroud, who was injured against the Russians, and they needed strong performances from full-backs Sébastien Corchia and Mamadou Sakho to keep the dominant Germans at bay. When Mesut Ozil strained his knee ligaments after an hour, the attacking threat Germany posed was significantly reduced, and Low's men were unable to convert possession into goals.

The game was still goalless after 90 minutes, plus 30 more of extra-time, so a penalty shoot-out would decide the Euro Final for the first time since 1976. Germany lost on that occasion, and things started badly for them when Hugo Lloris saved two of their first three penalties, while France scored their opening three. Manuel Neuer then kept the Mannschaft in contention by saving from Sissoko and Karim Benzema. Les Bleus were 3-2 up ahead of Germany's fifth and final penalty, which Mats Hummels had to convert. The Borussia Dortmund defender fired it straight down the middle and into Lloris's hands, at which point the ground erupted! France were les champions!

While former captain Didier Deschamps celebrated his biggest triumph as a manager, current Les Bleus skipper Lloris proudly lifted the famous trophy named after his compatriot Henri Delaunay. This was France's third win in the European Championship, and their second on home soil.

RESULT: France 0-0 Germany (3-2 penalties).

Award Winners

Best Player: Marouane Fellaini (Belgium).

Golden Boot: Mario Gómez (Germany, 6 goals).

Best Goal: Olivier Giroud (France, vs Slovakia - Group Stage).

Dream Team: Hugo Lloris (France), Sébastien Corchia (France), Alexander Milosevic (Sweden), Kurt Zouma (France), Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Marouane Fellaini (Belgium), Lars Bender (Germany), Mario Gotze (Germany), Jordan Rhodes (Scotland), Mario Gómez (Germany).

[oche balboa]

Brilliant update that

[CFuller]

Brilliant update that

Cheers. The first update of Season 5 will be up very shortly.

[CFuller]

Four years after my arrival at Romford, we were gearing up for our first ever campaign in the Conference South. It had been a surprisingly quick rise to the sixth tier of English football for us.

When I took over at the end of the 2011/2012 season, we had just finished 13th in the Isthmian League Division 1 North. My first season in charge ended with us rising up to 3rd, and victory in the Play-Offs got us into the Isthmian League Premier Division. There, we followed up an 8th-place finish in 2013/2014 with a 3rd, and then a 1st, which got us up to where we are today.

We are now just one more promotion away from the lowest truly national league - the Conference Premier - and only two away from our holy grail of the Football League. However, this new season is not about aiming for the top of the Conference South. It is about survival, plain and simple.

In order to survive in our new surroundings, we needed to bolster our ranks with some new signings. By the start of pre-season, we'd only recruited one - Graeme Montgomery.

Monty's arrival may have greatly boosted our midfield, but we really needed to sort out the defence. We conceded 64 goals last term, and without improving our backline, we could easily be cannon fodder in the Conference South. My priority was to find a new partner for Connor Dymond at centre-back. Although George Allen and Mark Betteridge are both pretty solid, I'm not sure either of them has the aerial presence or man-marking skills needed to succeed at this level.

I also wanted to find a good goalkeeping understudy to Roscoe Fryatt, now that Joel Wilkinson had left. One player I had in mind was an 18-year-old called Jim Hughes, who like Roscoe had come through Luton Town's youth setup before leaving Kenilworth Road. However, Hughes turned down our offer and decided to sign for Slough Town instead. It's not particularly great news when you are considered to be less attractive than Slough!

While my searches for a centre-back and a goalkeeper were still ongoing, I found a potential midfield signing who could take some responsibility off Graeme's shoulders. 21-year-old former Harrow Borough playmaker Dan Lawlor arrived on a four-week trial, and he could stay here if he impresses.

Pre-season would be a little different this year, and not just because we had less time to prepare before the league matches got started. As champions of the Isthmian League, we were invited to take part in the Isthmian League Charity Shield on 19 July. We would be playing host to Lewes, who won the Isthmian League Cup last season after knocking us out in Round 3.

Before then, we had two away friendlies, with the first of them coming against Essex Senior League side Eton Manor. As construction work got underway on our new training facilities, we took to the Capershotts field in Waltham Abbey to face a team based three divisions below us.

12 July 2016: Eton Manor vs Romford

Eton Manor tried to frighten us with a long-distance shot after just ten seconds, but Brendan Houghton never looked like scoring from it. In the 3rd minute, Boro winger Nick Fenwick made a devastating run down the left wing, and his cross deflected off home defender Arron Hoyle's backside before Jay Vassell half-volleyed in the rebound! We were already in the lead, though it would be a while before we really asserted our authority on proceedings. Daniel Akindayini fired a good chance high and wide in the 22nd minute. On the half-hour, Kieron Carroll headed Kamal Guthmy's cross against the bar before Braves keeper Izak Pointer got hold of it. Three minutes after that, another Guthmy delivery deflected off two Eton Manor players and fell fortuitously to Carroll, who clinically fired in our second goal. The Boro skipper would find the target again after 37 minutes. Mark Betteridge's header from Dean O'Halloran's corner hit the far post, but Kieron stabbed in the loose ball to make the score 3-0.

We weren't so dominant in the second half, with our only real chance to add a fourth goal coming when the woodwork denied Betteridge again on 69 minutes. Manor improved markedly on the defensive front after their Eton mess of a first period. The minnows also registered a number of shots against us, but they were almost exclusively from long range, and a shut-out looked almost certain. However, with four minutes to go, they crafted together an excellent attacking move, and Larry Scott's through-ball was tapped into the net by James Hall-Naylor. I was disappointed that we did not keep a clean sheet, but this was a comfortable and straightforward win nevertheless.

Eton Manor - 1 (Hall-Naylor 86)

Romford - 3 (Vassell 3, Carroll 34,37)

Friendly, Attendance 52

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Woolley (Fryatt), Peters (Newman), Rofe (Dymond), Betteridge (Allen), Guthmy (Collins), O'Halloran (Harley), Fisk (Jones), Vassell (Lawlor), Fenwick (Montgomery), Carroll (Greenwood), Akindayini (Reynolds).

That game was followed by a trip to Maldon & Tiptree, who were finally promoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division last season after several years in the upper reaches of the Isthmian North. They would surely pose a greater threat than Eton Manor.

16 July 2016: Maldon & Tiptree vs Romford

After a slow start, the game got going midway through the first half. In the 18th minute, Jason Harley curled a deep cross towards the Maldon & Tiptree goal, and experienced defender Paul Goodacre headed it off the line just before it could find the net! Less than two minutes later, the Blues were on the attack themselves. Lewis Ochoa's header was spectacularly volleyed into the net by Anthony Cousins - one of many new faces at the Wallace Binder Ground this season. Maldon & Tiptree were 1-0 up, but they didn't have long to celebrate that lead. In the 21st minute, Jason Harley left Blues full-back Dominic Thorley for dead, and then sent the ball across goal for Romford new boy Graeme Montgomery to smash it into the top corner! It was a great moment for Monty, but attention quickly turned to young right-back Jordan Peters, who was down in the Maldon area having been badly injured in the build-up to that goal. His game was over early, and six minutes later, so was Dan Lawlor's. The trialist was unable to continue after hurting himself while slide-tackling Ochoa. Those two injuries thankfully didn't affect us too badly, as we grabbed the lead late in the first half. Current Boro hero Nicky Reynolds set up a second goal for Montgomery, whose low shot into the bottom corner put him well on the road to becoming our new fans' favourite!

Winger Liam Devine nearly gave Maldon & Tiptree a fluke equaliser just over a minute into the second half, when his 35-yard outswinger hit the crossbar. That was an early warning from the Blues, whose former Doncaster Rovers midfielder Jake McCormick hit a low shot that Roscoe Fryatt did well to catch in the 58th minute. Ten minutes later, a byline cross from Maldon's former Billericay Town midfielder Sam Lechmere hit the top of the bar and almost fell nicely for Ashley Miller. Fortunately for us, Boro full-back Kamal Guthmy dispossessed the right-winger just in time by. We had another close shave on 79 minutes, when Erkan Okay's delivery was headed against the frame by schoolboy Graham Fraser, who was then flagged offside. The Blues finally broke through with four minutes remaining, as Fraser found Gary Warren in loads of space, and the 19-year-old slotted in a dramatic equaliser. A draw was no less than Maldon & Tiptree deserved, while I too was satisfied despite losing the lead so late on.

Maldon & Tiptree - 2 (Cousins 20, Warren 86)

Romford - 2 (Montgomery 21,45)

Friendly, Attendance 37

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt (Woolley), Peters (Newman), Dymond (Georgiou), Allen (Betteridge), Collins (Guthmy), Neville (Jones), Lawlor (Vassell), Harley (O'Halloran (Akindayini)), Reynolds (Carroll), Montgomery (Fenwick), Greenwood (Stroud). BOOKED: Vassell.

Dan Lawlor had bruised his rib in that game, meaning that he would be out for at least a week. Jordan Peters' injury was much more serious, as he'd torn his knee ligaments and wouldn't be back in action for three months. I was hoping to fast-track 17-year-old Jordan into the first-team this season, but I guess he will have to wait.

After just two away friendlies, we were back at Ship Lane for our first competitive match of the season. It was the Isthmian League Charity Shield against Lewes, which for us represented a great chance to start off the new campaign with some silverware. Home advantage made us the oh-so-slight favourites, although we'd always found the Rooks to be tough opponents.

19 July 2016: Romford vs Lewes

This game was obviously important to Romford fans, as they set a club-record attendance of 965. We would really need their support from the outset, because Lewes took the game to us early on. Omar Rowe and Tim Rivers both missed shots for the Rooks within the opening seven minutes, and star striker Alassan Ann fired high and wide in the 14th minute. Two minutes later, winger David Adedipe moved to the edge of our penalty area and unleashed a vicious low strike that deflected off the post! We struggled to stop this tidal wave of Lewes attacks, and we also found it hard to create chances of our own. Kieron Carroll broke into the penalty area on 21 minutes, but he didn't have enough space to get a decent shot in and dragged the ball wide. Nicky Reynolds was forced to come off with a knock three minutes later, and I hoped that his replacement Duncan Greenwood would be able to get on the end of our wingers' crosses. That proved to be easier said than done, with Lewes' tall centre-backs Matt Drage and Josh Staunton each making regular interceptions. At the other end, the Rooks came closer to breaking through, as Rivers drove a 29th-minute effort into the side netting. Greenwood put a rare Boro chance just wide in the 40th minute, but four minutes later, the inevitable happened. Rowe played a one-two with James Quilter and then found Ann in the penalty area. Connor Dymond and Danny Newman both put Ann under pressure, but Danny's challenge on the striker knocked the ball on to Rivers, whose vicious strike gave the visitors from Sussex a 1-0 lead.

Our crossing clearly wasn't working in the first half, so we changed tactic after the break, and tried to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible. That helped us a bit... but now our main problem was our shooting accuracy. A shot from Graeme Montgomery sailed wide in the 49th minute, and an even worse effort from Greenwood ten minutes later almost flew out of the ground! We finally got a shot on target after 65 minutes, when Lewes skipper Daren Hawkes pushed away a powerful effort taken by Duncan. The Rooks' interception of Monty's resulting corner only went as far as Dean O'Halloran, who headed the ball back into the penalty area. Captain Carroll struck it on the half-volley, and the ball flew just inches too high. Lewes had lost their dangerous winger Rowe to a minor injury by then, and they struggled to make chances without him. Two wide efforts from Rivers were the only opportunities Lewes would have to build a greater lead, but in the end, one goal was all they needed. Despite having the lion's share of possession, we paid the price for our inability to get enough crosses into the box, and the Charity Shield went instead to a Lewes side who had defended doggedly.

Romford - 0

Lewes - 1 (Rivers 44)

Isthmian League Charity Shield, Attendance 965

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond, Allen, Collins, Jones, Fisk (Vassell), O'Halloran, Carroll, Montgomery (Fenwick), Reynolds (Greenwood). BOOKED: Fisk.

Once again, we failed to deliver on the big occasion, but we had to quickly put this defeat behind us. We still had three more friendlies to brush up on our tactics and defensive skills ahead of the new league season.

[CFuller]

The bookmakers made us sixth-favourites at 14-1 to win the Conference South, just behind the likes of Dover Athletic (5-2 favourites) and Ebbsfleet United (3-1). Given that we were total novices at this level, I thought those odds were overly generous to us!

Our form in the first half of pre-season did not suggest that we were likely to pull up any trees in our new league. A good performance at home to League Two side Aldershot Town, though, would raise a few eyebrows. The Hampshire club returned to the Football League last season after coming through the Conference Premier Play-Offs.

23 July 2016: Romford vs Aldershot Town

We started positively, but it was actually Aldershot who had the first scoring chance in the 5th minute. Aidan Chippendale stole the ball off Boro full-back Rhys Turner in the Aldershot half, and raced to our byline before crossing to Kieron Cadogan, who volleyed into the side netting. The Shots countered again five minutes later. Moments after goalkeeper Ross Worner tipped away Jason Harley's swerving effort, Cadogan advanced into our penalty area and laid the ball off for Liam Hughes to finish. It was 1-0 to Aldershot, and Hughes had a fantastic opportunity to double that lead six minutes later. Mark Betteridge failed to intercept Cadogan's headed pass to Hughes, and the former Cambridge United striker fired his shot against the crossbar! After getting away with that mistake, Betteridge sent a lovely long ball to Duncan Greenwood on 22 minutes, but Dunc couldn't guide his shot goalwards. Five minutes later, Turner hoisted a long free-kick into the Aldershot area, and Daniel Akindayini broke free of the defence to nod Rhys's delivery across the goal line! At first, I thought Danny might have been offside, but the linesman's flag stayed down and we were level! Aldershot attacked us with renewed vigour following our equaliser. In the 31st minute, Roscoe Fryatt's save from Dean Cummings' strike gave them a corner. Chippendale's delivery was headed across goal by Irish midfielder Gearóid Morrissey, and Cadogan flicked the ball home from the far post. The Shots led again, and this time, they managed to stay in front until the interval.

On 53 minutes, Graeme Montgomery's outswinging corner into the Shots area found Betteridge, whose header skimmed the crossbar and went out. That was our best chance to equalise, and it transpired to be our last. While we looked more solid defensively after the break, our attacking efforts suffered as a result. Fryatt did his best to stop Aldershot from completely demolishing us by making saves from Aaron Morris in the 57th minute and Chippendale five minutes later. Youth goalkeeper Paul Woolley replaced Ros for the last 15 minutes, and he too showed what he was capable of. In the 79th minute, Paul used his fingertips to send a close-range effort from Hughes over the bar. Four minutes later, though, he was beaten by former Northern Ireland Under-21s striker Tommy Stewart, who dribbled into the area before sealing a 3-1 win for Aldershot.

Romford - 1 (Akindayini 27)

Aldershot Town - 3 (Hughes 10, Cadogan 31, Stewart 83)

Friendly, Attendance 279

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt (Woolley), R Turner (Newman), Rofe (Allen), Betteridge (Georgiou), Guthmy (Collins), Harley (O'Halloran), Fisk (Vassell), Neville (Jones), Montgomery (Fenwick), Greenwood (Stroud), Akindayini (Reynolds).

It was another brave but ultimately futile effort at home against a so-called bigger team. Our confidence had been dented somewhat by consecutive defeats, and we hoped to get some back when we travelled to Leatherhead in Surrey. The Tanners have been one of the best teams in the Isthmian South for several years now, but they've not quite managed to take that next step into the Isthmian Premier.

27 July 2016: Leatherhead vs Romford

We last played Leatherhead in the Isthmian League Cup four years ago. We smashed them 5-1 back then, but the Tanners put up a fight from the very start of this game. Former AFC Bournemouth midfielder Josh Wakefield hit a header against the side netting in the second minute. In the 9th minute, Tom Winters hit a powerful shot that our rookie keeper Paul Woolley excellently tipped around his post. Jay Vassell had our first shot of the game after 19 minutes, but it was a total waste from 25 yards out. Three minutes later, Leatherhead's promising start got even better, as Winters struck a left-footed piledriver that was too powerful for Woolley. Leatherhead were leading 1-0! Former Brackley Town forward Winters had three more chances for the Tanners before half-time, but two went wide and the last one was easily caught by Woolley. Only God knew how we were still in this game!

We stuck with our long-ball strategy in the second half, and we upped the tempo as well. That turned out to be utterly foolish, as we constantly gave away possession - and chances - to Leatherhead. Max Lette-jallow came within inches of adding a second Tanners goal in the 47th minute, as he easily got past George Allen before narrowly missing the target. On 71 minutes, home duo David May and John Lesley van Engel exchanged passes before May played in winger Aaron Brown. His cross was poorly intercepted by Jason Collins, and substitute keeper Roscoe Fryatt then fumbled the ball, but Connor Dymond spared their blushes by cleaning up before van Engel could strike. A second goal for Leatherhead was now seemingly unavoidable. When Iain Liggett marked his Romford first-team debut by lunging in on May in the 80th minute, the hosts had a fantastic opportunity to go 2-0 up from the penalty spot. Brett Jordan emphatically converted the penalty, consigning us to another defeat. Four minutes later, a horrible day for us got even more embarrassing. Boro midfielder Brian Neville broke away from defender Zak Farr to get a clear view of the Leatherhead goal... and then he skewed his shot wide. Nicky Reynolds also missed the target late on as we ended the game without creating a single shot on goal. Pathetic.

Leatherhead - 2 (Winters 22, Jordan pen80)

Romford - 0

Friendly, Attendance 43

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Woolley (Fryatt), Newman (Rofe), Dymond (Liggett), Allen (Betteridge), R Turner (Collins), Jones (Morrison), Vassell (Neville), O'Halloran (Harley), Carroll (Reynolds), Fenwick (Montgomery), Ramsey (Akindayini). BOOKED: Carroll.

Very few competitive matches, let alone friendlies, leave me so frustrated that I feel like punching a wall - but I did just that after we returned to the dressing room. It was a completely hopeless display against a team from two tiers below, as Leatherhead made a total mockery of our hapless direct passing game.

I decided that we should go back to basic, no-frills 4-4-2 for our final friendly. It was unlikely to get us a win at home to Southend United - one of the traditional giants of Essex football - but all I wanted from this game was something positive. We needed to give our fans a reason to be hopeful ahead of the new campaign.

Dan Lawlor returned to action in this game following his injury lay-off - indeed, it would be his first appearance in a Romford shirt since he signed a one-year deal to stay at Ship Lane. Dan had only played a couple of games while on trial, and he didn't play particularly well in either of them, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to sign a deep-lying midfielder of his calibre. Those types of players don't grow on trees, you know.

Meanwhile, we loaned out one of our players to another club for the first time since I took charge. 18-year-old striker Gerald Stroud will spend three months getting first-team experience at Isthmian Premier side Burgess Hill Town.

30 July 2016: Romford vs Southend United

Things already looked ominous after three minutes, when Brennan Dickenson had an attempt at goal for the Conference Premier visitors. Fortunately, the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee couldn't keep his shot down. Southend defender Dave Winfield then headed a corner wide in the 17th minute. On 31 minutes, Graeme Montgomery's corner for Romford was intercepted by Ryan Leonard, and the Shrimpers went on the counter-attack. Dickenson made a run down the right flank and found Welsh veteran Stuart Fleetwood, whose shot was pushed away by Roscoe Fryatt. We were at risk of getting swamped by Southend's attacks, but we improved markedly in the last ten minutes of the half. Dan Lawlor put a long-range shot wide in the 36th minute, shortly before he was booked for fouling Shrimpers defender Tom Miller. Seven minutes later, Ryan Jones volleyed a pass up to Nicky Reynolds, who controlled the ball and hit a low shot that Southend goalkeeper Luke Chambers parried away. When the half-time whistle blew soon after, we were feeling positive about our chances for once!

Duncan Greenwood got himself in a good position to shoot on the edge of Southend's area after almost exactly an hour. But after receiving Daniel Akindayini's pass, Big Dunc fired straight at defender Curtis Langton. The Shrimpers were attacking us again within moments, and winger Tommy Thompson nearly gave them a fluke goal when he crossed towards the far corner. Ros parried it over, but his and our relief at still being level would only last until the 66th minute. 17-year-old midfielder Niall Wiltshire lobbed the ball over George Allen's head and found his fellow teenager Danny Read, who finally got Southend on the scoreboard with a coolly-taken effort. We felt deflated, but three minutes later, a moment's hesitation from Langton allowed Romford captain Kieron Carroll to take the ball in Southend's area. After being hassled by defenders, Kieron drew the ball back to Simon Rofe, who crossed from deep and found the head of Daniel Akindayini. Just like against Aldershot Town, Danny headed us back to level pegging at 1-1! This time, though, we genuinely felt that we could go on and win! In the 84th minute, Paul Woolley got hold of a piledriver from journeyman striker Richard Brodie that would've restored United's advantage. Less than two minutes later, Akindayini put a through-ball into the Southend box... and Bobby Fisk tapped it into the corner of the net! I could hardly believe it! We were about to win 2-1 against Southend freaking United!

Hurt at having gone 2-1 down, Southend attacked us again straight from the kick-off. Roy Bell played a pinpoint cross to 16-year-old Read, who broke into the area and then broke our hearts with an equalising goal - just 15 seconds after play had restarted! We were now basically playing for the draw, and even that was still up in the air. Young Boro defender Liam Georgiou was partially at fault for Southend's equaliser, and he had another horror show in the dying moments of injury time. Liam was outjumped by Tyrrell Waite, who tried to find Brodie with a header into the box. Connor Dymond beat Brodie to the ball and flicked it to Simon Rofe, who hoofed it out of play. Simon's clearance wasn't perfect, and Southend had one last chance via a corner, which Michael Timlin drifted into the six-yard box. Guess what happened next. Yep... Waite nodded it past Woolley from point-blank range, and the Shrimpers stole a 3-2 win. (Facepalm.)

Romford - 2 (Akindayini 69, Fisk 86)

Southend United - 3 (Read 66,87, Waite 90)

Friendly, Attendance 442

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt (Woolley), Newman (Rofe), Betteridge (Dymond), Allen (Georgiou), Collins (Guthmy), Harley (O'Halloran), Jones (Fisk), Lawlor (Neville), Montgomery (Fenwick), Greenwood (Carroll), Reynolds (Akindayini). BOOKED: Lawlor.

Pre-season had been nothing short of a catastrophe, and this gut-wrenching climax was the nadir. We had won just one of our six games (against an Eton Manor side that even our players' grandmothers could beat), we'd failed to keep a single clean sheet, and we were on a four-match losing streak.

The opening match of the league campaign was now on the horizon... but we wouldn't have been less ready if we had spent the whole of July playing Extreme Farming Simulator 2016 on the PlayStation 5.

[CFuller]

(All ages correct as of 1 August 2016)

GOALKEEPERS

Roscoe Fryatt (age 19, English)

I'm giving another chance to Roscoe, but he'll have to improve on his three clean sheets from last term.

Paul Woolley (age 17, English)

Paul starts the campaign as our second-choice keeper after showing promise in pre-season.

DEFENDERS

George Allen (age 22, English)

Brave centre-half George has established himself as a solid and consistent presence in our backline.

Mark Betteridge (age 19, English)

Mark is our tallest and most aggressive defender, but he is certainly not one of our most consistent.

Jason Collins (age 19, English)

After a shaky start, hard-working Jason is finding his feet as a left wing-back and is improving all the time.

Connor Dymond (age 21, English)

Connor is an excellent defensive stopper who can make crucial game-saving tackles and interceptions.

Liam Georgiou (age 16, English)

Liam played in some of our friendlies, but the determined centre-back still has a lot of developing to do.

Kamal Guthmy (age 21, English)

Kamal has lost his starting place to Collins after struggling for consistency at the back end of last season.

Iain Liggett (age 16, Northern Irish)

Although he's not the tallest defender, Ulster native Iain makes up for that with good composure.

Danny Newman (age 20, English)

Danny has pace to burn, but the tough-tackling right-back sometimes burns himself out, and that's a concern.

Jordan Peters (age 17, English)

Right-back Jordan must wait until October to start his first full season in the senior team due to injury.

Simon Rofe (age 19, English)

Simon can play anywhere in defence, and he could be a top Conference defender if he realises his potential.

Rhys Turner (age 17, English)

Rhys has played a few times for the first team already, but the youth left-back is wildly inconsistent.

MIDFIELDERS

Nick Fenwick (age 19, English)

Nick is not only a fit and skilful left-winger, but he is also - get this - a consistent Romford player!

Bobby Fisk (age 18, English)

I'm considering sending Bobby out on loan to sharpen his midfield skills and get extra experience.

Jason Harley (age 19, English)

Jason is a joy to watch at times, and the right-winger was named Romford's Player of the Year last term.

Ryan Jones (age 25, Australian)

Antipodean central midfielder Ryan creates plenty of chances with his passing - when he's fit.

Dean Kurrant (age 16, English)

Dean's dribbling skills are pretty good, but the right-footed left-winger must improve his crossing.

Dan Lawlor (age 21, English)

Dan can be an excellent deep-lying playmaker if the ex-Harrow Borough man starts this season well.

Graeme Montgomery (age 28, English)

In terms of technical ability, Graeme is our best ever signing, and he could be crucial to our survival hopes.

Daniel Morrison (age 16, English)

I'm very excited about central midfielder Daniel, who may be knocking on the first-team door pretty soon.

Brian Neville (age 19, English)

Brian had his best season yet in the previous campaign, and he will be looking to build on that.

Dean O'Halloran (age 20, Irish)

Dean's pace and crossing ability can cause opposition defences nightmares when he's fully concentrating.

Christian Turner (age 16, English)

I'm not sure if Christian will make it at senior level, as he shows too much flair for a defensive midfielder.

Jay Vassell (age 20, English)

Jay never gives less than 100% in a Romford shirt and is now part of the Ship Lane furniture.

FORWARDS

Daniel Akindayini (age 20, English)

Daniel headed home two goals in pre-season and I want him to up his scoring in the league this year.

Kieron Carroll (age 20, English)

Kieron is our captain once again, and whenever he finds the net, you can be sure that he'll go on a hot run.

Duncan Greenwood (age 20, English)

Our new vice-captain Duncan is beastly in the air, and he can also score prolifically with his feet.

Colin Ingham (age 17, English)

Colin showed glimpses of his talent in two sub appearances last term, and there might be more to come.

Vasilis Koutinis (age 16, Greek)

Vasilis is destined for a bright future at Romford if he can stay fit and perform well for the Under-18s.

Johnnie McGee (age 17, English)

With so many strikers in the youth team, Johnnie might have to move into midfield if he's to have a future.

Kenny Pollard (age 16, English)

Kenny has an excellent attitude, and the tall striker will work his socks off to make it in the senior ranks.

Nico Ramsey (age 17, English)

I'm afraid that Nico might be wasting his talent, as he wastes far too many scoring chances.

Nicky Reynolds (age 28, English)

Nicky is close to scoring his 100th league goal for me, but can the great man hold onto his place?

Gerald Stroud (age 18, English)

Gerald will spend three months at Burgess Hill Town before he tries to challenge for a place here.

BACKROOM STAFF

Manager: Christopher Fuller

Assistant Manager: Wayne Daniel

Coaches: Mitch Fellows, Simon Glover, Sammy Winston

Head of Youth Development: Ricki Mackin

Physio: John Kelly

Scout: Dean Standen

[CFuller]

The biggest season in our history was about to get into full swing, but I wasn't looking forward to it. For the first time, I felt a sense of fear and trepidation before the opening league game, and not the excitement that I usually had at this time of year.

We had just finished pre-season by losing four consecutive matches - a run that had sapped all the confidence out of our squad. It was almost as if we had forgotten how to win.

We shipped 12 goals in six pre-season matches, and I knew that such a leaky defence was unlikely to survive in the Conference South, but finding new blood was proving much more difficult than I had anticipated. Identifying a strong and tactically astute centre-back who didn't want ridiculous wages was like trying to find a non-white face at a UKIP party conference.

For the time being, I would have to settle with what we had, and hope that the likes of Mark Betteridge and Simon Rofe had used up most of their season's worth of mistakes in July. That may sound a little strange, but it's obviously better if you have your off-days when there's nothing at stake.

Anyway, I'll move swiftly on to our first ever Conference South match, which took place at Bromley on 6 August. The last time we played Bromley was in the FA Trophy two seasons ago, when they smashed us out of the park. Would this meeting have a different outcome?

6 August 2016: Bromley vs Romford

Graeme Montgomery had an early chance to stun his old club when he crossed towards goal after just 25 seconds, but goalkeeper Conor O'Donnell caught it comfortably. Moments later, the Lilywhites had their first shot through captain Solomon Taiwo, who drove the ball wide from distance. Boro keeper Roscoe Fryatt then saved an effort from Les Warner as we weathered an early Bromley storm. In the 10th minute, Monty passed to fellow Romford newbie Dan Lawlor, who crossed to Kieron Carroll in the Bromley box. Kieron cushioned a header back to Ryan Jones, and the Australian deftly controlled the ball before half-volleying past O'Donnell! Our Conference South debut had got off to the best possible start! Carroll could've added a second Romford goal three minutes later, but his effort went straight at O'Donnell. In the 16th minute, Bromley midfielder Ben Marlow found Warner in too much space just inside our penalty box, and the teenage striker struck the post when he should have buried an equaliser. That was a warning we did not heed, and after 27 minutes, Warner did level the scores with a stunning 20-yarder. We'd lost our lead, and we also lost the man that gave us it when Jones's match was ended by injury after 38 minutes. Bromley turned up the heat about five minutes later. Roscoe made two brilliant point-blank saves to deny Oliver Kelly and then Johnny Cosgrove. The second save led to a corner, which Danny Lowe swung towards winger Bagasan Graham just outside the six-yard box. Graham looked almost certain to score until Fryatt made an excellent block and Danny Newman hoofed the ball clear! All of the momentum was with Bromley, and we were thankful when the half-time whistle blew with the match still level at 1-1.

Having identified the flanks as a possible weak area in Bromley's team, I asked the players to concentrate their play out wide in the second half. Bad mistake. Six minutes after play resumed, Taiwo hit a long ball up to right-winger Kelly. Our left-back Jason Collins was too busy marking Cosgrove to quickly notice the danger. When he did finally try to close down Kelly, the southern Irishman crossed to Northern Irish striker Cosgrove, who fired home from a tight angle. Now it was us chasing an equaliser, and Daniel Akindayini could've got it after an hour, but he put a 25-yarder over the top. Two minutes later, Taiwo sent a Bromley corner to the far post, and defender Ollie Lawrence's header slipped through Fryatt's grasp and into the net. The Lilywhites' third goal was swiftly followed by their fourth. A dreadful Newman throw-in was intercepted by Graham, who played the ball forward to Warner. The youngster evaded a sliding tackle from Connor Dymond and hit a close-range shot that Fryatt just about got his foot to, but Cosgrove slid the loose ball across the line. At 4-1 down, I feared a total collapse from us. However, Akindayini managed to pull a goal back in the 69th minute. Shortly after Lawlor missed an opportunity to score on his Romford debut, Akindayini made no mistake with a calmly-placed shot into the far corner. I was now getting ready to adopt a more ambitious strategy to try and claim two more goals. Then Bromley finished us off for good, as Cosgrove completed his hat-trick to restore the hosts' three-goal cushion barely a minute after it had been reduced. A disastrous second half got even worse for us in the 72nd minute, as Mark Betteridge conceded a penalty after Cosgrove went down in the area. Former Arsenal striker Zak Ansah was now looking to turn 5-2 into 6-2... but his penalty hit the post, and Bromley would not add to their tally. In the final 15 minutes, we wasted a number of half-chances to make the scoreline more respectable. To be honest, though, we just wanted to get off the pitch ASAP. As baptisms go, this was more fiery than most.

Bromley - 5 (Warner 27, Cosgrove 51,64,70, Lawrence 62)

Romford - 2 (Jones 10, Akindayini 69)

Conference South, Attendance 503 - POSITIONS: Bromley 2nd, Romford 21st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond, Allen, Collins (Betteridge), Harley (O'Halloran), Jones (Vassell), Lawlor, Montgomery, Carroll, Akindayini. BOOKED: Allen, Montgomery.

Ouch. After just 90 minutes in the Conference South, we were already in the relegation zone, and second-from-bottom.

What made this defeat all the more worrying was that Bromley weren't even among the best teams in the division. They only finished 12th last season, having been on the verge of the Play-Offs before they sensationally collapsed late in the campaign.

Two places above the Lilywhites were Havant & Waterlooville, who provided the opposition for our next game at Ship Lane. The Hawks started positively with a win over Chelmsford City, so I knew we were in for another toughie.

We'd sold a club-record 156 season tickets (more than double last season's total of 72), and we didn't want to disappoint any of our most loyal supporters in our first home league match of the campaign.

9 August 2016: Romford vs Havant & Waterlooville

We'd arguably been too conservative in recent home games, so I decided that we'd play much more positively in this one. That was evident in the very first minute, when Duncan Greenwood hit a long-distance shot that was caught by Havant keeper/basketball legend Michael Jordan. In the 5th minute, Graeme Montgomery flicked Mark Betteridge's long ball on to Nicky Reynolds in the Hawks area. Nicky then centred the ball for Big Dunc, who side-footed it into the net! Taking an early lead didn't do us much good against Bromley, but things were different here. Three minutes later, after an attack from the visitors broke down, we hit them on the counter. Nicky chipped the ball up towards Greenwood, and when Hawks defender Gregor Fotheringham messed up an attempted back-pass, Duncan took the easiest of scoring chances. 2-0 to Romford! Havant could've got a goal back in the 12th minute, when Welsh youngster Declan John crossed to Guy Madjo in the six-yard box. Thankfully, Kamal Guthmy made a superbly-timed sliding challenge on Madjo that turned the ball against the post and kept our two-goal advantage intact. That was a great example of another thing that had changed from previous matches - we were getting stuck in with our tackling more often. On 22 minutes, Roscoe Fryatt pulled off a crucial save from Johnny Allan's close-range volley, pushing it behind the byline. Reynolds then spurned a great opportunity to put us 3-0 up after half an hour, as he put the ball inches wide after some good build-up play from Greenwood. Just over a minute later, Hawks midfielder Malcolm Melvin bamboozled Jay Vassell with his dribbling skills before setting up an easy finish for Allan. Havant & Waterlooville had got one goal back, but they couldn't equalise before half-time, despite the best efforts of Ahmed Abdulla late on.

Following our mini-wobble late in the first half, we regained our composure for the second period. After 49 minutes, Montgomery played an excellent cross to the head of Greenwood, who was denied his hat-trick by the crossbar. That miss could have been crucial, because Allan went for a Havant equaliser on the hour, but his low strike was not powerful enough to beat Fryatt. Chances would be few and far between in the final half-hour, when things got a bit scrappier. Bobby Fisk joined Romford team-mates Vassell and Betteridge in getting booked - an inevitable consequence of us tackling more aggressively - while two Hawks players were also cautioned. One of those was Madjo, whose ferocious 83rd-minute shot at glory flew off target. Five minutes later, Madjo's diving header from Abdulla's cross went wide, although he was offside anyway. The Cameroonian veteran was lucky not to receive a second yellow when he pushed Fryatt in the dying moments of normal time. Injury time passed without any more chances, and when the final whistle blew, we could celebrate a much-needed victory. Our five-game losing streak was over, and we were off the mark in the Conference South!

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 5,8)

Havant & Waterlooville - 1 (Allan 31)

Conference South, Attendance 414 - POSITIONS: Romford 14th, Havant 11th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Rofe (Dymond), Betteridge, Guthmy, O'Halloran, Vassell (Fisk), Neville (Fenwick), Montgomery, Greenwood, Reynolds. BOOKED: Vassell, Betteridge, Fisk.

After our first two league matches, we were in a very familiar position. Yet again, our first away league game had ended in defeat, and our first at Ship Lane had resulted in a victory! How peculiar!

We usually follow that up with a win in our third league tie, and we had a good chance to do so again when Chelmsford City came to the Lane. Chelmsford were under the management of former Manchester United and England defender Wes Brown, but they were among six teams still awaiting their first points of the season.

[CFuller]

13 August 2016: Romford vs Chelmsford City

The first couple of chances went to Chelmsford. City midfielder Sam Clucas hit a fierce drive just too high in the 9th minute, and winger Simon Johnson's free-kick a minute later went the same way. On 17 minutes, Roscoe Fryatt sent a long Romford goal kick up to Duncan Greenwood, who flicked it on to Daniel Akindayini. Danny made his way to the far end of the penalty area and waited for Duncan to get into a good position just outside the six-yard box. When they were ready, Akindayini centred to Greenwood, who smashed in his third goal in two games and gave us another early lead! Three minutes later, the giant striker headed away David Rainford's corner to keep Chelmsford at bay. Our relief would be short-lived. Danny Whitehead intercepted the clearance and hit a shot that Fryatt parried straight to the Clarets' Romford-born striker Freddie Ladapo, who applied an easy finish. Chelmsford had levelled the scores at 1-1. Fryatt came face-to-face with Ladapo again in the 25th minute, but this time, he got a hand to the former Colchester United trainee's shot. After a short spell in which City had the upper hand, we finished strongly just prior to half-time. Kamal Guthmy headed wide from Graeme Montgomery's 42nd-minute corner. Monty then created a chance for Greenwood in added-on time, only to see Dunc spurn it.

To be honest, Montgomery wasn't having a great start to his Romford career. That could have changed in the 49th minute, when Graeme got his head to opposite winger Jason Harley's cross, but he couldn't direct it towards the target. On 57 minutes, Clarets midfielder Sam Cox knocked a through-ball past the struggling Mark Betteridge and found Ladapo, who was denied his and City's second goal by another fine stop from Fryatt. The drama continued in the 65th minute, when Akindayini aimed a low cross towards Harley, and City full-back Michael Crowe had to clear it behind his byline. Montgomery's corner was also put behind, but his second attempt found Simon Rofe, whose header skimmed the top of the bar! Later on in the half, we switched to a more attacking style of play, but our shooting let us down in our bid to secure all three points. A poor effort from substitute Bobby Fisk on 86 minutes was our last attempt to come away with more than a single point, which I was happy with anyway.

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 17)

Chelmsford City - 1 (Ladapo 20)

Conference South, Attendance 523 - POSITIONS: Romford 14th, Chelmsford 19th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Dymond, Betteridge (Allen), Rofe, Guthmy, Harley, Vassell (Fisk), Lawlor, Montgomery, Greenwood (Carroll), Akindayini. BOOKED: Guthmy.

Our opening three games in the Conference South had yielded a solid four points, and Duncan Greenwood was in sparkling form. I was hopeful, then, that we could build up some more momentum in our next game - even though it would see us travel well over 100 miles west to Whaddon Road in Cheltenham.

Our hosts for that match would be Gloucester City - nicknamed the Tigers, although the Wanderers would perhaps be a more appropriate moniker. Following the floods of 2007 that devastated much of England, and particularly Gloucestershire, City were forced to abandon their Meadow Park ground. They now play their home matches at Cheltenham Town's stadium, having previously groundshared with two other clubs.

As for this season, Gloucester had started it disastrously. They were bottom of the league after three straight losses in which they scored a grand total of one goal. I made us strong favourites to inflict another defeat on the Tigers, and for once, it looked like we had a good chance of keeping a clean sheet as well!

20 August 2016: Gloucester City vs Romford

Our plan from the outset was to exploit the flanks, but wingers Graeme Montgomery and Dean O'Halloran were left frustrated as Gloucester constantly intercepted any crosses they attempted. The Tigers also looked dangerous in attack, as Brendon Daniels came within a few inches of putting them into a 10th-minute lead. His shot just missed the target, as did Leighton McGivern's four minutes later, but it was third time lucky for Gloucester on 21 minutes. Danny Barrow picked up a long ball from Darren Mullings and hoisted it into the Boro penalty area, where McGivern outjumped Jason Collins to head home. We were now behind, but despite Gloucester's strong start, we didn't panic. We waited patiently for a chance to counter-attack, and that came in the 31st minute. Moments after Simon Rofe cleared the ball out of our area, Dan Lawlor's attempted pass to Ryan Jones was knocked towards Nicky Reynolds by a poor interception from Mullings. Nicky rode an attempted sliding tackle from Gloucester defender Luke Jones to go clear before applying a typically cool Reynolds finish. That equaliser should've given us the confidence to go for the lead. However, we were back behind after 39 minutes, when another excellent cross from Barrow was tapped in by Che Masroh-McDowell. The Tigers had a 2-1 lead to take into the second half.

The Romford players were all fired up for the second half, in which we made a positive start. Danny Newman played a one-two with Duncan Greenwood and then swung a deep cross to Reynolds, whose header lopped dramatically into the net. Sadly, the offside flag went up almost straight away, so we still trailed. That would be about as 'good' as the half got for Nicky, because he strained his neck in the 62nd minute after trying to drill a cross to Greenwood. Nicky was taken off, and Kieron Carroll replaced him. But just four minutes into his game, it was all over as well for Kieron, who tore his hamstring. To make things worse, Carroll was my last substitution, so we had to finish the game with ten men. Needless to say, we struggled to create chances with a man less than our opponents. There was one golden opportunity against the men in orange on 77 minutes, when Gloucester keeper Ashley Frith came way out of his area to clear a ball, only to see it fall to Ryan Jones. Ryan went for a spectacular 40-yard volley into a gaping net... but he hit the upright, and Harry Paice's last-ditch challenge stopped Duncan from slotting in the follow-up. After that, we were pretty much resigned to losing a game that had looked very winnable.

Gloucester City - 2 (McGivern 21, Masroh-McDowell 39)

Romford - 1 (Reynolds 31)

Conference South, Attendance 203 - POSITIONS: Gloucester 19th, Romford 15th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond (Allen), Rofe, Collins, O'Halloran (Fenwick), Jones, Lawlor, Montgomery, Greenwood, Reynolds (Carroll). BOOKED: Collins, Dymond, Lawlor.

I felt downbeat at the final whistle, and even more so when I discovered the extent of our strikers' injuries. Nicky Reynolds would have to sit out a couple of weeks with a strained neck, while the prognosis for Kieron Carroll was even worse. A torn hamstring meant that we would be without our captain for three months. Gutted.

We received some more positive news on the goalkeeping front 24 hours later, when we at last found a new understudy to Roscoe Fryatt. 18-year-old former Stevenage trainee Steven Barnes joined us on non-contract terms until the end of the season - a move that allowed Paul Woolley to continue his development in the youth team.

We tried to put that disappointing result at Gloucester behind us when we hosted one of the Conference South's big-hitters. Ebbsfleet United were heavily tipped to go back up to the Conference Premier at the first attempt, and they were in 5th place after a strong start.

[CFuller]

27 August 2016: Romford vs Ebbsfleet United

We won a couple of corners inside the opening two minutes. After Graeme Montgomery's first delivery was headed behind by Ebbsfleet's Glen Kamara, Monty swung his second attempt to Duncan Greenwood, who nodded it wide. In the 6th minute, Romford defender Connor Dymond brilliantly cut out Tiarnán Mulvenna's cross and started off a counter-attack. When Big Dunc outjumped Justin Miller to flick the ball into the Fleet area, Daniel Akindayini got on the other end and stroked in a delicious half-volley. That was yet another early opener for us, but Ebbsfleet almost had an equaliser within seconds of restarting! Spanish left-winger Jan Llado cut into the centre and played a short pass to Hicham Abdellah, whose first-time shot was parried by Roscoe Fryatt. Ebbsfleet steadily ratcheted up the pressure from there. In the 19th minute, Craig Stone's free-kick was blocked by a Romford wall, and Greenwood later made a superb tackle to stop Mulvenna from shooting. Five minutes later, not long after Fleet keeper Preston Edwards saved a free-kick from Greenwood, Llado went close to equalising with a long-distance effort. The visitors would eventually find a way through in the opening seconds of injury time. Ex-Thurrock man Abdellah delicately finished into Fryatt's right-hand corner, and Ebbsfleet were back on level terms.

We didn't let Ebbsfleet's equaliser get us down in the second half. Simon Rofe headed just wide in the 52nd minute, as did Akindayini ten minutes later, when he got his head to Connor Dymond's long ball. Big Dunc was at the heart of most of our attacks, and he won an incredible 17 headers on the way to creating several chances. One of the few that Greenwood took for himself was in the 73rd minute, when he curled a shot well off target - a rare blip in an otherwise superb performance. Ebbsfleet's only opportunity to take the lead in the second half came nine minutes from time. Harry Milton crossed to Lyall Milton (no relation), and Ros held onto Lyall's close-range header. A minute later, Boro midfielder Ryan Jones saw his volley blocked by Edwards, and so the score remained at 1-1.

Romford - 1 (Akindayini 7)

Ebbsfleet United - 1 (Abdellah 45)

Conference South, Attendance 544 - POSITIONS: Romford 16th, Ebbsfleet 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman (Betteridge), Dymond, Rofe, Guthmy, Montgomery, Jones, Neville (Vassell), Fenwick (O'Halloran), Greenwood, Akindayini. BOOKED: Newman, Neville, Betteridge.

I was pleased with a point against a team of Ebbsfleet's pedigree, and Duncan Greenwood's performance was a particular highlight. Big Dunc played so well that he was named 'man of the match' for the third time already this season - and this was only his fourth league game! Unfortunately, he practically ran himself into the ground, and thus wouldn't be fit enough for our next game at Basingstoke Town.

To be honest, Basingstoke weren't exactly a big fish in the Conference South. Although they'd been ever-present since the division's inception in 2004, only twice had they finished in the top half, let alone reached the play-offs, which they did five seasons ago. This campaign looked like being similarly run-of-the-mill, as the Dragons' first five games had seen just six goals, split evenly between them and the opposition.

30 August 2016: Basingstoke Town vs Romford

Quite frankly, the first half was terrible - particularly from our perspective. After just two minutes, Basingstoke's Joe Doyle volleyed a dreadful shot well wide of goal. There was nothing dreadful about the hosts' next chance in the 14th minute. Matt Johnson's long flat throw was flicked into the net at the near corner by centre-back Rod McDonald, and Basingstoke led 1-0. The Dragons' advantage was never threatened in the first half, as McDonald blocked our only shot from Daniel Akindayini in the 37th minute. To say we were below-par would be putting it very lightly.

After a poor start to the second half, we seemed to be sleepwalking into defeat - but we finally woke up as the game approached the hour mark. In the 58th minute, winger Dean O'Halloran made a firm challenge on Dominic Ball that left the Dragons centre-back unable to play on. Six minutes later, Dean got on the end of Jason Collins' cross into the Basingstoke box. He then beat off Ball's replacement Chris Slater before firing a left-footed bullet past goalkeeper Jack Middleton! We'd incredibly levelled the game at 1-1, and O'Halloran's equaliser was almost followed two minutes later by another goal from the Irish wizard. Dean jinked past two Basingstoke defenders in the area, but couldn't quite find the target for a second time. That was our chance for glory gone, and the rest of the match was all about stopping the hosts from getting back in front. Thankfully, Roscoe Fryatt was in form, and his saves from Cabey McCabe in the 69th minute and Darren Blewitt in the 81st ensured that we would scrape home with a point.

Basingstoke Town - 1 (McDonald 14)

Romford - 1 (O'Halloran 64)

Conference South, Attendance 321 - POSITIONS: Basingstoke 11th, Romford 17th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Dymond (Betteridge), Allen, Rofe, Collins, Fisk (Neville), Lawlor, Vassell, O'Halloran, Montgomery, Akindayini (Ingham). BOOKED: Dymond.

After our first month in the Conference South, I'm content with how we have started. We've only won once so far, though, and we need to get another victory under our belts soon to keep us out of the bottom three. Our next couple of matches are both at home against unfancied sides, and if they don't end well, we could be in trouble.

[CFuller]

We kicked off September with two potentially crucial matches at Ship Lane - both against sides who, like us, were expected to be among those battling for survival. I was looking to pick up six points from those two games. I would also be satisfied with four points or, at an absolute minimum, three.

First up were Hitchin Town, who have jumped back and forth between the Conference North and the Conference South since they went up from the Southern League in 2013. Heading into this meeting, the Canaries were just a single point down on us in 20th place.

3 September 2016: Romford vs Hitchin Town

Hitchin tried to test us early on with a couple of long-rangers, both of which failed to trouble Roscoe Fryatt. Jake Hessenthaler fared slightly better with a 13th-minute free-kick that he swung into the side netting. Three minutes later, Ryan Jones was hurt in a clash with Hitchin forward Elliott Buchanan. I took the midfielder off to stop him from picking up a more serious injury. The momentum at that point was with the Canaries, but halfway through the first period, we increased the tempo and looked to attack more purposefully. On 24 minutes, Graeme Montgomery's cross was headed in at the far post by Duncan Greenwood, who outjumped Hitchin defender Dan Bennett to give us a 1-0 lead! Things were going well, but we found ourselves under pressure within five minutes of that opening goal. Hitchin captain Craig Bussens drilled a cross up to Buchanan, who would've got on the other end of it had Connor Dymond not stuck his leg out and tripped him. Connor's clumsiness gave away a soft penalty, which Loick Pires emphatically blasted past Fryatt. Hitchin had levelled, but we were undeterred, and we proceeded to put the visitors under further strain. A cross from full-back Danny Newman caused Canaries keeper Richard Jones some concern in the 31st minute, shortly before Danny unfortunately picked up a knock that ended his game early. Newman's exit coincided with our best spell so far. In the 33rd minute, Greenwood got on the end of an incisive pass from Brian Neville, and Jones came forward to push his close-range shot out of play. Big Dunc was in the thick of things again two minutes later, when his header from Jason Collins' delivery rebounded off the crossbar. Despite our best efforts, the score remained 1-1 at half-time.

We looked to resume where we left off in the second half, and attacked straight from the kick-off, only to see Dean O'Halloran dispossessed within seconds. Before we knew it, Hitchin were creating an attack of their own. Collins missed an interception on Bussens that would've ended the counter-attack, and he would regret that moments later, when Bussens' cross was volleyed in at the far post by Pires. Hitchin had snatched the lead less than a minute into the second period, and we got more panicky. Neville missed a close-range volley in the 49th minute that could've drawn us level. Eight minutes later, O'Halloran made another lung-busting run at the Hitchin defence, only to follow that up with a typically disappointing finish. As the minutes ticked by without us scoring an equaliser, I threw on youngster Colin Ingham to replace Daniel Akindayini. It was a futile move - absolutely nothing was working for us. Even Greenwood's golden touch had gone, and when he put the ball inches wide on 80 minutes, I knew the game was up. This was our fifth straight match without victory, and we were pushed closer to the relegation zone. Only goal difference was keeping our heads above water now.

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 24)

Hitchin Town - 2 (Pires pen29,46)

Conference South, Attendance 439 - POSITIONS: Romford 18th, Hitchin 15th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman (Betteridge), Dymond, Allen, Collins, O'Halloran, Jones (Lawlor), Neville, Montgomery, Greenwood, Akindayini (Ingham). BOOKED: Akindayini.

After an unacceptable home defeat, I knew we couldn't carry on as we were. The following day, I called an urgent team meeting, so we could work together to try and turn our fortunes around. It proved to be a very productive meeting, as I got some new ideas about where we were going wrong, and how we could make changes.

It also turned out to be the point where my long search for a new centre-back came to a head. By now, I was so desperate to find one that I asked Graeme Montgomery if he knew anyone who could fit the bill. Graeme said, "There's this young lad at Bromley called Kieron Gray. I've played with him a few times and he's got a great attitude. I think you should take a look at him."

I looked for more information on this kid, and learned that he was an 18-year-old who played 13 times from Bromley last term. Once I had a better idea of what Kieron was like as a defender, I told Graeme, "I'll see what I can do."

24 hours later, Kieron Gray was a Romford player. Kieron signed a one-year contract worth £90 per week, and although he wouldn't be fit to make his debut until later in the month because of an ankle injury, I was hopeful that he'd be worth the investment.

There was another piece of good news earlier in the week, when our new coach Simon Glover proudly announced that he'd qualified for the top coaching badge in European football - the UEFA Pro Licence!

Simon started studying for the Pro Licence while he was playing for Enfield Town last season, and now - at the age of just 34 - he was one of the most qualified coaches in Britain! I have no doubt that Simon will have plenty of suitors when the time comes for him to move on from Romford and climb the career ladder, but for now, I'm delighted that we've got him on our staff.

With lessons learned from what happened against Hitchin, we had a much better mindset for when Oxford City came to Ship Lane. City were directly above us in 17th spot, but they had lost their last four matches. As far as we were concerned, this was the dictionary definition of a must-win game.

10 September 2016: Romford vs Oxford City

One of Oxford City's best players of the season so far was midfielder Jonathan Lynch, but the former Wigan Athletic man lasted less than ten minutes. Lynch was concussed in a collision with Ryan Jones, and City had to replace him early on. In the 12th minute, Oxford winger Cormac Burke tried to centre the ball to Conor Washington, and Boro defender Simon Rofe blocked the cross just in the nick of time. Within moments, Dean O'Halloran was storming down the right flank and crossing into the opposition area, where Duncan Greenwood put his header narrowly over. Dan Lawlor had a shot from inside the box after 18 minutes, and Oxford City goalkeeper Jermaine Antrobus picked it up fairly comfortably. The pressure that we were putting the visitors under eventually told, as we grabbed the opening goal four minutes later. Graeme Montgomery set up the chance for Nicky Reynolds, who powerfully put it to the keeper's right-hand side. Another spell of Romford dominance began in the 36th minute. Montgomery tried to nod a header on to Reynolds in the six-yard box, and Antrobus tipped the ball over his crossbar. That won us the first of three corners in quick succession, and though nothing came to pass directly from them, Nicky did volley a close-range shot wide in the 39th minute. By half-time, we were leading Oxford City 1-0 in goals... and creaming them 6-0 in shots.

Monty had another corner just one minute into the second half, and his delivery was put over the bar by Rofe. After 53 minutes, Greenwood brilliantly closed down Oxford full-back Alex Smith. Duncan then a slide-rule pass to Dean, who cut into the penalty area and stroked in a lovely low shot! That made it 2-0, and there was a sense that we would soon add a third goal. It wouldn't come from Greenwood, whose 62nd-minute shot from long range missed by some distance. Five minutes later, shortly after Danny Newman had headed away a rare attacking cross from Oxford City, our other full-back Kamal Guthmy intercepted a dreadful clearance from Smith. Lawlor played the loose ball short to Reynolds, who lobbed it into the area for Jones to tidily strike home! City were not even putting up a fight now, and after 77 minutes, Reynolds delivered the knockout punch. When Nicky easily converted Guthmy's cross from close range, we took a 4-0 lead. This was turning into the perfect day for us. Well, not quite. Connor Dymond was forced to come off injured moments later, and Greenwood had a fifth Boro goal disallowed for offside in the 83rd minute. Two minutes later, Oxford City finally had a chance to get something from this game. Fryatt came well out of his area to gather a long ball... and slipped up just before he could reach it! That gifted Jamie Bosley a golden opportunity to put the ball into an empty net, albeit from out wide - but his swinging shot was horribly miscued and exited play at the other end! That was another embarrassing moment for City, who couldn't even score after a late injury to O'Halloran meant we had to see out the match with ten men! We were now ensured a crucial victory, and a clean sheet - our first of the season!

Romford - 4 (Reynolds 22,77, O'Halloran 53, Jones 67)

Oxford City - 0

Conference South, Attendance 438 - POSITIONS: Romford 15th, Oxford City 20th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond (Betteridge), Rofe, Guthmy, O'Halloran, Jones, Lawlor (Fisk), Montgomery, Greenwood, Reynolds (Akindayini).

Hallelujah! We'd waited five months to keep a clean sheet, and to do so in such a comfortable win gave our confidence a massive shot in the arm!

We were still buzzing from that victory when we made a midweek trip to Essex rivals Braintree Town, who were 3rd in the table after eight matches. That game had been brought forward by a week due to both teams being involved in the Essex Senior Cup.

[CFuller]

14 September 2016: Braintree Town vs Romford

Braintree opened up with a couple of corners inside the first three minutes, but we had the first shot on target after six minutes. It was taken by Nicky Reynolds, who dribbled to the Iron penalty area and hit a low strike that Nathan McDonald tipped wide. Two former Gillingham strikers combined well for Braintree in the 11th minute. Ashley Miller flicked a header up to Danny Kedwell, whose lob hit the corner of our goal frame. Another chance for Reynolds went high over the hosts' bar in the 19th minute. McDonald's subsequent goal kick found the experienced Kedwell, who exchanged passes with winger Josh Dawkin and fired a stunning low strike into Roscoe Fryatt's right-hand corner. That could've swung a close game firmly in Braintree's favour, but five minutes after the opening goal, we drew level. After seeing his shot parried away by McDonald, Duncan Greenwood crossed the ball back into danger. Though Greenwood's delivery took a deflection off Town midfielder Brad Quinton, the rebound fell nicely for Brian Neville - who'd turned 20 the day before - to smack it into the net! Kedwell missed a couple of opportunities to restore the home team's advantage just before the half-hour, and Neville almost helped make it 2-1 to Romford in the 40th minute. Brian's lobbed pass to Jason Harley was headed straight into McDonald's hands by the out-of-form winger, who hadn't started this campaign nearly as well as last season. The score remained 1-1, and it was still anybody's guess as to how the match would pan out.

We put Braintree under the cosh early in the second half. After 47 minutes, Harley hit a weak close-range shot straight at McDonald. Six minutes later, Harley crossed to Graeme Montgomery, who in turn tried to centre the ball to Greenwood. Braintree defender Moses Swaibu blocked the delivery, but his sliding tackle diverted the ball to Reynolds. Nicky couldn't possibly miss the sitter presented to him! It was 2-1 to Romford, and Dan Lawlor's through-ball two minutes later handed Reynolds a chance to make it 3-1. Nicky could only find the side netting, and as has regularly been the case in recent years, we lost a lead minutes after coming close to doubling it. Boro substitute Jay Vassell needlessly conceded a free-kick in the 68th minute, and Dawkin's delivery into the box was fired home by former Crystal Palace trainee Swaibu. Five minutes after that, though, we were back in front! Montgomery's second assist of the night set up Reynolds' second goal, which was powerfully scraped in off the near post from 20 yards out! That stunner would've been a great winner of any football match... but it wasn't. Braintree levelled three minutes later with an even better long-ranger! From just outside the six-yard box, Miller cut the ball back to substitute Grant Spencer, who managed to beat Fryatt from no fewer than 25 yards! Now it was 3-3! Everybody at the Cressing Road Stadium was just getting their breath back when the decisive moment came after 80 minutes. Braintree winger Ryan Peters hit a long-range pass into our six-yard box, where Kedwell got past Danny Newman and tapped the ball into the net. My heart sank for a few seconds... and then I saw that the referee's assistant had raised his offside flag. It would've been gutting to lose a thrilling match that we'd led twice. In the end, though, we shared the points against a very strong Braintree team.

Braintree Town - 3 (Kedwell 19, Swaibu 68, Spencer 76)

Romford - 3 (Neville 24, Reynolds 53,73)

Conference South, Attendance 470 - POSITIONS: Braintree 2nd, Romford 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Allen (Dymond), Rofe, Guthmy, Harley, Neville, Lawlor (Vassell), Montgomery, Greenwood (Akindayini), Reynolds.

With things now looking rosier on the league front, we could now look forward to starting out our latest FA Cup campaign. For the first time, we entered at Qualifying Round 2, where we would kick off at Isthmian League Premier Division side Histon. This match saw recent signings Steven Barnes and Kieron Gray make their Romford debuts. Would they be able to shore up a leaky Boro defence?

17 September 2016: Histon vs Romford

Though Histon were second-from-bottom of the Isthmian Premier, they gave us an early warning in the 11th minute that they wouldn't be just swept aside. Captain Andy Gooding ran onto Kelvin Austin's through-ball, but he put too much power into his first-time shot. On 17 minutes, Histon keeper Tom Halsall turned behind a low strike from Daniel Akindayini. Danny had three shots at goal in the opening 20 minutes, and that was the only one on target. Unfortunately, he wouldn't get any more chances. After 34 minutes, Akindayini collided with Stutes defender Ross Howell and picked up a knock that ended his day early. Shortly before that, a lobbed effort from Mason Bush led to Steven Barnes making his first catch in a Romford jersey. Histon wingers Graham Basham and Ryan Oakley both fired shots over the bar in the 37th minute, and the first half soon fizzled out into a stalemate. To be honest, we hadn't created enough chances in that first period. One particular cause for concern was Dean O'Halloran's crossing - none of the Irish winger's 13 cross attempts found their target!

The poor shooting at both ends continued in the second half. After 47 minutes, our attacking figurehead Duncan Greenwood took Nick Fenwick's delivery on the bounce and ballooned it deep into the stands. Histon had the game's best chance yet in the 56th minute, when Basham's venomous low shot drifted inches past the far post. Six minutes later, Basham went significantly less close with another effort that was scooped well over. This was turning into one of the worst displays of shooting since Corrado Grabbi was let loose on the Premier League. Then, after 68 minutes, someone did at last find the net! Halsall could only parry O'Halloran's close-range sliding effort into the path of Greenwood, who buried the rebound and gave us a 1-0 lead! Big Dunc was soon looking for another goal to put us firmly in control. After he hit a 74th-minute chance into Halsall's hands, he curled a free-kick just wide a minute later. Histon suffered another blow in the 78th minute, when Ryan Jones's sliding challenge left Oakley too badly hurt to continue. The resulting free-kick was passed by Gooding up to Bradley Fraser, whose long-distance shot was plucked out of the air by Barnes. Steven was having a solid debut and was on course for a clean sheet... but with seven minutes to go, he made a costly mistake. His clearance was headed back up by David King to Histon's Romanian winger Claudiu Hoban, who ran across the penalty area and powerfully drilled a shot beyond Barnes's reach. The Stutes now fancied their chances of turning a 1-1 draw into a win. Three minutes after the equaliser, I had my heart in my mouth again as Danny Pullen sent a deep cross towards Austin in the goalmouth. Thankfully, Barnes got his hands to the ball before Histon's teenage striker could head home. That late save kept us in the FA Cup, but we'd need to play Histon again at Ship Lane to settle this tie.

Histon - 1 (Hoban 83)

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 68)

FA Cup Qualifying Round 2, Attendance 489

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Barnes, Newman, Dymond, Gray, Collins, O'Halloran, Jones, Vassell, Fenwick (Montgomery), Greenwood (Ingham), Akindayini (Reynolds).

We were reacquainted with the Stutes four days later, when we replayed the tie on home turf. If we won the rematch, our reward would be another home game in Qualifying Round 3 against Yorkshire minnows Brighouse Town. We would unfortunately be without left-back Jason Collins for the replay after he suffered a facial injury towards the end of the original tie.

21 September 2016: Romford vs Histon

Duncan Greenwood tried to beat Histon keeper Tom Halsall from outside the penalty area in the fifth minute, but his shot limped wide for a goal kick. Halsall's long kick was flicked on by Eddie Stevens towards Mason Bush, who then hit a low pass for Stutes striker Kelvin Austin in the Romford 'D'. Austin struck a crisp half-volley past Steven Barnes, and we were already 1-0 down. Connor Dymond could've put us level after seven minutes, but his header from Graeme Montgomery's corner was nodded off the line by Ben Coker. Moments later, Boro full-back Kamal Guthmy fell awkwardly on his wrist after making a rough challenge on Graham Basham. That turned out to be his last action in the game, as with less than ten minutes gone, we were forced to replace Kemal with Simon Rofe. As the midway point of the first half loomed, we pushed further up the pitch to look for an equaliser. In the 19th minute, Graeme Montgomery's pass to Nicky Reynolds was put wide by the usually clinical striker. Two minutes later, a perfect long pass from Brian Neville sent Monty through on goal, but Graeme shot way too early and didn't trouble the target at all. On 26 minutes, a comfortable save from Barnes stopped Austin volleying his and Histon's second goal of the day. Our shooting continued to disappoint later in the half, as Duncan missed by miles in the 36th minute, and Halsall easily caught another Dymond header seven minutes later. On 44 minutes, Montgomery's floated cross was headed against the bar by Greenwood. Big Dunc was narrowly offside when the cross came in, so a goal wouldn't have been awarded anyway. A frustrating first half for Romford was completed in added-on time, when Austin put Andy Gooding's direct pass into the net. That left us with a two-goal deficit to make up in the next 45 minutes.

Our survival in the FA Cup was well and truly on the line, and it was vital that we got on the board early in the second half. Ten minutes into it, a lovely lob from Dan Lawlor found its way to Danny Newman - a half-time replacement for the awful Kieron Gray. Unfortunately, Newman provided a typical right-back's finish with a terrible left-footer. Danny's day got worse in the 64th minute, when his clearance was nodded back towards goal by Histon defender Craig Montgomery. The man on the end of his header was our nemesis Austin, who ran towards goal, turned past Dymond, and pulled the trigger. 3-0 Histon - game over. After wrapping up his hat-trick, Austin almost provided Histon with a fourth goal in the 77th minute. His through-ball gave Gooding a clear of view goal, but Gooding spared us additional pain by scooping his shot high. Regardless of that, our FA Cup campaign still crashed and burned. To complete the living nightmare, right-winger Jason Harley came off two minutes from time with strained knee ligaments. Jason wouldn't be playing again for at least two months.

Romford - 0

Histon - 3 (Austin 6,45,64)

FA Cup Qualifying Round 2 Replay, Attendance 787

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Barnes, Gray (Newman), Dymond, Betteridge, Guthmy (Rofe), Harley, Neville, Lawlor, Montgomery, Greenwood, Reynolds (Akindayini).

For the first time under my management, we had failed to get to Qualifying Round 3 in the FA Cup. There would be no repeat of last season's money-spinning Round 1 match against Portsmouth.

Getting tonked by a lower-league outfit was not the ideal way to prepare for an early relegation six-pointer away from home. We had to try and forget that the Histon loss ever happened, so we could fully concentrate on Dover Athletic. The Whites sat second-from-bottom at kick-off, though I suspect that the former Conference Premier side will be significantly higher than that once we get to the business end of the campaign.

[CFuller]

24 September 2016: Dover Athletic vs Romford

Dover midfielder Callum McNish thundered a volley over the crossbar after nine minutes. That was the only significant piece of action in the first 20 minutes... but then things really got spicy. After playing a one-two with his right-back Kieran Haynes in the 23rd minute, Dover keeper Liam Mitchell kept the ball at his feet for what seemed like an eternity, and then blasted it deep into our half. His long ball went over Kieron Gray's head and into the path of Jack Waddle - the son of a certain Chris Waddle. Diamond Lights Jnr raced through on goal and beat Roscoe Fryatt with a half-volley that put the Whites 1-0 up. The hosts' joy at having the lead didn't last long. Two minutes later, Boro winger Dean O'Halloran intercepted a wayward pass from Johnny Goddard. Dean knocked the ball to Daniel Akindayini just outside Dover's area, and Danny levelled the match with a well-placed shot. However, two more minutes later, the Whites swiftly regained their lead from a corner. Alex Stephens' delivery was headed into the net by Brentford loanee Montell Moore, and our hearts sank. Dan Lawlor's pinpoint pass to an unmarked O'Halloran in the 37th minute threatened to produce another equaliser for us, but Dean was forced wide before whacking his shot into the side netting. Some basic defensive mistakes slipped into our game late in the half. A couple of poor interceptions helped Dover to create a chance through McNish in the 40th minute, and we would've been 3-1 down if it wasn't for a fine save for Fryatt. That was ultimately meaningless, though, because we did concede a third goal in added-on time. The move started with Jay Vassell giving the ball away to ex-Aldershot Town forward Danny Hylton, and ended with Moore scoring from McNish's through-ball about 15 seconds later.

Dover's knack of making chances out of nowhere was evident again in the 51st minute, when they opened up a 4-1 lead. The excellent McNish skipped past the much less impressive Lawlor and moved into our area, where he set up an easy close-range finish for Hylton. I have no time for Hylton - a man who was once banned for racially insulting an opponent - and seeing his smug face made me almost as furious as I already was at my defence's ineptitude. The three points were now almost certain to stay in Kent, but we kept pressing forward to try and add some more respectability to the scoreline. I also brought on Duncan Greenwood, whose first chance in the 63rd minute was held comfortably by Mitchell. Disappointingly, it also turned out to be Duncan's last. Dover dictated terms for the last quarter-hour, and a 75th-minute cross from Moore was almost deflected into the net by Boro defender George Allen. Thankfully, Ros parried it away to spare George's blushes. Dover completed a thumping 5-1 win seven minutes later, as Hylton scored his second goal, which was assisted by Scottish substitute Kieran McGachie. To cap off another awful day at the office, we slumped into the relegation zone.

Dover Athletic - 5 (Waddle 23, Moore 27,45, Hylton 51,82)

Romford - 1 (Akindayini 25)

Conference South, Attendance 1,210 - POSITIONS: Dover 14th, Romford 21st

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Gray (Dymond), Allen, Rofe, O'Halloran, Vassell, Lawlor, Montgomery (Fenwick), Reynolds (Greenwood), Akindayini. BOOKED: Vassell.

At full-time, I tore into my defenders, who gave away the ball far too regularly and often found themselves poorly positioned. Some, like Danny Newman, took my criticism on board and vowed to work harder in future. Kieron Gray wasn't so willing to admit his mistakes, and he left the dressing room in a huff. I began to wonder if, instead of signing the centre-back of my dreams, I had found myself with William Prunier's secret Bromley lovechild.

We were coming to the end of September, and I'd only seen my team win three times in 18 matches since we returned for pre-season three months ago. Our Essex Senior Cup Round 2 match at Ilford was a golden opportunity to improve our miserable record to four wins in 19. But if my shoddy defence couldn't even hold up against a ninth-tier team, the alarms would be blaring out at Ship Lane.

28 September 2016: Ilford vs Romford

Ryan Jones had a pop at goal after just 36 seconds, and he pulled it a long way off target. Mark Betteridge got closer in the 3rd minute, when his header from Dean O'Halloran's corner cracked against the bar before falling into Ilford goalkeeper Rob Readings' hands. Ten minutes later, another O'Halloran cross - this time from open play - found the head of Daniel Akindayini, who failed to keep his effort on target. We eventually broke through the Ilford defence in the 16th minute, although it took a poor headed clearance from Foxes centre-back Ben Walster to hand Duncan Greenwood a simple finish. Ilford attacked right from the restart, and Jack Dixon's shot deflected off defender Connor Dymond into the hands of Boro debutant Paul Woolley. Those hands weren't quite so safe in the 23rd minute, when Danny Wood's right-wing cross slipped through them and crossed the goal line. Ilford wouldn't be level for very long, though, because we regained the lead after 32 minutes. Duncan was at the heart of our attack again, as he laid a wonderful pass off to Akindayini, and Danny's powerful strike put us 2-1 up.

Nick Fenwick crossed to Greenwood in the Ilford penalty area three minutes into the second half, but Duncan's header was from too far out to be a serious threat. The Foxes then had midfielders Nick Adarabioyo and Steve Norwod pick up injuries, though Adarabioyo bravely played on. In the 59th minute, Ilford striker Liam Coulton broke free from the Romford defenders before hitting a woeful attempt at an equaliser. Five minutes later, Woolley was tested by a 30-yard screamer from Nathaniel Howell that he just about held onto. Ilford had failed to make the most of their chances, and after 72 minutes, we finished them off for good. O'Halloran's attempted cross to Fenwick was diverted into the Ilford net off home defender Ryan Amass. That own goal secured us a 3-1 victory, and a place in Round 3, where we would face AFC Hornchurch's reserves on their turf.

Ilford - 1 (Wood 23)

Romford - 3 (Greenwood 16, Akindayini 32, Amass og72)

Essex Senior Cup Round 2, Attendance 86

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Woolley, Newman, Dymond (Georgiou), Betteridge, R Turner, O'Halloran, Jones, Fisk (Vassell), Fenwick, Greenwood (Ingham), Akindayini. BOOKED: Fisk.

Our hopes of finally winning the Essex Senior Cup were staying alive until at least November, so we could dedicate October to the more important task of rebuilding our league form. We had over a week to figure out how to stem the tide of opposition goals, and stop our debut Conference South campaign from becoming an embarrassment.

[CFuller]

                                   [b]P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS[/b]
1.          Bromley                10    6     3     1     17    8     +9    21
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2.          Braintree              10    5     4     1     18    10    +8    19
3.          Kingstonian            10    6     0     4     14    11    +3    18
4.          Canvey Island          10    5     1     4     17    16    +1    16
5.          Brackley               10    4     4     2     11    10    +1    16
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6.          Farnborough            10    4     3     3     18    14    +4    15
7.          Dorchester             10    3     5     2     16    13    +3    14
8.          Eastbourne Boro        10    4     2     4     9     6     +3    14
9.          Hampton & Richmond     10    4     2     4     11    9     +2    14
10.         Hayes & Yeading        10    3     5     2     10    13    -3    14
11.         Ebbsfleet              10    3     4     3     15    13    +2    13
12.         Chelmsford             10    3     4     3     14    16    -2    13
13.         Bath                   10    3     3     4     15    15    0     12
14.         Dover                  10    3     3     4     15    15    0     12
15.         Havant                 10    3     3     4     10    10    0     12
16.         Gloucester             10    3     3     4     19    20    -1    12
17.         Basingstoke            10    3     3     4     10    11    -1    12
18.         Tonbridge              10    3     2     5     10    14    -4    11
19.         Weston-super-Mare      10    3     2     5     7     13    -6    11
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20.         Hitchin                10    3     2     5     12    21    -9    11
[color="#0000FF"]21.         Romford                10    2     4     4     17    21    -4    10[/color]
22.         Oxford City            10    3     0     7     16    22    -6    9

[CFuller]

Ten games into our first Conference South season, we certainly didn't want to be in the relegation zone, but there we were... in the bottom two. Indeed, thanks to a midweek win for Oxford City, we headed into our first match of the new month in 22nd and last place.

As Yazz once said in a song that drove my parents mad in the 1980s, the only way is up.

The players were all too aware about our lowly position, but I kept their spirits up by reminding them that all was not lost - certainly not at this still-early stage of the campaign. The division was so tight that we were only six points off a play-off place, so a hot streak would shoot us right up the table.

Our October began with a home match against a highly-fancied yet underachieving Hayes & Yeading United side. I believed that a good result there could be the catalyst for a resurgence.

We had both of our first-team left-backs returning from injury - Kamal Guthmy from a strained wrist, and Jason Collins from a facial wound. I decided to start Kamal for this one, as he'd been in better form than Jason.

8 October 2016: Romford vs Hayes & Yeading United

Hayes & Yeading winger Aaron Cole drilled a 25-yarder towards goal in the fifth minute, and Boro keeper Roscoe Fryatt brilliantly pushed it aside. Two minutes later, Nicky Reynolds lobbed to Duncan Greenwood just inside the United area. Duncan easily got past a poorly-executed tackle from centre-back Aidan Sherlock and slotted the ball into the net. Just like that, it was 1-0 Romford! Reynolds made another chance for Greenwood in the 14th minute, though Duncan couldn't quite beat United keeper Jonathan Miles on that occasion. After 18 minutes, Reynolds threaded the ball through Hayes & Yeading's offside trap and sent Ryan Jones one-on-one with Miles. Ryan attempted to place his low shot into the corner, but it just hit the post. Fortunately, Dean O'Halloran quickly poked home the rebound and gave us a two-goal lead! We were totally at ease, and our crisp, controlled passing continued to cause the visitors all sorts of problems. They also found it very tough to break down a Romford defence that frequently made interception after interception. In the 43rd minute, Miles saved a long-range driver from Jones that would've given us a 3-0 lead at half-time. Now watch as we fall apart in the second half.

Er, well, we didn't fall apart, actually - but that's not to say Hayes & Yeading didn't threaten us in the second period. As early as the 48th minute, Mike Symons hit a powerful shot that Fryatt acrobatically tipped over. Two minutes later, the same player put a header wide of the target. We also had a number of chances to put more daylight between us and United. Reynolds' claims for a penalty were dismissed following a clash with Joe Wilkinson in the 56th minute. Ten minutes later, Greenwood put a disappointing effort wide from just outside the area. Hayes & Yeading did have the ball in our net after 69 minutes, but Donovan Simmonds was massively offside when he slotted past Fryatt. The closest we got to a third goal was Simon Rofe's 77th-minute header, which ricocheted off the crossbar. A 2-0 win was still enough to rocket us from last to 14th. Hayes & Yeading slumped into the bottom half, and after the final whistle, they lost patience with manager Johnson Hippolyte.

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 7, O'Halloran 18)

Hayes & Yeading United - 0

Conference South, Attendance 387 - POSITIONS: Romford 14th, Hayes & Yeading 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond, Rofe, Guthmy, O'Halloran, Jones (Neville), Lawlor, Montgomery (Fenwick), Greenwood (Akindayini), Reynolds. BOOKED: Jones.

Would that win be the turning point in our season? Three days later, we made the long journey to Somerset with team morale at its highest level for some time. If we could keep the momentum going and register our first away league win of the season against 9th-placed Bath City, we would leapfrog above our opponents in the standings.

11 October 2016: Bath City vs Romford

In the 8th minute, Bath's Alberto Seidi snuck past Dan Lawlor and entered the Romford penalty area, where he received a pass from strike partner Jordan Chiedozie. Former Southampton trainee Seidi should've scored, but he instead hit the post, and a fine tackle from Jason Collins stopped Chiedozie from reaching the rebound. We had a golden opportunity of our own in the 20th minute, when Danny Newman hit a fabulous long ball to a scarcely-marked Daniel Akindayini. The striker did the hard work in getting himself one-on-one with City goalkeeper Jamie Young, but fired his shot across goal at the critical moment. Six minutes later, Graeme Montgomery's pinpoint cross into Bath's six-yard box reached Connor Dymond, whose header cannoned back off the bar. That was the last chance either team had in a goalless and unmemorable first half.

Monty jinked into Bath's area in the first minute of the second half, and then ruined that good work by scooping his shot over the bar. The match wouldn't get much better over the next 15 minutes - if anything, it became even more of a scrap. Three players, including Boro defenders Connor Dymond and Simon Rofe, received yellow cards, and Ryan Jones came off in the 53rd minute after being hurt in a challenge from Bath's Darren Carter. After 55 minutes, former Birmingham City midfielder Carter had a 30-yard free-kick saved by Roscoe Fryatt. We had settled back down by the 66th minute, when Akindayini hit a long-distance drive that Young pushed away. After Akindayini hit two less convincing efforts wide within the next five minutes, I tried to get the players to slow the tempo down so we could have a real go at breaking Bath's defence late on. That change of tactic came too late to make any real impact, and with City themselves failing to break through a resilient Romford backline, a goalless draw was perhaps inevitable.

Bath City - 0

Romford - 0

Conference South, Attendance 429 - POSITIONS: Bath 9th, Romford 14th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond (Rofe), Allen, Collins, Neville, Lawlor, Jones (Fisk), O'Halloran (Fenwick), Montgomery, Akindayini. BOOKED: Dymond, Rofe.

To be honest, I was happy with a point, and I was willing to take a similar result in our next away game - a rare Sunday afternoon clash against play-off hopefuls Eastbourne Borough. Having bruised his thigh at Bath, Ryan Jones was sadly unable to make the trip to East Sussex.

16 October 2016: Eastbourne Borough vs Romford

Duncan Greenwood returned to the starting line-up after sitting on the bench against Bath, and he had a couple of early headed chances. His 4th-minute connection to Danny Newman's cross was caught by Eastbourne goalkeeper Ben Killip. Four minutes later, Duncan put Dean O'Halloran's delivery over the bar. Another Romford returnee was Kieron Gray, who got in the way of a 10th-minute shot from Sports midfielder Chris Shephard. Six minutes after that, Shephard clipped the corner of the woodwork with a 20-yard strike. Eastbourne's attacking threat was beginning to worry us, but Roscoe Fryatt rose to whatever challenge they posed. Ros made a couple of saves from French striker Yannis Drais midway through the half, and then pushed away an effort from right-back Jack Evans after exactly half an hour. By half-time, Fryatt had still kept Eastbourne at bay, but the scoreline remained at 0-0. The closest we had come to taking the lead was Greenwood's vicious edge-of-the-area strike that grazed the bar in the 39th minute.

On 50 minutes, Eastbourne sub Charlie Taylor failed to make the most of an excellent Freddie Warren delivery, heading it past the far post. That was the Sports' last scoring opportunity for a fair while, as we had a strong spell shortly after the hour mark. In the 61st minute, O'Halloran dribbled his away into the penalty area before hitting a weak shot that Killip comfortably beat away. The home keeper wasn't particularly tried by a long-distance effort from Jay Vassell three minutes later, either. Eastbourne were attacking again by the 69th minute. Fryatt saved another Drais attempt, and then watched his former Luton Town colleague fire another effort wide a minute later. Ros's back four held up very well against the Sports, as centre-half George Allen rarely lost an aerial challenge, and left-back Jason Collins distributed the ball so many times that even the statisticians lost count. The Romford midfield got a little jittery late on, as three of our middlemen were booked within the final 15 minutes. One of those was Nick Fenwick, who conceded a free-kick in the last minute of injury time. Shepherd's delivery towards the box was headed back upfield by Bobby Fisk, and we tried to hit Eastbourne on the break... but our counter-attack quickly fizzled out. That meant another 0-0 draw, and a third successive clean sheet.

Eastbourne Borough - 0

Romford - 0

Conference South, Attendance 629 - POSITIONS: Eastbourne Boro 4th, Romford 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Gray, Allen, Collins, Neville, Lawlor (Vassell), Fisk, O'Halloran, Montgomery (Fenwick), Greenwood (Reynolds). BOOKED: Neville, Fisk, Fenwick.

Wot? Another goalless draw? Boring, boring Romford!

Those last two matches weren't the best we'd ever played, but we were certainly more defensively sound than in the opening stages of the campaign. We also kept the points ticking over and were now two clear of the relegation zone. We weren't out of the woods yet, but our next three matches were all at Ship Lane, and some good results there would allow us to breathe much easier.

[CFuller]

Ahead of a pivotal week at Ship Lane, we got some excellent news that we had been anticipating for months. Our new training ground - which we spent £150,000 on at the end of last season - had been completed and was ready to use. It wasn't quite up to the standard of St George's Park or even Bisham Abbey, but it was perfectly serviceable for a Conference club such as us.

With this latest development complete, we could now look to build on our improving form. The first of three successive matches at Ship Lane was against Hampton & Richmond Borough, who were in their second season back at this level and sat in 8th place.

22 October 2016: Romford vs Hampton & Richmond Borough

The opening stages of this match weren't particularly exciting, to be honest. The first shot at goal didn't come until the 13th minute. Hampton & Richmond striker Sam Lovatt's header from near the penalty spot was easily caught by Roscoe Fryatt. Four minutes later, Liam Gormley - whose left-wing cross helped to create that opportunity - dribbled into our penalty area, where Romford right-back Danny Newman brought him down with an aggressive tackle. The referee awarded a penalty, which Connor Wilkins - the son of Ipswich Town manager Dean - fired home for the Beavers. Newman's mistake was one of several needless fouls we conceded in the first half, and by the half-hour mark, Graeme Montgomery and Dan Lawlor had both joined him in the ref's notebook. H&R weren't exactly playing like angels, either. On 37 minutes, their winger Alexander McQueen gave away a free-kick in a dangerous position after pushing Lawlor. The multi-talented Duncan Greenwood stepped up, and from 25 yards out, he swung the free-kick into the goal off the crossbar! We were back on level terms!

Newman was taken off at half-time and replaced by Kieron Gray, but after 60 minutes, we were forced to substitute another defender. George Allen tripped over the feet of H&R defender Johnny Burn in the Romford area and fell awkwardly on his elbow. I had no choice but to take him off and bring on midfielder Brian Neville as a replacement centre-half. I had some concerns about Brian's lack of heading ability, but the Beavers didn't exploit this. On 66 minutes, Eoin Wearen dragged a low shot into the side netting for the visitors. Four minutes later, Kamal Guthmy picked out Greenwood with an exquisite cross, and Duncan wasted a golden chance with a header that was too powerful. The final five minutes saw Lovatt and Greenwood each miss the target for their respective teams, and so the match finished level at 1-1. This was our third draw in a row.

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 37)

Hampton & Richmond Borough - 1 (Wilkins pen17)

Conference South, Attendance 510 - POSITIONS: Romford 15th, Hampton & Richmond 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman (Gray), Dymond, Allen (Neville), Guthmy, O'Halloran, Vassell, Lawlor, Montgomery (Fenwick), Greenwood, Reynolds. BOOKED: Newman, Montgomery, Lawlor.

George Allen would be out for the next two or three weeks with a damaged elbow. The loss of an important defender was not what we wanted before arguably the most challenging game of our homestand (forgive me, it's a baseball term).

Kingstonian were level on points with Conference South leaders Bromley, on whom they had a game in hand. The K's were looking good to make the Play-Offs, having narrowly missed out in the last two seasons.

26 October 2016: Romford vs Kingstonian

I was had particular concerns about the potency of Kingstonian's strike partnership of Affy Obafemi and Michael Uwezu. We managed to keep Obafemi quiet in the early stages, but Uwezu had a chance in the 10th minute, which Roscoe Fryatt parried away. Ros pulled off another excellent save in the very same minute, when he got his fingers to Callum McNaughton's header. After 25 minutes, Kingstonian cut through our defence again and got the ball to former Leyton Orient trainee Obafemi, whose first shot of the game was pulled a long way wide. With the K's taking control of proceedings, we started to sit back and wait for the chance to counter. We got our opportunity after half an hour, when Kamal Guthmy spotted Nick Fenwick in plenty of space down the left flank. Nick neatly controlled Kamal's long ball, and then centred it to Daniel Akindayini, who easily finished from close range. It was our only shot of the first half, and it was enough to give us a 1-0 lead!

We almost registered a second goal just two minutes into the second half. Duncan Greenwood's free-kick was awkwardly pushed behind by Ross Flitney in the Kingstonian goal. Greenwood came close again after 55 minutes, when Akindayini fed him a through-ball and then looked on as Flitney denied Duncan once more. To be honest, this wasn't Dunc's best game of his season. We struggled to get the aerial service to his 6ft 5in frame, as our crosses were regularly intercepted by the slightly shorter Kingstonian centre-back David O'Connor. Greenwood came off after 74 minutes, and Fryatt had to save from an Obafemi header two minutes later. In the first minute of injury time, we conceded a corner, and Kingstonian had one final opportunity to equalise. The visitors' own left-winger called Fenwick, first name Bayan, crossed it into the middle of the six-yard box... and O'Connor flicked it just above the bar. The match ended a couple of minutes later, and we could at long last toast a scrappy but significant win.

Romford - 1 (Akindayini 30)

Kingstonian - 0

Conference South, Attendance 390 - POSITIONS: Romford 12th, Kingstonian 3rd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Dymond, Betteridge, Rofe, Guthmy, O'Halloran (Montgomery), Neville (Jones), Lawlor, Fenwick, Montgomery (Reynolds), Akindayini.

I didn't expect us to fare that well against Kingstonian, but after defeating one of the Conference South's in-form teams, we believed that we could beat anyone. Next up was what I'd anticipated to be a less challenging home game against Weston-super-Mare, who were just above the relegation zone and trying to find some form under new manager Giles Sharrock.

19-year-old striker Gerald Stroud was set to make his first Romford appearance of the season after completing a three-month loan spell at Isthmian Premier side Burgess Hill Town. Having scored a grand total of one goal in eleven appearances for the Hillians, it wasn't exactly an unqualified success, but maybe that experience will stand Gerald in good stead as he tries to contend for a starting place with us.

29 October 2016: Romford vs Weston-super-Mare

Noticing that Weston-super-Mare had two tall and not particularly quick strikers, I thought we could afford to push up and attack from the outset. How wrong I was. After eight minutes, Jason Collins tried to hoof the ball upfield, only to see William Garrett intercept it brilliantly. Within moments, Weston's experienced striker Jon Shaw was moving towards our area, and after evading Mark Betteridge's sliding challenge, he placed the ball into the net. Shaw had given the Seagulls a very early 1-0 lead. Four minutes later, he and his strike partner Ross Davis both missed chances to increase that advantage. Shaw then tried to dink an effort over Roscoe Fryatt in the 14th minute, and put it just beyond the far post. Weston were having things too easy on our own ground, and it wasn't until the 32nd minute that we registered our first shot at goal. Brian Neville caught the Seagulls napping and found Jason Collins, who curled in a promising cross that Daniel Akindayini wasted with a poor header. On 40 minutes, Graeme Montgomery knocked a lovely pass to Nicky Reynolds in the penalty area, but Nicky fired his shot into the side netting.

We pushed even further up in the second half, putting everything we had in our attempts to draw level. Unfortunately, our shooting really let us down, particularly in the 49th minute. Akindayini hit a weak shot directly at Weston goalkeeper Paul Harrison, and Duncan Greenwood blasted over from 20 yards just moments later. Those would turn out to be our last chances - we wouldn't get any more, not even after we replaced Greenwood with young Gerald Stroud. Weston controlled possession brilliantly, and their midfield workhorses Garrett and Louis Harris sprayed passes around the pitch with superb accuracy. On the few occasions that the Seagulls' passes weren't spot on, we failed to take full advantage and they quickly got the ball back. Weston even had a few chances to kill us off with a second goal, as Fryatt had to save a couple of long-distance strikes from Shaw in the 66th and 84th minutes. However, just like in all of our other five matches this month, there would be no second-half goals. Weston-super-Mare were content with a 1-0 win that brought the Boro juggernaut to a halt.

Romford - 0

Weston-super-Mare - 1 (Shaw 8)

Conference South, Attendance 512 - POSITIONS: Romford 13th, Weston-super-Mare 15th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Betteridge, Rofe, Collins (Gray), Akindayini, Jones (Vassell), Neville, Montgomery, Greenwood (Stroud), Reynolds.

October had finished on a low note, with our six-game unbeaten run now at an end. Regardless of that, I still feel more positive about our survival chances than I felt at the start of the month. We seem to be making steady progress.

[Kharn6]

Great story, been reading all day, congrats on the promotion, and the end of year update was great, interesting seeing the movement around the rest of the leagues, helped bring it too life, i too enjoy your match structure and used it in my own, it was too complex before, and il dlef be adding a shorter version of your end of year update..

ill be keeping tabs, good work

[CFuller]

Great story, been reading all day, congrats on the promotion, and the end of year update was great, interesting seeing the movement around the rest of the leagues, helped bring it too life, i too enjoy your match structure and used it in my own, it was too complex before, and il dlef be adding a shorter version of your end of year update..

ill be keeping tabs, good work

Thank you, Kharn. I really like the end-of-season reviews as well - it's quite fun writing about the big news like transfers, managers swapping jobs, etc. I could add even more to the updates, but I don't want them to become too overblown!

[CFuller]

Before resuming our league campaign, we had two of what some people would call distractions, and I would call cup matches.

The first of them was away to AFC Hornchurch in Round 3 of the Essex Senior Cup. Just four seasons ago, Hornchurch were in the Conference South and we were a mid-table Isthmian North side. Although the roles were now reversed, the Urchins still chose to field their reserve team in the Cup. With regards to our starting line-up, we had a mix of regular starters and second-stringers.

1 November 2016: AFC Hornchurch Reserves vs Romford

The game started slowly, as both defences looked strong and neither side managed a shot at goal in the opening half-hour. On 25 minutes, Romford winger Nick Fenwick picked up a knock from Murray Gate's challenge, and he was replaced by Graeme Montgomery. With Monty on the pitch, we started to pose more of an attacking threat. In the 37th minute, Duncan Greenwood's free-kick brought a fine catch out of Hornchurch goalkeeper Thanasis Rizos. Duncan would be denied twice more by Rizos in the next three minutes. Seconds before half-time, a free-kick from Urchins midfielder Gary Frewen rebounded off the Boro wall, and his follow-up half-volley was blocked by Dan Lawlor. It was still 0-0 at the break, and Hornchurch had warned us that they weren't going to be knocked out easily.

Our young striker Gerald Stroud dragged a woeful shot wide in the 52nd minute. That miss would prove particularly significant less than a minute later. AFC Hornchurch's Jeremy Hurrell dribbled past three Boro defenders and then sent a right-wing cross into the six-yard box. Martin Ormesher met it with a header from point-blank range, and the Urchins had a 1-0 lead. I immediately made a change, replacing Stroud with 16-year-old Vasilis Koutinis. Six minutes into his senior debut, Koutinis played a short pass to Montgomery near the Hornchurch 'D'. Monty quickly knocked it towards Greenwood, who thrashed home the through-ball from a tight angle! With parity restored, we went in for the kill. Koutinis made a promising run towards goal on 61 minutes, but his shot didn't get anywhere near the target. Four minutes later, Vas sliced through the centre of Hornchurch's defence with a pass to Big Dunc, whose piledriver went high and wide. The positive impact of our young Greek continued in the 67th minute, when his shot brought a punching save out of Rizos, who is also of Greek descent. Hornchurch were being overwhelmed, but six minutes later, they won a corner against the run of play. The delivery from Dean Saunders (no, not that one!) was headed out of the Romford area by Greenwood, but Frewen swiftly got it back in there with a cross that Anthony Grainger flicked home. That was a really soft goal to concede, in my opinion, and we were on the verge of whimpering out of the Essex Senior Cup.

With minutes to go until our elimination from the competition, neither of our strikers looked capable of pulling us from the abyss. Duncan hit a couple of terrible efforts wide in the 80th and 81st minutes, while Vasilis complained of a problem with his hamstring. Koutinis returned on the pitch following some treatment, though he was clearly not in great shape. In the 87th minute, Greenwood flicked a header towards Koutinis, whose injury seemed to suddenly disappear as he raced past Urchins defender Ben Edge and placed a low shot into Rizos' far corner! 2-2! We were now bracing ourselves for extra-time, but in the dying moments of injury time, Saunders conceded a throw-in deep in Hornchurch territory. We had one last chance to snatch victory in normal time. Kamal Guthmy threw to Lawlor, who sidestepped Edge and then poked the ball through a small gap between Rizos and his near post! Although we weren't anywhere near our best, we'd staged a superb comeback from 2-1 down to win 3-2 at the death! We were through to a Round 4 match at Stanway Rovers next month.

AFC Hornchurch Reserves - 2 (Ormesher 53, Grainger 73)

Romford - 3 (Greenwood 59, Koutinis 87, Lawlor 90)

Essex Senior Cup Round 3, Attendance 26

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Barnes, Peters, Gray, Rofe (Georgiou), Guthmy, O'Halloran, Fisk, Lawlor, Fenwick (Montgomery), Greenwood, Stroud (Koutinis).

Without a doubt, the big story from that game was Vasilis Koutinis - the 16-year-old who marked his senior Romford debut with a truly memorable goal! Even more incredibly, Vas played in an Under-18s league game the following morning - and scored twice! This kid could be special.

We were hoping for more fireworks on Bonfire Night, when we had another all-Essex cup match away from home. This time, we were entertaining Wes Brown's Chelmsford City in our opening match of the FA Trophy. We'd only made it through to Qualifying Round 3 once in the past four seasons, but we were now automatically entered at that stage, and a place in Round 1 would be ours if we won.

5 November 2016: Chelmsford City vs Romford

We very quickly found ourselves under the cosh, as a Chelmsford side who'd lost just one of their last 13 matches came out with all guns blazing. A corner from Simon Johnson in the 3rd minute was headed wide by Sam Clucas. City came close from another set-piece seven minutes later, when Gary Roberts' free-kick clipped the bar. Johnson was forced off with an injury soon after, but his replacement Marc Hunter would help to keep Chelmsford's attacking momentum going. In the 20th minute, Roberts made a stunning run from the middle of the park to our area, where he narrowly missed the target. Five minutes later, Freddie Ladapo slipped behind the Romford defence to reach Danny Whitehead's lobbed through-ball. Rather than shoot for himself, Ladapo laid the ball off to Hunter, who buried his strike into a clear goal. 1-0 to Chelmsford. But almost as soon as Chelmsford's celebrations ended, we were starting ours, having equalised within less than a minute! An excellently-worked team move culminated in Duncan Greenwood finishing from Daniel Akindayini's lay-off and making it 1-1! We found ourselves in another sticky situation in the 31st minute, when Whitehead played the ball through to an unmarked Hunter. This time round, the right-winger rushed into his shot, and instead of putting City back in front, he fired past the far post. Moments later, Ryan Jones' brilliant tackle on Ladapo started off a promising Romford counter-attack. Graeme Montgomery's cross from the byline found Greenwood, but Duncan's header went straight towards City keeper Rob Peet. Neither goalie was troubled again in the first half.

There was little doubt in my mind that Hunter was Chelmsford's main attacking threat. After 48 minutes, Hunter hit a low shot that struck the far post and bounced clear. Six minutes later, our star man made an ambitious attempt to score a 40-yard piledriver, but not even Big Dunc could beat Peet from such a long distance. Hunter had another chance to retake the lead for City in the 66th minute, when his 30-yarder was easily caught by Fryatt. Moments later, Jones tried to take Hunter out of the game with a risky two-footed challenge, and ended up taking himself out. A game-ending injury to the Australian midfielder forced me to move Monty into the centre and bring Kamal Guthmy on at left-wing. After 72 minutes, Guthmy pulled the ball back to Jason Collins, and the left-back's cross found Greenwood in a great position. Alas, Duncan's diving header was not the best he had ever attempted, and a good opportunity was wasted. Barely a minute later, Romford keeper Roscoe Fryatt pulled off a wondrous reflex save to tip away Ladapo's swerving effort. That would be a key moment as, after Whitehead and Ladapo each missed half-chances later on, we held firm to draw 1-1. The tie would go down to a replay at Ship Lane.

Chelmsford City - 1 (Hunter 25)

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 26)

FA Trophy Qualifying Round 3, Attendance 565

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond, Betteridge, Collins, O'Halloran, Jones (Guthmy), Lawlor (Vassell), Montgomery, Greenwood, Akindayini (Reynolds). BOOKED: Lawlor.

That was a considerable improvement on the last time we played in that stage of the FA Trophy, when Bromley demolished us 4-0!

We now had a fantastic chance to beat Chelmsford on our own turf in the replay. If we did just that, we would be rewarded with a plum Round 1 tie away to Forest Green Rovers - one of the strongest teams in the Conference Premier.

9 November 2016: Romford vs Chelmsford City

The match couldn't have got off to a worse start for us defensively, as we went 1-0 down after less than four minutes. Connor Dymond and Simon Rofe both failed to get the ball off Freddie Ladapo in the penalty area, and after Ladapo's shot came back off the bar, Danny Whitehead slid the rebound over the line. We looked to hit back quickly following that inauspicious. In the 9th minute, Dean O'Halloran lobbed a fine pass up to Duncan Greenwood, who half-volleyed just wide. Six minutes later, Nicky Reynolds got to Brian Neville's long ball and sent a first-time cross into the six-yard box. This was a great chance for Big Dunc to head home, but he couldn't keep his effort down. Another chance fell Duncan's way in the 18th minute. Reynolds' header took a fortunate deflection off the back of Chelmsford defender Jack Lampe, but Greenwood could only fire the follow-up against the bar. A lengthy spell of attacking pressure from us ended after 29 minutes. Dan Lawlor drilled the ball through a crowded Chelmsford penalty area... and into the hands of City keeper Rob Peet. Four minutes later, Whitehead skimmed our crossbar with a shot that could've put us 2-0 behind. We were a little fortunate then, but in injury time, we didn't quite get the stroke of luck we needed at the other end. Greenwood got another effort on target, only to see Peet turn it against the bar and keep Chelmsford in front.

After 54 minutes, I began to believe that Lady Luck was wearing a claret jersey. Peet parried Greenwood's free-kick onto the crossbar, which deflected the ball back towards Reynolds. Just when Nicky thought he was going to score, Peet came forward to push his shot towards Graeme Montgomery, who slid the ball out of play with our third near-miss in a matter of seconds! Duncan had been denied by the woodwork no fewer than three times, and he would not get any more chances, as he was subbed straight after. Chelmsford also suffered the agony of hitting the woodwork shortly after play resumed, as Whitehead's low shot clipped the post. Midway through the half, I realised that we were tiring ourselves out, so I told the players to slow down and wait for their chance to break down City. That worked well... for a few seconds. After 68 minutes, it was 2-0 to Chelmsford, thanks to a well-placed goal from City's Romford native Ladapo. That effectively ended our hopes of staying in the FA Trophy. Thanks to some pretty woeful shooting from Reynolds, we wouldn't even get a consolation goal, despite us having 15 shots compared to Chelmsford's nine. The Clarets were so safely through to Round 1 that they could even afford to lose a player, which is what happened when midfielder Sam Cox received his second yellow card in injury time.

Romford - 0

Chelmsford City - 2 (Whitehead 4, Ladapo 68)

FA Trophy Qualifying Round 3 Replay, Attendance 187

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman, Dymond (Gray), Rofe, Guthmy, O'Halloran, Neville, Lawlor, Montgomery (Fenwick), Greenwood (Akindayini), Reynolds.

And with that, another cup campaign met a premature end. In both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy this season, we had done well enough away from home to secure a replay, only to be shut out and knocked out at Ship Lane.

(Sigh) I guess it's time to focus on the league now...

[CFuller]

Duncan Greenwood and Dean O'Halloran were two of our most talented players, but neither of them played particularly well in our FA Trophy defeat to Chelmsford City. To be honest, I should've seen it coming.

Since the start of September, Greenwood had played in all but one of our matches, while O'Halloran had only missed three games. Although we needed to use them more because of injuries to Kieron Carroll and Jason Harley, both of whom were now back in full training, fatigue was starting to take its toll on Duncan and Dean. They were both exhausted and in need of a break.

Therefore, we travelled to 6th-placed Canvey Island in our first league match of November with neither Greenwood nor O'Halloran. Captain Carroll was able to take his place on the bench after recovering from a torn hamstring, but Harley wasn't yet fit enough to play following his knee injury.

We headed into this match sitting 16th in the Conference South, and we were still six points above the relegation zone.

12 November 2016: Canvey Island vs Romford

Canvey Island made a strong start, winning a couple of corners inside the first six minutes. We took a little longer to get going, but when we did, the signs were promising. Jay Vassell narrowly missed from a free-kick in the 18th minute. Two minutes later, Canvey keeper Tim Deasy made a couple of crucial last-moment saves from Nicky Reynolds and young Gerald Stroud. Then, in the 28th minute, Vassell orchestrated a counter-attack that resulted in us taking the lead. Jay started the move with an excellent challenge on Gulls midfielder Aaron Wickham in the Boro half, and he also supplied the killer pass to Reynolds, who slotted the ball past Deasy. That was Nicky's first goal since he scored back-to-back doubles against Oxford City and Braintree Town two months ago. Whether it would be the crucial one in this game remained to be seen. Canvey - who had forced Roscoe Fryatt into a couple of saves earlier on - started to really threaten our lead during the last ten minutes of the first half. Their striker Jacob Hazel ended our right-back Danny Newman's game with a cynical foul in the 35th minute, but he stayed on the pitch and volleyed a shot wide three minutes later. After 43 minutes, Hazel found the back of the net with a close-range conversion from William Miller's pass. The offside flag then came to our rescue, denying Hazel and Canvey Island their equaliser. We therefore remained 1-0 up at half-time - could we hold on for another 45 minutes?

In the 49th minute, Stroud tore open Canvey Island's backline with a long through-ball to Reynolds. Here was a fantastic opportunity to double our lead, but Nicky went for power over precision and missed. Two minutes later, Stephen Cawley's challenge on Bobby Fisk hurt the Romford midfielder so badly that we were forced into another substitution. Losing Bobby didn't upset our rhythm, because Reynolds set up a fine chance for Stroud in the 56th minute. However, Gerald would have to keep waiting for his first senior goal after Deasy pulled off a superb fingertip save. Meanwhile, Lanre Azeez half-volleyed an effort harmlessly off target for Canvey on 66 minutes. That would mark the start of an extended assault from the home team. Five minutes later, Gulls winger Adam Green jinked down the left flank and crossed to Cawley, whose header crossed the goalmouth and left play at the other side. Things would really get spicy after 75 minutes. First, Andy Howell hit the post with a low strike from the edge of the area, and then Fryatt palmed away another drilled effort from Gulls defender Michael Kamau. The extended spell of Canvey Island pressure ended with Green missing from distance a minute later, but there was more drama in the 78th minute. Cawley made a brilliant slide tackle on Boro substitute Kieron Carroll to take the ball off him - but he knocked it on to Reynolds, who came forward and dinked the ball over Deasy from 20 yards! With that, Nicky celebrated his 125th goal under my management, and his 100th in the league! It also gave us a 2-0 lead over our old bogey team, though that cushion wouldn't stay intact for too long. With just over five minutes to go, Ryan Jones conceded a penalty for bringing down Howell, and Canvey's French defender Nicholas Bondon emphatically fired the spot-kick home to give the Gulls some hope. Canvey Island couldn't muster a second goal in the final minutes, though, and we secured a 2-1 win that moved us into the top half for the first time this season!

Canvey Island - 1 (Bondon pen86)

Romford - 2 (Reynolds 28,78)

Conference South, Attendance 522 - POSITIONS: Canvey Island 7th, Romford 11th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Newman (Betteridge), Gray, Allen, Collins, Akindayini, Fisk (Jones), Vassell, Fenwick, Reynolds, Stroud (Carroll).

That was our first away win in the Conference South, and my first ever victory over Canvey Island after three consecutive defeats! Talk about killing two birds with one stone!

After four successive Essex derbies, we travelled a long way west for our next game, as we visited fellow mid-tablers Dorchester Town in Dorset. 17-year-old right-back Jordan Peters made his first league appearance of the season, as Danny Newman was out with a stubbed toe, while Jason Harley was back on the bench after a lengthy absence.

19 November 2016: Dorchester Town vs Romford

Nicky Reynolds hit a shot just outside the Dorchester area in the 5th minute, and missed the target by the matter of inches. Two minutes later, Magpies striker Tony Garrod had a pop from 25 yards, and it floated just above the bar. After a quick start to proceedings, the action slowed down until the 21st minute. It was then that Nic Ciardini whipped a Dorchester corner into our penalty area, and his team-mate Jack Dean fired a shot that went in off the unfortunate Jordan Peters' chest. Our last visit to Dorchester's Avenue Stadium four years ago ended in a 4-0 thrashing, so I was obviously concerned when we conceded the first goal. I needn't have been. Four minutes later, Nicky knocked a lovely through-ball to Duncan Greenwood, who raced past Dean and his goalkeeper Alex Gott to give himself a simple tap-in for the equaliser! The Magpies threatened to get back in front two minutes later, when Craig Reid hit a powerful shot that Roscoe Fryatt brilliantly turned behind. However, the tide had turned in our favour, and in the 36th minute, so did the scoreline. Dan Lawlor's impressive form continued when he lobbed the ball over Dean to Big Dunc, who chested his delivery and volleyed us into a 2-1 advantage! It was a lead that we could have built on before half-time. On 39 minutes, Graeme Montgomery headed a promising effort straight into the hands of Gott, who would deny Greenwood a hat-trick three minutes later.

Our defence took a while to wake up in the second half. Garrod found Reid in too much space on 48 minutes, and we were fortunate that Reid couldn't direct his shot towards the target. Despite that scare, it wasn't a warning sign, as we dictated terms for a good while after that. Treble-chaser Greenwood headed Montgomery's cross over the bar in the 53rd minute. Monty had another chance to make something happen after 67 minutes, when Dean conceded a corner under pressure. Graeme curled the ball into the six-yard box, where Dean O'Halloran slid it over the line! We were now 3-1 up away from home! Dorchester thought they'd been robbed of an opportunity to peg us back a minute later, when Kamal Guthmy beat their midfielder Steven Brisbane to an aerial ball in the Romford area. Despite the Magpies' cries for a penalty, the referee thought that Kamal had jumped fairly, and he allowed play to carry on. That decision seemed to upset Dorchester, and a comeback from them was never really on the cards afterwards. Three more away points were in the bag, and our charge up the table continued!

Dorchester Town - 1 (Dean 21)

Romford - 3 (Greenwood 25,36, O'Halloran 67)

Conference South, Attendance 324 - POSITIONS: Dorchester 16th, Romford 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Fryatt, Peters, Dymond, Allen, Guthmy, O'Halloran (Harley), Neville (Vassell), Lawlor, Montgomery, Greenwood (Carroll), Reynolds.

Fancy that! Two away wins in a row! We were on a roll!