Romford boss Dan Spinks realistic about early FA Cup exit

Romford boss Dan Spinks admitted he was not too downbeat after their FA Cup exit at the hands of Welwyn Garden City.

Dernell Wynter fired the visitors in front from the spot early on, after Scott Doe was penalised, before Darren Phillips was dismissed on six minutes.

And Bailey Stevenson doubled the lead, moments before Charlie Morris replied with a penalty in first-half stoppage time.

The tie remained in the balance until Lucas Jordan struck on 83 minutes to seal a 3-1 win for the Citizens, but Spinks remained realistic in defeat. 

“I said to the boys I’d rather decisions go against us today than in an important league game,” he said.

“We started eratically in the first five minutes and gave away a soft penalty.

“It fired us up a bit but Darren went up and he caught the boy, no disputing that, but there was a bit of nous shown from the league above.

“I couldn’t ask any more of the boys. When we got it back to 2-1 we were right in it and gave it a real go.

“If we’d got one we would’ve looked for another one, not settled for the draw.

“But we’re not too downbeat. We will lose games and the small margins on the day went against us.”

Boro had enjoyed a run to the third qualifying round last season, but Spinks had already stated his priority this time around was to gain promotion from the Essex Senior League.

They return to that particular quest on Bank Holiday Monday at Tilbury, who visit FC Clacton for an FA Vase tie on Saturday.

Boro are exempt until the second round and will enjoy a day off instead, with Spinks adding: “We’ve given them the day off on Saturday. 

“Me and Michael [Hart] might creep out and watch a game.

“Tilbury, it doesn’t matter too much [playing twice in three days].

“We will worry about ourselves and if we do our jobs right we will be ok.”

Spinks took his side to Potters Bar Town in midweek for a friendly and was pleased by what he saw, despite another 3-1 loss.

“It was arranged a bit late to get a few boys some minutes and it was really good. We got a great response from them,” he said.

“Darren [Phillips] was excellent and will be a good signing for us.

“We got more out of it than we would a training session. They wanted minutes for some of their players as well.

“The performance was excellent and the trialists did well. We’re not looking to change things too much but we’ve got some injuries.

“Finlay [Dorrell] got injured while he was away with his college in Madrid so will be missing for a while.

“The phone has been ringing with players wanting to get involved.”

Boro have been given a home tie in the first round of the Essex Senior Cup against Great Wakering Rovers, with the winners hosting Stansted or Athletic Newham.