Romford manager enjoying plenty of new home comforts

Having started life at East Thurrock Stadium with a 2-1 victory over Ilford, they beat promotion rivals Woodford Town by the same margin last Wednesday.

And Boro followed that with a 2-0 triumph over Crawley Green in the second round of the Vase, which earned them another home tie against Mildenhall Town on December 2.

“I was really pleased with the result [against Woodford]. It was a good game between two very good sides. They’re one of the toughest we’ve played this season,” said Spinks.

“It was close and we probably just about deserved it. It was a really good, enjoyable game to watch.”

Charlie Morris put Boro ahead just before the break, but Jedidah Brown-Johnson levelled early in the second half.

Captain Kris Newby’s cross shot found the far corner to seal the points, which left Boro in third place, two points behind leaders Tilbury.

Only four points separate the top five and Spinks added: “I expect us all to lose games. If we’d lost that one, they would’ve had a bit of a jump on us, so it gets us back in the mix.

“The three games we lost recently, it just wasn’t us, we lost our way a bit. But we’re now back to where we were.”

Michael Turner headed home from Newby’s first-minute corner to put Boro on their way at the weekend.

And Newby doubled the advantage from the penalty spot before the quarter-hour mark, but that was as good as it got for the home side as Jake Anderson saved a late spot-kick from Lanrewajul Balogun to preserve the clean sheet.

“It was a good performance. We got an early goal and were 2-0 up quite early on,” added Spinks.

“It should’ve been a lot more comfortable and we ended up having to make some saves, including a last-minute penalty, to stop the fingernail biting.

“Cup games are always tough. Nobody won easily. We’re just pleased to get through and it’s another home tie for the club.

“They [Mildenhall Town] were step four not long ago and they’re doing well this season, second in their league [Thurlow Nunn Premier].”

After a fourth successive home game in midweek, with a visit from Athletic Newham – who also progressed in the FA Vase at the weekend – Romford head out to Saffron Walden Town on Saturday.

After a difficult start to the campaign, including a 5-1 loss to Romford on opening day, the Bloods have lost just once in 12 matches in all competitions.

And Spinks expects another tough test at Catons Lane.

“The new manager has turned it around a bit. We had a comfortable win against them in the first game of the season but I don’t expect that this Saturday,” he said.

“Every game is tough, it’s a tough division. We’ve beat the top sides [Tilbury, Woodford] and lost other games that on paper [Frenford, Stanway, Takeley] we shouldn’t have.”