Romford’s perfect start more than expected says boss

Romford boss Dan Spinks admitted their four-match winning streak to start the 2023-24 season was ‘more than we expected’.

Boro booked a home date with Welwyn Garden City in the FA Cup preliminary round with a 4-1 victory at Halstead Town at the weekend.

And they followed that up with a 3-2 triumph at Great Wakering Rovers in midweek in the Essex Senior League to strengthen their hold on top spot in the early standings.

But Spinks knows there is more to come, with his side visiting Hullbridge Sports on Saturday and meeting landlords Barking on Wednesday.

“Four wins out of four is more than we expected,” he said.

“We’ve got bigger tests to come and the next seven days will tell us more.

“Hullbridge look a decent side and we’ve got that rivalry with Barking being our landlords.

“We will take each game as it comes, look to win and move on. We’re not looking too far ahead at the moment.

“We want to improve as we go along, there’s still more to come which is always a positive.”

Romford took the lead inside two minutes at Halstead Town through Harrison Georgiou, who converted a cross from Jayden Silcott-Brown after he was set free by Henry Hart.

And, after Scott Doe headed against his own post and Halstead found the net but saw it ruled out for a foul on Hart, the visitors doubled their advantage just before the break.

Junior Luke cleared Sonny Dotton’s effort off the line before Boro broke upfield and Doe saw another header parried by Jack Cherry, with Michael Turner the first to react to convert the loose ball.

It was 3-0 just past the hour mark when Kris Newby crossed from the right and, when Hassan Nalbant diverted the ball against a post, Georgiou claimed his second of the day.

Finlay Dorrell cut in from the left to fire a stunning fourth past Cherry from 25 yards on 68 minutes, before the Humbugs grabbed a consolation from the penalty spot courtesy of Kane Gilbert.

“We go out to win every game. We started well and the first 20 minutes was very good, our best of the season,” said Spinks.

“But we took our foot off the gas before getting a good goal to go 2-0 up just before half-time.

“We were excellent for 20 minutes after half time but took our foot off again and I’ve been through it with the boys.

“We need that 100-minute performance this season.”

Boro took the lead after nine minutes on Tuesday when Jordan Sarfo ran onto Newby’s pass and found Luke, who beat Luis Shamshoum at the far post.

Jake Anderson made his first notable save to deny Connor Hart, then punched away an Oliver Jenkins effort, before Luke deflected the ball into his own net and was reprieved by an offside flag.

Turner had a header cleared off the line from Luke’s throw and Silcott-Brown had penalty claims turned down before forcing Shamshoum into a save and seeing Georgiou head over.

The visitors doubled their lead just before half-time, though, when Nalbant’s shot was blocked by Shamshoum and Sarfo converted.

And it was 3-0 five minutes into the second half when Sarfo’s shot was blocked and Newby’s corner found Turner for a powerful headed finish.

Wakering hit back through Jake Gordon’s chip over Anderson and set up a tense finale when Jay Nash found the net late on with a looping header.

“Great Wakering were the best side we’ve played so far,” added Spinks.

“They caused us the most problems and to get three points away from home on a Tuesday night is always good.

“At 3-0 they looked dead and buried but we gave them something and we were hanging on for the 10 minutes of injury time. We’ve got to be prepared for that now.

“We dug in deep, put bodies on the line and there were positives from that side of it.”

As for their next FA Cup test against Southern League Central outfit Welwyn GC, he said: “They are a step above so we will find out where we are.

“It becomes a bit of a free one. We will be the underdogs but we will give it go and see where it takes us.”