A win makes everything seem better, a win away at your local rivals makes things even better still. After the excellent 2-1 victory at GWR last Saturday, The Bridge travel to Romford (or to be more accurate, Barking, or should that be Dagenham!) full of hope and confidence, I expect, and our hopes of another away victory are high…but let’s not get too carried away though because we face decent opponents who have been doing the following so far this season…

Romford, or The Boro as they are also known, are currently in 7th place in the ESL Prem. and have 43 points from their 24 games. 13 wins, 4 draws, and 7 defeats have produced 48 goals for and 29 against for a +19 GD. From their 13 home matches, they have 7 wins, 2 draws, and 4 defeats, with a GD of +15 (28 for and 13 against) which is 7th for the ESL. The Bridge away are 3 wins and 9 defeats, with 18 scored and 28 conceded (-10), so if 4 teams can beat Romford at home maybe, just maybe, The Bridge could become the 5th.

Here’s what The Boro have been doing in their last six matches…
Romford – season 24/25 – The Last Six (Seven!)
(most recent results first)
FC Clacton v Romford (The 7th match) Postponed, waterlogged pitch

Romford 3 Stansted 0
A routine 3-0 victory for The Boro who were 2-0 up at half-time through Scott Doe and Charlie Morris and made it three in the 77th minute thanks to ex-Bridge man, Shermandin Artmeladze. Talking of ex-Bridge players, Luis Shamshoum, Finley Gregory, and Callum Fitzer were in the defeated Stansted line-up.

Woodford Town 1 Romford 0
Romford push championship chasing Woodford close, indeed very close with The Woods winning it with a 92nd-minute Georges Kebi goal.

Romford 3 Takeley 1
The visitors lose the plot in the 94th minute and Coby Miles and Lewis Powell both receive red cards. By then, however, The Boro have the three points in the bag with a 3-1 win. Kennedy Feyi opens the scoring for Romford before Alfie Attrill makes it 1-1. Feyi scores again and then ex-Bridge man Jake Gordon scores in that eventful 94th minute.

Barking 3 Romford 1
The landlords beat the tenants in this one although they leave it late and trail 1-0 to an Arnold Mengi goal just before half-time. Another ex-Bridge player, Ellis Lawson makes it 1-1 with a great strike before Sam Shaban and Tony Martin net in the late eighties (minutes, rather than the era of curly hair and large shoulder pads).

Buckhurst Hill 3 Romford 0
A bit of a surprise this one as The Stags thump The Boro by three clear goals. Shermandin Artmeladze is red-carded but not until the 90th minute when the game is well and truly over with a George Thompson penalty, Tyreece Robertson and Jamie Obama Nvumba doing the damage.

Romford 1 West Essex 0
A narrow home victory for Romford with the winning goal coming from ex-Bridge man (yep, another one!) Amaree Robinson-Jones.

First Team Squad & appearances:
Player Appearances
1 Praise Ogbebor 25
2 Toheeb Elegushi 24
3 Arnold Mengi 22
4 Kennedy Feyi 20
5 Andy Morris 19
6 Kojo Feyi 15
7 Brendan Ocran 15
8 Jaiden Babalola 14
9 Qamil Dervishaj 14
10 Sam Elwood 14
11 Eli Benoit 13
12 Lucas Polyblank 13
13 Harry Girling 11
14 Chris Millar 11
15 David Owiredu 11
16 Leandro Alva 9
17 Jake Giddings 9
18 Amaree Robinson-Jones 9
19 Shermandin Artmeladze 8
20 Kalum Bama 8
21 Aundre Spencer 8
22 Hafeez Elegushi 7
23 Harry Elsey 7
24 Nathan Fuma 7
25 Joe Paxman 7
26 Ashaan Siddik 7
27 Isioma Richard 6
28 Kelvin Boampong 5
29 Jake Gordon 5
30 Reece McGovern 5
31 Daniel Nakipov-Getmansky 5
32 Jacob Adeyemi 4
33 Scott Doe 4
34 Derek Feyi 4
35 Elliott Howson 4
36 Blaise Uwandji 4
37 Izaih Antoine 3
38 Brian Moses 3
39 Isaac Sijuade 3
40 Jake Anderson 2
41 Ellis Ashworth 2
42 Harry Brown 2
43 Prince Manuel Commodore 2
44 Sonny Dutton 2
45 Charlie Morris 2
46 Lisandro Cassandra 1
47 Ross Elsom 1
48 Abdishakur Farah 1
49 Reece Hewitt 1
50 Connor Hogan 1
51 Richard Isoma 1
52 Nabil Musah 1
53 Sam Park 1
54 Oliver Plunkett 1
55 Wyan Reid 1
56 Tom Salter 1

Wow! Just a few players then…and quite a few with Hullbridge connections. Here are the ones that I know, I’m sure you know even more!

Sam Elwood, Eli Benoit, Amaree Robinson-Jones, Shermandin Artmeladze, Jake Gordon, Izaih Antoine, Harry Brown, Sonny Dutton, Charlie Morris & Ross Elsom.

A closer look…where we take a closer look(!) at past meetings and the Romford season so far, but first, the facts…you’re welcome!

Club Facts:
Founded: 1876
Ground: Mayesbrook Park, Dagenham
Chairman: Steve Gardener
First Team Manager: Kris Newby
Nickname: The Boro

The Bridge and Romford – recent meetings:

Season 2024/2025
Tuesday 3rd September 2024
The Bridge 3 Romford 3

One of my favourite games of the season (along with Stanway Rovers in the Peter Butcher Trophy) as The Bridge fight back from 3-0 down and looking dead and buried to snatch a last-gasp point. A fourth-minute goal from Praise Ogbebor sends Romford on their way and Arnold Mengi doubles the lead on just 13 minutes. It’s looking like a long night for The Bridge, and even longer when Kennedy Feyi puts The Boro 3-0 up in the 61st minute.

Just when we think things can't get any worse Jake Wiggins receives a red card in the 69th minute and the night looks done. The game has been feisty, to say the least, and from somewhere The Bridge find a way back when Connor Hart strikes in the 75th minute and again in the 86th. Romford begin to lose their heads and suddenly are not looking so pretty in pink, especially when Ollie Jenkins makes a surging run and is felled in the box. Freddie Moriaty smashes the penalty home, and the comeback is complete. The game ends in chaos and another red card, this time for Romford’s Kojo Feyi. An amazing game that will take some beating in the Game of the Season awards!

Season 2023/2024
A good season for Romford who finished 3rd with 77 points from their 38 matches and qualified for the end-of-season play-offs where they beat Barking 1-0 (Kris Newby) before losing to Sporting Bengal United 1-3. They also reached the final of the Errington Challenge Cup, losing 0-4 to Stanway Rovers and, of course, won the all-ESL FA Vase final at Wembley against GWR 3-0. Goals came from Sam Deering and two from Hassan Nalbant. The Bridge finished 12th with 49 points. The teams met twice during the season:

Game One – 12th August 2023
The Bridge 0 Romford 2
The Boro take the points at Lower Road with Jaydon Silcott-Brown and substitute Bruno Gomes the scorers in front of a 104 attendance.

Game Two – 25th November 2023
Romford 0 The Bridge 1
Solomon Ofori scores the only goal of the game to extract revenge for the home defeat, watched by an attendance of 105… wonder who the extra one person was?!

Season 2022/2023
Romford compete In the Essex Senior League Premier and finish 14th with 47 points whilst The Bridge finish bottom of the Isthmian League North and are relegated to the ESL. With the two teams in different leagues, their paths do not cross for 22/23.

Season 2021/2022
Romford finish bottom of the Isthmian League North with just 13 points from their 38 matches that includes just 3 wins. The Bridge end up 16th with 39 but that doesn’t tell the whole story though as this was the famous Hullbridge “Great Escape” season when The Bridge were all but relegated but fought back to survive by 3 points!
The two games between the two teams were:

Game One – 23rd October 2021
The Bridge 2 Romford 2
Tony Stokes opens the scoring for The Bridge with a 14th-minute penalty before Shermandin Artmeladze and Billy Hayes give Boro a half-time lead. Stokesy ties it up with a second pen in the 90th minute.

Game Two – 19th February 2022
Romford 1 The Bridge 5
Bang in form now as “The Great Escape” is well and truly in full flow, The Bridge trounce Romford at Mayesbrook Park (lucky omen maybe?) with a Joe Gregory hat-trick and two from Demaray Anyadike. Afolabi Soyemi-Ololade gets the consolation for Romford.

Romford This season:
League positions in brackets are current position

Home: Won 7, Drawn 2, Lost 4 (F28, A13 = +15) ESL 7th
Seven home wins for The Boro starting with Stanway Rovers (1st) 4-1, Benfleet (12th) 2-0, Sawbridgeworth Town (19th) 5-1, FC Clacton (20th) 5-0, West Essex (13th) 1-0, Takeley (3rd) 3-1 and Stansted (18th) 3-0.
Just two draws Vs. Athletic Newham (8th) 1-1, and Ilford (15th) 1-1, and the four defeats that give us hope for Saturday came against Little Oakley (11th) 1-2, Great Wakering Rovers (4th) 0-1, White Ensign (9th) 1-3, and surprisingly Halstead Town (17th) 1-2.

Away: Won 6, Drawn 2, Lost 3 (F20, A16 = +4) ESL 8th
A decent away record with just the three defeats, ironically in their last three away games, at Buckhurst Hill (10th) 0-3, Barking (6th) 1-3, and Woodford Town (2nd) 0-1. Two draws at Takeley (3rd) 0-0 and Hullbridge Sports (16th), the amazing 3-3 classic! That leaves the six wins at Ilford (15th) 3-1, West Essex (13th) 3-1, Stansted (18th) 2-1, Saffron Walden Town (5th) 3-1, Little Oakley (11th) 1-0 and Frenford (14th) 4-2.

Up for the Cup!
In the FA Cup, Romford won at home to Eynesbury Rovers 3-2 in the Extra Preliminary Round replay after a 2-2 draw in the first game. They went out at the Preliminary Round stage, losing at Brightlingsea Regent 4-0.

Like GWR, the FA Vase was less successful this season as the holders went out at the Second-Round stage (their first round), losing 3-2 at Takeley.

Boro's time at Rookery Hill comes to an end…
Romford Football Club’s short time at Rookery Hill has come to an end following a decision by the landlords not to renew the club’s lease for the coming season.

For the 2024-25 season, Romford will be returning to groundshare at Barking FC’s Lawtech Stadium where a two-year deal has been agreed. Romford FC would like to place on record their thanks to Barking FC for their help and assistance in bringing this deal about.

The following is an update from club chairman Steve Gardener, which has already appeared on social media:

"Further to the announcement yesterday I just wanted to give supporters some more information on the events surrounding recent developments.

When the lease for Rookery Hill became available individuals within the club took on the lease from the landlords. These individuals then offered Rookery Hill to the football club free of charge. The club has never had to pay the utilities, rent, or upkeep of the club. These individuals did this so as not to expose the club to any financial worry. Although the terms were fluid and relatively short, no one expected them to be this short, and no one expected the break clause to be triggered so soon into our tenure.

When I found out on Thursday, the primary aim was to find somewhere to play so we had a club to support next season. The preference was for somewhere not too far away and fit for at least step 4 football. Considering we moved away so quickly; we are grateful to Barking FC to agreeing to a 2 year ground share.

Some people reading this will probably welcome the move as Barking may be nearer or easier, and some, including the new support we had so eagerly welcomed will be disappointed.

I have had several conversations with Dan Spinks over the last couple of days. To say he is disappointed is an understatement. In every conversation he has asked me to thank all the supporters for making the club feel like a real home, and also to those that came along and helped with rubbish removal, painting, building etc. Both Dan, and the club wish to put on record our undying gratitude to Fauve and Kris Newby for all they have done.

We gave it a go, we tried running our own ground, and now everyone realises how difficult it can be. Those individuals that bravely took the plunge, have protected the club but lost money themselves. Rent, utility bills, repairs, stock replenishment, ground maintenance, the list goes on.

We hope some of the new supporters will continue to stick with us, we have loved our new noisy neighbours. The season ticket prices and deals are still available.

We are trying to source another venue for Saturday and will book somewhere for the AGM (looking for somewhere with a room and a bar).

At one point this week I thought our last ever game may have been Wembley, but then realised our resilience, and that we are the masters of adversity. We will come back stronger. The plan now is to get as much money into the club, have a sensible budget, recruit wisely, and try and get promotion. Sorry, it's been messy, but as always, we have tried to do the best for the club. Up The Boro."

How big is a win? Well, undoubtedly the win at GWR was as big as it was unexpected, and The Bridge finally got reward for recent performances that haven’t always produced the points those performances deserved. So, we’ve done part A and now it’s part B where we attempt to get a run going, continuing at Romford on Saturday.

Romford have gone through a lot of changes this season. Back at Mayesbrook Park after a short stay at Rookery Hill, manager Dan Spinks departing to SWT and many of the Wembley winning squad going with him or elsewhere. Like most teams, the team has evolved as the season has progressed and Boro are still aiming for a play-off place. Subject to availability, expect to see some or all of these guys in the line-up as they’ve been in recent selections: Praise Ogbebor, Arnold Mengi, Hafeez Elegushi, Jake Gordon, Amaree Robinson-Jones, and Shermin Artmeladze. Jake Anderson seems now to be the goalkeeper of choice and Harry Brown and Brian Moses should be up top. I’m not sure what’s happened to Kennedy Feyi in the last couple of matches but he could be there too if they can fit them all in! Add the returning Scott Doe and it’s a pretty tough team. Recent goal scorers have been Kennedy Feyi with two, Robinson-Jones, Doe, Gordon, Mengi, Artmeladze, and Charlie Morris.

The form guide below shows some up and down form with 3 wins and 3 defeats in the last six. The Bridge, as I mentioned, should be on a high after the last result. Mayesbrook Park is 3G so the game should be on, and the weather looks okay too. All set then…

The three teams below The Bridge have tough games: Stansted at home to a fairly in-form Benfleet, Sawbo at Ilford, who have picked up lately, and FC Clacton probably have the best chance of points at Frenford.

The stats point to a Romford win, but The Bridge's confidence should be good after the GWR victory. There’s an interesting one at Athletic Newham against Halstead Town, with two in-form teams clashing and a table-top meeting between Takeley and Woodford.

A win could take us up to 14th place if other results go our way and even a defeat will not see us drop any places so, if you fancy a day out in Dagenham at Barking watching Romford v The Bridge, Robbo & The Ranger and the lads will be more than happy to see you…let’s get that run going and remember…