by Paul Lerman

Romford 1
Wingate & Finchley 1
Ryman One North

Wingate & Finchley grabbed a late equaliser in a game which saw the hosts dominate large parts but lack the killer instinct in front of goal.

The Blues, playing on a night which bore more resemblance to the Siberian Tundra, started brightly in the first ten minutes, playing some crisp one touch football, and dominating the early passages of play.

David Laird played a lone role in a 4-5-1 formation and almost found the net early on after good build up play by Marc Henry and Jordan Fowler.

This signalled the last meaningful attack of the half for the away side, as Romford began to spread the ball about well and made the Wingate back line work hard to keep the score at 0-0.

The loss of Gary Burrell to injury in last week’s bruising encounter with Enfield Town meant the Blues were unable to stretch the game via the wings, and the lack of penetrating width meant play was squashed into the middle in what was becoming a congested and frustrating game.

The first moment of controversy in an otherwise lacklustre first half came when Romford’s Ricky Mackin put the ball in the net only for play to be pulled back for a free kick to the home team, which in turn was given after the linesman had seemingly flagged for an offside.

Joe Pearman put the resulting free kick over the bar from the edge of the area.

The second half saw Romford continue to push forward, and their endeavours would have been rewarded had Ajet Shehu not cleared off the line from a well struck shot.

Unfortunately Shehu’s luck would run out shortly afterwards when the referee awarded a foul against him in the box, and Ben Turner stepped up to make it 1-0.

At this stage, the away side looked beaten, offering little in the way of attacking threat.

The catalyst for change came on 80 minutes when Rob Ursell came on as sub and used all his well crafted trickery and vision to carve up the Romford defence on more than one occasion.

Ursell’s cleverness on the ball allowed the lively Josh Cooper to attack down the flanks, and give the previously narrow midfield space to spread play around in the middle of the park.

The pressure finally paid off on 86 minutes when a scramble in the box led to David Laird eventually knocking the ball home off the underside of the bar, much to the delight of the die-hard Blues fans behind the goal.

The result probably seemed a little harsh on Romford, but possession counts for nothing if the ball doesn’t end up in the back of the net.

Wins on the night for Enfield and Brentwood, means the chasing pack have now closed in, though in truth, any team in the top half of the table can still make the play offs.

On the evidence of tonight, the teams with the biggest squad, best discipline and perhaps a peppering of luck will finish in the top five.

Needham Market and East Thurrock aside, there is little to choose between the top sides in this league, which will lead to an interesting finale over the next few weeks.