AJ Smith netted twice in Romford Raiders 9-1 win at Bristol

Forward looks ahead to crunch title clash

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Romford Raiders forward AJ Smith is relishing the run-in to the end of the ENL Division One season.

Smith netted twice, along with player-coach Danny Marshall and linemate Matt Turner, in last weekend’s 9-1 win at Bristol and now has 67 points in 34 games this term.

And he says Marshall’s men will be going all out against the Isle of Wight in a crunch clash on Saturday.

He said: “Despite a slow start and a poor first period we stepped our game up and I think the scoreline was a fair reflection of our dominance of the game, especially the last 40 minutes.

“All three lines played well and as for me personally I’m really pleased with how my line with Matty and (Anthonmy) Leone is coming along.

“We’re getting better every game which is important for our tough run in to the end of the season and the playoffs.”

Juraj Huska, Shaun Yardley and Tom Davis also hit the back of the net in Bristol, before all players and supporters endured a nightmare journey back to Rom Valley Way as heavy snow began to fall across the UK on Saturday night.

Smith added: “Luckily enough for me, although I travelled up on the coach, me and Leone got a lift home and were back at about 2am.

“I couldn’t believe when I heard the lads didn’t get back until gone 6am, although we came back with the two points that we went there for so it’s all good.”

Table-topping Raiders saw their home game against Slough postponed due to the wintry weather, but remain four points clear of title rivals Chelmsford, who won 7-1 at Streatham.

Romford face a key meeting with the Isle of Wight on Saturday and have won on their previous two visits to Ryde, in the league and South East Trophy, this season.

But they were held to a 4-4 draw by their namesakes at Rom Valley Way recently and Smith said: “It’s a huge game on Saturday and we will have to play a lot better than we did two weeks ago if we want the win.

“But I know that we will. We have no game on Sunday so we will go all out for the win and then rest up.”