Ryman Div 1N: Brightlingsea Regent 2 Romford 0 (abandoned 52 mins, floodlight failure)

Romford avoided a potential third successive league defeat as floodlight failure forced the abandonment of their match against new boys Brightlingsea last night.

Paul Martin’s men were up against it after conceding twice in quick succession midway through the first half.

But the ground was plunged into semi-darkness early in the second period, when half the floodlights went out, before a total blackout minutes later left referee Steven Parmenter with no option but to call it off.

Both sides went into the match on the back of FA Cup wins on the road at the weekend, with Boro having run out 4-0 winners at St Margaretsbury.

And barely a minute had been played when Ben Newson sent a speculative volley on the turn over the crossbar for the hosts.

Ryan Imbert hooked an effort onto the roof of the home net on three minutes, before Luke Milbourne headed a great chance wide for Regent.

Home supporters thought their side had opened the scoring on six minutes when a strong run by Ricky Griggs allowed Milbourne to play in Newson, who stabbed the ball past the onrushing Aarom Omand but just the wrong side of a post and into the side netting.

Newson skied a great chance over the bar seconds later, before Boro rallied and Matt Toms saw a far post header from an Abs Seymour corner deflected wide on 12 minutes.

Play then settled down for a time, before Omand denied Josh Gould with an instinctive save at point blank range midway through the half.

The respite was brief, though, as Paul Preston conceded possession just outside his own box and Newson advanced to beat Omand with a good finish.

Boro conceded a second goal on 26 minutes when Dicks cleared Milbourne’s effort off the line, but the ball was sent back to the far post and Newson netted via the underside of the crossbar.

And the visitors were left frustrated eight minutes before the break when Imbert saw his diving header cleared off the line by a home defender, before Regent countered upfield and Newson saw his acute-angled shot turned around the post by Omand.

Imbert set up a shooting chance for captain Jack Barry, whose effort was saved by Luke Avenell just as the Boro skipper was scythed down.

Penalty appeals were ignored and, after Tom Richardson and Sam Kemp were both off-target just before the break, the two sides exchanged words as they returned to the dressing rooms.

Boro made a bright start to the second half as Seymour released Kemp on the right and his low cross found Imbert at the near post, but his flick was deflected behind.

But any hopes of a fightback were soon extinguished by the floodlight failure, which will see Boro return to the Essex coast later in the season to try again.

Romford: Omand, Preston, Dicks, Toms, Ishmail, Clayton, Barry, Seymour, Imbert, Richardson, Kemp. Subs: Reynolds, Cooper, Cocklin, Tranter.