Ryman rivals hit the road

Saturday (3pm)

Ryman Premier Division

Hendon v Hornchurch (at Wembley FC)

Urchins missed out on the chance of going level on points with table-topping Billericay in midweek.

Despite being buoyed by a 2-0 weekend win over fierce rivals Concord, Jimmy McFarlane’s title chasers slipped to a 1-0 defeat in one of their two games in hand against struggling Hastings, who also missed a penalty.

Rickie Hayles and Jonathan Hunt limped out of the action and will be assessed before Hornchurch’s trip to north London.

But Lewis Smith could return having missed the Hastings match with a cold, following his recent three-match suspension.

Urchins have won 12 out of 15 away matches in the league this season, but lost to a single goal when play-off chasing Hendon visited Bridge Avenue on a cold night in November.

Ryman Division 1N

Heybridge Swifts v Romford

Boro boss Paul Martin this week said he wants to see his side show more self-belief against ‘bigger’ teams, following their 4-2 defeat at play-off hopefuls Brentwood.

Three goals down and out of it after 22 minutes at leaders Leiston recently, another slow start proved costly in the A12 derby at the Brentwood Arena.

Barely half an hour had been played when Brentwood netted their third goal of the night and second-half replies from Matt Toms and Joe Oates were little consolation.

Martin acknowledges several members of his squad are still young, but they remain on course to eclipse last year’s points total of 56.

They need to win five of their last 10 fixtures this term to do that and can eat into that target against mid-table rivals Heybridge this weekend.

Goals from Abs Seymour and Adrian Clifton sealed a 2-0 win over Swifts at Mill Field on Guy Fawkes Night, before some late fireworks saw the since departed Jamal Heywood and Martin himself sent off.