Martin: A job well done

Romford manager Paul Martin was happy to see his side hit their points target for the season with a 1-0 win over Ryman One North rivals Sudbury.

An 87th-minute goal from Jamie Dicks, his first for Boro, sealed victory at Mill Field and took Martin’s men past last season’s total.

They visit Great Wakering Rovers on the last day of the season and Martin said: “It took us a bit longer than we expected, but we’re hitting our targets now.

“We threw away results against Maldon and Cheshunt, but we’ve taken five points off three of the top six recently.

“We can finish on 60 points now if we beat Great Wakering, but if we it will make life even harder for me next year!”

Kurt Smith missed an early penalty for Romford, but Sudbury’s Dave Wareham was also off-target from the spot in the first half.

Martin added: “They were two poor penalties for both sides. Kurt said his ankle was hurting him and he didn’t want to smash it!”

Boro have now missed their last seven spot-kicks, but Martin would not let that detract from their latest achievement.

“We’ve done well against Sudbury the last couple of years, beating them twice and drawing once.

“We played some good stuff. We shuffled it about a bit. James Ishmail had been pestering me to play him in centre midfield and he was probably our best player on the day.

“Young Michael Clarke also did well and it’s another job well done by the boys.

“But we’ve just peaked that little bit too late. Six weeks earlier and we might have had a possible play-off place.”