Martin: We looked a bit tired

Romford manager Paul Martin admitted he saw Waltham Forest’s late equaliser coming, as his side drew 2-2 in Ryman Division One North on Saturday.

Boro were two goals up at half time, thanks to strikes from Aime Blessing and Nick Reynolds, but Martin tried not to make any excuses for his team, insisting they should be beating sides like Forest.

He said: “Not really (frustrated), because it was coming, wasn’t it.

“We weren’t at the races, we looked a bit tired but no excuses against a poor team, we should be beating them.

“Two good goals in the first half, we looked quite comfortable and they didn’t look like hurting us.”

Romford came into the game on a great run of form, having won four of their last five matches.

But Martin believes they got complacent, and tried to do too much on the ball.

He added: “I think some of the players got a little bit too confident.

“They didn’t do the right things, they tried to do too much on the ball and tried to be a little too flash at times.

“We got caught on the ball because they put you under pressure and work hard. They’ve squeezed on us and caught us out.”

With Romford in control at half time, the Boro boss warned his side the start of the second half would be key.

But unfortunately they conceded nine minutes into the second period.

“We didn’t have to chase the game, we just had to keep our discipline and shape,” added Martin.

“They’re going to throw the kitchen sink at you as usual, but the priority is the first 10-15 minutes of the second half.

“2-0 is a horrible scoreline to come in at half time, if they get an early goal then the pressure is on and we had six bodies there to clear the ball and they didn’t and we’ve got punished.”

Skipper for the day Paul Clayton was substituted at half time, but Martin did not believe this played a part on the final result.

Martin said: “He had to go to work. He’s on call, and he got called out so unfortunately he had to go.

“You can’t do nothing about that, but that didn’t affect the game, it was just the whole team in the second half didn’t turn up.

“Every game I want to win, that’s why I’ve got the hump.

“We’ve thrown two points away against a team that aren’t a good side at the moment.”