The Crow Lane club came from behind to salvage a late draw with their high-flying local rivals last weekend

Jordan Wigham was proud of his Romford & Gidea Park players after they fought back to claim an impressive 29-29 draw with high-flying Wanstead in the London Two North East.

The Crow Lane club had been trailing for most of the match and were also down to 13 men when they eventually levelled the scores.

It was a superb effort by Park up against the Herons, who had won 12 of their 15 league games before Saturday’s encounter.

Wigham said: “If someone would have said we would come away with a draw at the start of the game we would have taken that.

“I feel we could have even won it, but to be down to 13 men and still get the draw felt as good as a win and I’m extremely proud of the boys.”

Wanstead took control of proceedings early on, but Romford stuck to their game plan and kept chipping away at the scoreboard.

Tries from Pete O’Brien and Aidan Mersh, plus two conversion and a penalty from Teddie Duke, helped Park get back on an equal footing with the visitors.

At 22-22, Wanstead looked to have claimed the points with a late try following a quickly taken tap penalty.

Romford were not to be denied though, and Park forced a penalty try in the final seconds to earn a deserved draw.

“As a group we have worked hard on trying to get things right. We work on the small margins and work really hard on certain aspects of our game,” said Wigham.

“You have to buy into it though and the coaches philosophy of the game is really starting to show in the way we play.

“We are working hard to give players that confidence and we work on scenarios, but being down to 13 players with a few minutes left is not one we envisaged.”

This result makes it two unbeaten for Wigham and Steve Barfoot’s team and keeps Park in sixth place.

Just six points separates the Crow Lane club and Harlow in fifth with six fixtures left to play this season.

Wigham added: “We know we can mix it with everyone in the league and the last two weeks has shown we are growing as a team.

“We have reevaluated our goals for this season and we believe if we can keep building and playing with this confidence, work rate and desire then we can catch Harlow in the league.”