After just one home game following a run of four away games, Boro are on the road again tomorrow with Play-Off hopefuls Great Wakering Rovers the opponents and Boro will be looking to put an end to a disappointing run of seven games without a win.

Rovers are currently fifth in the table with 67 points from 33 games and could confirm a Play-Off place tomorrow depending on results in our game and elsewhere. While Boro are bottom of the current form table, Rovers have won four and drawn one of their last six games and beat Little Oakley 1-0 on Tuesday evening. Their only defeat in the last six was a single goal reverse at home to league leaders Stanway Rovers.

Previous Meetings:

Boro have met Great Wakering 43 times since 1992, more than anyone else other than Brentwood Town and most memorably, the sides met at Wembley last May in the Final of the FA Vase. That match included, Romford have won 22 and lost 17 of the previous meetings.

The first meeting between the teams was way back in 1992 when Romford won an Essex Senior League match at Burroughs Park 1-0 thanks to a goal by Gary Crampton after just 23 seconds. Notable among past fixtures were the 1996 Essex Senior League Cup Semi-Finals both of which Romford won 2-0 en route to a Final against Southend Manor that Boro won by the same score to clinch the League and Cup double.

There were four matches between the teams last season with Boro winning all of them. In the league game at Wakering in August, Romford won 3-2 and followed this with a 4-2 home win in the Essex Senior Cup after trailing 2-0 at the break. The return ESL game played at Rookery Hill ended 1-0 to Boro with Sam Deering scoring the goal and then of course there was the FA Vase Final at Wembley which you won’t need reminding that Boro won 3-0. When the teams met at Barking in an Essex Senior League game in November 2024, Rovers went home with the points from a 1-0 win.

This Season:

Like Romford, there were personnel changes for Rovers during the close season, albeit not to the same extent. Briefly top of the table in the first couple of months of the season, Rovers subsequently slipped to sixth place but they have been in a Play-Off position for a number of weeks now and they will be looking to improve on last season when they finished sixth, just three points off the final Play-Off place that was taken by Sporting Bengal United.

Rovers began this season with a 2-0 win at West Essex and they were unbeaten in the opening five games before losing against their tenants White Ensign in early September. At home they have won eleven and drawn three of seventeen games with only Barking, Hullbridge Sports, and Stanway Rovers leaving Burroughs Park with maximum points.

In the FA Cup this season, Rovers went out in the Extra-Preliminary Round, beaten 1-0 by Redbridge in a replay, while in the FA Vase they were unable to repeat last season’s run and lost on penalties at home against Great Yarmouth Town in the Second Round.

In the Errington Challenge Trophy, Rovers will face Takeley in the Semi-Final in a couple of weeks with a place in the Final against either White Ensign or Little Oakley at stake. In the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy, Rovers beat Benfleet, Buckhurst Hill, Halstead Town, and Woodford Town to reach the Final in which they recently beat Little Oakley 1-0 at Billericay Town’s ground.

Leading scorer for Wakering this season is Harry Talbot who has 21 goals, followed by Callum Boylan with 14 and Harry Brown – whose brief spell with Boro ended with him joining Cannons Wood – with 13.

Home Ground and How To Get There:

You all probably know the way by now, after all Boro have played there often enough, but just in case: The full address of the ground is Burroughs Park, Little Wakering Hall Lane, Great Wakering, Essex, SS3 0HH. By road from Romford it’s about an hour’s drive, depending on traffic.

A journey by public transport will take about two hours and necessitates getting to Southend Victoria and catching the number 7 or number 14 bus.

Admission Prices:
Admission Prices at Burroughs Park are:
Adult £10
Concessions £6
Student £6
10-16 Year Olds £2
Programmes are online only.

This weekend’s Essex Senior League fixtures:

Saturday 5th April:
3pm Barking v Stansted
3pm Benfleet v White Ensign
3pm FC Clacton v Stanway Rovers
3pm Great Wakering Rovers v Romford
3pm Halstead Town v West Essex
3pm Ilford v Buckhurst Hill
3pm Little Oakley v Frenford
3pm Saffron Walden Town v Woodford Town
3pm Sawbridgeworth Town v Hullbridge Sports
3pm Takeley v Athletic Newham

Next up for Boro:

Romford are away again on Tuesday 8th April with a trip to play Benfleet.