After Tuesday’s excellent comeback at Benfleet, Boro are quickly in action with a rare Friday night fixture against our landlords Barking tomorrow evening. Three-nil down after half an hour, Boro recovered to draw 3-3 at Benfleet thanks to goals from Jordan Burnett – his first for the club - Blaise Uwandji, and Jayden Silcott-Brown, this despite the handicap of losing Kris Newby to a red card shortly before the equaliser.

Barking’s last outing was against lowly Stansted last Saturday and The Airportmen will have been pleased to leave Mayesbrook Park with the point they earned from a 0-0 draw as they fight relegation. With a Play-Off place already assured, Barking will be looking for as many points as possible from their remaining fixtures as they attempt to finish as high enough to guarantee a home tie in the Semi-Final. After tomorrow they have tough games at home against Great Wakering Rovers and away at Woodford Town on the last day of the season.

Previous Meetings:

Tomorrow will be the 29th meeting between the sides since 1992 with Romford holding marginally the better record having won 12 of the previous games while Barking have won 10.

The first meeting between the teams was in October 1995, an Eastern Floodlight Competition game played at Rush Green, which Barking won 4-1. The first league encounter was an ICIS League match played at Sungate in September 1996; Barking won that one as well, 4-2 in front of a crowd of 431. Romford won the return however, a Paul Evans goal clinching a 1-0 victory at Mayesbrook Park as Boro homed in on the ICIS League Division Two championship.

In Romford’s home Essex Senior League game at Mayesbrook Park last season it ended 2-2 with Bruno Gomes and Sam Deering on the scoresheet for Boro. The return game at the same venue ended with Romford 2-0 winners. The third game was the Essex Senior League Play-Off Semi-Final. Watched by a crowd of 195 at Rookery Hill, a Kris Newby penalty on the stroke of half-time earned Boro a 1-0 win and a place in the Final against Sporting Bengal United.

When the sides met at the tail end of December, the home side were the winners. Boro had led 1-0 at the break thanks to Arnold Mengi’s goal and it was still 1-0 until the 73rd minute but three goals in ten minutes gave Barking a 3-1 win.

Recent Form:

While Boro’s recent form has been poor – just that one hard earned point from the Benfleet game to show for the last six matches – Barking’s form has been rather better and they have won four and drawn one of their last six. Their only defeat was a 1-0 reverse at West Essex and apart from that and the game against Stansted when they also failed to score, they have netted 17 goals in their other four games including having put five past FC Clacton and Benfleet and four past Athletic Newham.

Leading scorer for Barking this season is Juwon Akintunde, who has 25 goals to his name, followed by Sam Shaban, who has scored 20 times.

With 71 points from their 35 games to date, Barking are currently fourth and seven points behind third placed Woodford Town and nine behind Takeley in second spot. They lead fourth placed Great Wakering by a single point. All the top five, including leaders Stanway Rovers, have three games left.

Match Sponsors:

Our thanks to Danny from Vulcan Scaffolding Ltd for sponsoring tomorrow’s game. If you need scaffolding, give them a call!

About Vulcan Scaffolding:
Vulcan Scaffolding Ltd is a family-run business established in 2015. With over 35 years of experience in the scaffolding industry, Vulcan is fully equipped to meet all your scaffolding needs, specializing in domestic, industrial, and commercial contracts. Based in Romford, Essex, we are ideally situated to cover all areas of London and the South East. Call 07471 196048 or email danny@vulcanscaffolding.co.uk

This weekend’s Essex Senior League fixtures:

Friday 11th April:
7.45pm Romford v Barking
7.45pm Stanway Rovers v Halstead Town

Saturday 12th April
3pm Athletic Newham v Ilford
3pm Buckhurst Hill v Woodford Town
3pm Great Wakering Rovers v Benfleet
3pm Hullbridge Sports v White Ensign
3pm Little Oakley v FC Clacton
3pm Stansted v Saffron Walden Town
3pm Takeley v Sawbridgeworth Town
3pm West Essex v Frenford