Romford return to Mayesbrook Park tomorrow after a string of four away games from which just a single point was earned. That point came from the game at league leaders Stanway Rovers who, like Boro’s opponents tomorrow, have guaranteed themselves a Play-Off place as a minimum following the results of the last week.

Woodford Town come to Mayesbrook Park with an impressive season behind them, sitting second in the table with 74 points from 33 games and with just 26 goals conceded, the lowest tally in the league. The Woods have won five of their last six league outings, their only defeat coming at Little Oakley in late February, where they were beaten 3-1.

Previous Meetings:

Tomorrow’s game will be somewhat unusual in that it will be the first between the teams to be played on a Saturday afternoon since Boro returned to the Essex Senior League in 2022. Three of the five games played since then have been Friday night fixtures with the other two played on Wednesdays.

Woodford are slightly ahead over those five games with two wins to Boro’s one and with two drawn. Most memorable of these was the first fixture, played at Mayesbrook Park in October 2022 in which the visitors ran up a 3-0 lead by the 40th minute only for Boro to stage a comeback after the interval and earn a 3-3 draw with Jake Gordon snatching the equaliser in stoppage time. There was a stoppage time goal in the most recent fixture between the sides too, but unfortunately it went Woodford’s way and proved to be the only goal of the league game played at Ashtons Playing Fields in January.

Since Woodford Town’s history has been a somewhat convoluted one, one that has seen them reform after folding in 2003 in a number of different guises, it might be best to divide Boro’s record against them into two. Against the club that folded in 2003, Boro have a record of three wins and a draw in four Essex Senior League games, while since 2007 there have been nine games with Boro winning four, drawing three, and losing two. Four of those games were played between 2007 and 2009 when our opponents were known as Mauritius Sports & Pennant.

This Season:

Woodford began the season with a 1-0 win at Benfleet and went on to win five and draw one of the next six matches, all without conceding a goal. It wasn’t until the 67th minute of their seventh league game that the let one in, but it mattered little as they won that particular game 4-1 at White Ensign.

The Woods have been beaten just five times in the league this season, and only three times on the road. Their away defeats have come at Frenford, Takeley, and Little Oakley. Their most recent awy trip saw them win 1-0 at West Essex, while in their previous away fixture they won 8-1 at Athletic Newham despite having gone a goal down after eight minutes.

In the FA Cup Woodford lost at Benfleet just a week after winning there in the league, while in the FA Vase they went out at Hadleigh United on penalties. In the Errington Challenge Cup, Woodford reached the Quarter Final before losing 2-1 at White Ensign while in the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy they lost 1-0 at Great Wakering Rovers in the Semi-Final. Rovers went on to beat Little Oakley in the Final this week.

Woodford have scored 73 goals in the league this season with Nathan Sollosi top scorer with 11, while Miles Mitchell-Nelson has 10.

This weekend’s Essex Senior League fixtures:

There are no Friday night fixtures in the league this week, and a full programme tomorrow. The fixtures are:

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

Next up for Boro:

On Sunday, Romford’s EJA Under 14 side play Concord Rangers at Westlands with a 10am kick-off. Any Boro fans who intend going should remember that the clocks go forward an hour on Sunday morning!

There’s no midweek game this coming week for the First Team who will next be in action on Saturday 5th April 2025 with an away game at Great Wakering Rovers.