WITHAM TOWN 3 ROMFORD 3

Ryman League division north

Witham Town were unable to repel Romford’s second-half comeback as they overturned a three-goal deficit to snatch a Ryman League division north point.

A strong wind blowing along the pitch at the Village Glass Stadium played a significant part in making the encounter a classic game of two halves with each side enjoying superiority with it on their backs.

However, it was Witham who were the ones left with a feeling of seeing two points slip away rather than one gained at the end as they stayed 19th in the table.

With heavy overnight rain that persisted into the early part of the morning, there had been a danger that the game would not go ahead.

However, some hard work by the Witham ground staff meant an 11.30am pitch inspection deemed it fit for play and Witham avoided their second call-off in a week.

The rain had stopped well before the 3pm kick-off but a fierce and bitterly cold wind persisted and blew along the ground towards the railway end.

Witham started with the stiff and gusting breeze on their backs and made use of it in the early stages as they completely dominated possession and territorial advantage.

Playing with the constant wind into their faces, Romford struggled to clear their lines as any balls forward inevitably came straight back at them.

It meant Witham were able to keep their visitors on the back foot in the opening stages and the Romford goal was rarely out of danger in the first ten minutes.

Witham knew they had to make the natural advantage count and they went close when Shane Lemard headed over from a corner, but they didn’t have to wait long to break the deadlock.

In the 12th minute, Ryan Charles’ corner kick caused panic in the visitors’ goalmouth and when a clearance only reached Michael Osei on the edge of the box, he unleashed a low drive that found its way through a scrum of bodies and into the goal.

It was a deserved lead, but even though Witham stayed on top, they were unable to add to their goal as play became a bit scrappy in the testing conditions.

They really should have been two ahead in the 39th minute when Romford keeper Richard Wray had committed himself to challenge as Charles advanced on the left.

The broke free to Lee Townrow, but it span away from him so he was always stretching and even though he was presented with an open goal, the Town striker couldn’t get his shot on target.

It was a let-off for Romford, but there was to be no reprieve a minute later when Witham went 2-0 ahead.

The ball broke to Nathan Korentang, who went around Wray and neatly tucked the ball into the net but Romford were to fall further behind before the break.

In the 44th minute, a cross from Aaron Gayle from left to right found Townrow and he made no mistake in finding the back of the net this time as Witham gave themselves a three-goal lead to defend in the second half.

Now playing into the wind, Witham knew that could prove to be a tough task.

However, the hosts maintained possession far more effectively than Romford had managed in the opening spell of their 45 minutes playing into the wind.

The Town players worked hard on the heavy pitch and tried to keep the ball out of the wind and on the floor, meaning the visitors were unable to maintain any pressure on the home goal.

So it was a setback for Witham in the 70th minute when they did score as a cross found George Tubey on the right and he rifled a low shot past Lewis Down in the Witham goal.

The strike gave Romford renewed hope and they moved things around to have a greater attacking threat.

A corner in the 79th minute fell invitingly to Tubey and while his shot found Down’s arms this time, there was no such luck for Witham a minute later.

Romford won a free-kick wide on the right and when it was whipped into the Witham box, the ball glanced off the head of Lee Weemes and in for a second goal.

It set up a long final ten minutes for the home fans as of the pressure remained on their goal.

Witham had a let-off when a free-kick into their box was met by the head of Robbie Farrell but he could only direct the ball past the post.

Continuing the theme, another free-kick was fired in from a wide position and this time, Down made a spectacular save to tip the ball over the crossbar.

However, it was only a stay of execution for the home defence.

Three minutes into time added on at the end, Jake Giddings unleashed a rising shot that flew past Down from just outside the box for an equalising strike as Romford’s comeback was complete.

Witham: Lewis Down, Lance Akins (Perry Dunn 72), Tyler Hayes, Simon Glover, Shane Lemard, Paul White, Nathan Korentang, Aaron Gayle, Lee Townrow (Jordan Pavett 81), Michael Osei, Ryan Charles (Sam Baffour 85). Subs not used: Max Bradford, Felix Ogeah.