An outstanding performance from Michael Gooch in the Romford goal, and results elsewhere mean the Yachtsmen finish the season in the bottom three and relegation from the Ryman League, writes Tom Wardle.

Elliot Pride remained in goal for the Yachtsmen. Jackson Ramm, Aarron Taylor, Matt Halliday and Nick Bailey all started in defence. Stephen Taylor, David Hinton, Jack Garrod and Jack Guyton started across the midfield, whilst Michael Sommerfield and Jamie Forshaw started up front for the Yachtsmen. Jordan King and Gavin Lemmon were on the bench for Wroxham who knew a win at Romford would be enough to keep them above Waltham Abbey in the league and secure safety.

Wroxham started off the better side in this very intense encounter. David Hinton whipped a cross in from the right hand side which Stephen Taylor managed to get his boot to at the near post. Unfortunately for the midfielder his shot was smartly saved by Michael Gooch in goal for Romford. Two minutes later, Jack Garrod made a darting run down the right hand side and saw his looping cross reach the six-yard area. Michael Sommerfield got his head to the ball brilliantly but his powerful header was beaten away by Gooch.

Elliot Pride was then called into action for the first time in the game, as Jamie Dicks long shot from mid-way inside the Wroxham half saw Pride catch the ball at ease.

Five minutes later after some good build up play from Jack Garrod which saw the Wroxham winger drift inside before passing the ball across to Matt Halliday on the edge of the penalty area. Unfortunately, the central defender’s shot was pulled narrowly wide of the left hand post.

The Yachtsmen kept up the pressure as 20 minutes in Stephen Taylor went close from the edge of the area. His shot being blocked on the line by a Romford defender. Two minutes later Jamie Forshaw went close to finding the net for the visitors. Jack Garrod was causing problems for the home side and showed some fantastic skill on the right before pulling the ball back to Forshaw lurking on the edge of the area. His shot looped over the keeper and out over the crossbar.

With Wroxham on the ascendency, Romford were trying to make sure that they were also involved in the game. Elliot Pride was called in to action again. Chris Taylor's shot from the left hand side saw Pride make a wonderful diving save to the right to keep it level. Wroxham then countered, as Jackson Ramm drove forward with ball. His link up play with David Hinton on the edge of the Romford box saw Hinton flick the ball up for Ramm whose thunderous effort towards goal looked destined to go in the back of the net but was blocked away by the Romford defence.

Michael Sommerfield then had to come off due to an injury as he stretched to stop the Romford keeper getting to the ball and was replaced by Gavin Lemmon. Romford were causing a few problems for Wroxham as Jamie Dicks’ effort from the left of the area was brilliantly caught by Pride.

Jackson Ramm then tried to counter-attack again down the right hand side. The full back played the ball through to Jack Garrod but his shot was caught by Gooch. Akwasi Marfo then saw his shot from a narrow angle on the left pushed over the bar by Elliot Pride. The last chance of the half fell for Jackson Ramm who once again managed to counter down the right hand side, however his shot from the edge of the area was comfortably saved.

Romford came out and went very close at the re-start. Marfo's shot from distance bounced just before it reached Pride, but the shot didn't trouble the Wroxham keeper. Up the other end of the pitch, Jack Garrod played in a corner to the far post. Stephen Taylor's header was caught by Gooch who alone was keeping Wroxham at bay and the scores level. Jack Guyton was next to find himself with plenty of space to run into. As the midfielder advanced into the area, Guyton squared the ball but Romford managed to squeeze out the Wroxham attack and cleared the ball up the field.

Wroxham were close to being caught out when Romford nearly found the first goal of the game. Substitute Ade Cole's deflected shot at goal was stopped down to the right by Pride who put it around the post for a corner.

Wroxham’s best chance for a goal soon followed. Jamie Forshaw’s cross from the right hand side was headed at goal by Stephen Taylor, however Romford keeper Michael Gooch somehow managed to get his finger tips to the ball to prevent Wroxham from going a goal in front.

As Wroxham were looking close to taking the lead, they were getting awarded a number of corners. One from the left hand side by Jack Garrod was missed by Gooch but as it looked destined for the top right corner the defender on the back post managed to get his head to the ball and prevent Garrod scoring direct.

A few minutes later, Wroxham did have the ball in the net. A scramble in the area saw the ball put in the Romford goal by the foot of Matt Halliday, however the ball was adjudged to have been out of play prior to the shot from Halliday and a goal kick was given.

Mid-way inside the second half the best chance of the game for Wroxham to open the scoring occurred. Referee Daniel Richardson spotted a hand-ball inside the Romford area and awarded the Yachtsmen a penalty. Protests from the home side followed and it did appear to be a harsh decision. The delay must have unsettled Jack Garrod. Uncharacteristically the Yachtsman leading goalscorer’s penalty was weak and Michael Gooch was able to make the save to keep it at 0-0.

As Wroxham were pressing forward, gaps were naturally available to the Romford attack. Ade Cole advanced with a free run towards the Wroxham goal but Jack Guyton ran the length of the pitch to get back and put in a wonderful sliding tackle in his own area to prevent the forward from getting a shot on goal. Two minutes later, Nick Reynolds saw his shot cleared off the line by Nick Bailey as Romford were finding more spaces in the Wroxham half.

Wroxham made their final substitution as previous substitute Gavin Lemmon came off to be replaced by Jordan King with Damian Hilton trying to gain the elusive goal. In the final 10 minutes the pressure from Wroxham saw numerous headers from Stephen Taylor and Jamie Forshaw saved brilliantly, but they couldn’t get it past Gooch. Elliot Pride made his way forward as news of Waltham Abbey’s win reached the pitch but he was unable to cause the Romford defence the confusion that would allow Wroxham to gain the win and stay up.

As the referee blew his whistle the Wroxham players slumped to the floor as they realised they would be finishing in the bottom three of the league. The players couldn't have put in any more effort during the afternoon and were left wondering how Michael Gooch had managed to keep the score at 0-0.

Romford: Michael Gooch, Ryan Boswell, Chris Barry, Matt Frew, James Ishmail, Chris Taylor, Jamie Dicks, Tom Anderson, Nick Reynolds, Greg Akpele, Akwasi Marfo
Subs: Reion McFarlane, Richard Wray, Joe Paxman, Danny Cossington, Ade Cole

Wroxham: Elliot Pride, Jackson Ramm, Nick Bailey, Stephen Taylor, Aarron Taylor, Matt Halliday, Jack Garrod, David Hinton, Michael Sommerfield (Lemmon 35 (King 82)), Jamie Forshaw, Jack Guyton.
Subs: Jordan King, Gavin Lemmon