Soham Town Rangers 1 Romford 2

NEW Greens boss Steve Fallon couldn’t inspire his side to victory in his first match in charge at Julius Martin Lane on Saturday.

It could have been a different story for the ex-Histon boss however, as a disallowed goal with less than 10 minutes to go swung the game in the visitors favour and denied his men an arguably deserved win.

Speaking to the Ely Standard after the match, Fallon said: “You need one or two things to go for you when the game is tight like that but we just didn’t get the rub of the green, it was quite hard to take.

“I think we were the better side in the last 15 minutes or so and despite the fact that we had three or four lads who had never played together before we competed very well.”

Soham needed just three minutes to open the scoring against their mid-table opponents, Dan Cotton collecting an excellent cross-field pass before cutting onto his left foot and curling home from 15 yards.

Romford were unphased however, and had the better of the play in the ensuing minutes, Olawale Odedoyin testing Dan Bircham on two occasions from close range.

The equaliser finally came in the 40th minute as Kurt Smith popped up in the box after a lightning counter-attack from Romford, to apply the finish touch to a low cross.

Paul Kavanagh should have made it 2-1 to Romford on the stroke of half-time but glanced his header wide when well place in the centre of the area.

The home side redoubled their efforts after the break and were quickly into the ascendancy as Romford retreated.

Dubi Ogbonna saw an overhead kick comfortably saved, before firing over the bar from 10 yards in a busy 10-minute spell.

Cotton and Ogbonna linked up superbly for much of the half and it was from one such break that the latter was presented with a glorious chance to put Soham ahead, only for his volley from point-blank range to slice horribly wide.

Centre-back Brady Stone saw a decent header from Michael Simpson’s cross slip narrowly wide before a real turning point in the match as, with Ogbonna clear on goal and about to slot home, the referee pulled the match back for a free-kick to Soham.

The decision sparked derision among players and fans alike and the home side lost their cool, allowing an opportunist Romford to seize the initiative.

After winning a corner from a rare foray forward, Romford packed the box and were rewarded as Jack Barry powered a header home.