Division 3 South EastROMFORD put up a stern performance and made Clacton work hard for their victory with the home side twice getting in front before Clacton clawed their way back to nick the win in the end.

Division 3 South East

Romford 1st XI 2

Clacton 1st XI 3

ROMFORD put up a stern performance and made Clacton work hard for their victory with the home side twice getting in front before Clacton clawed their way back to nick the win in the end.

The game saw plenty of chances for the Seasiders but the final pass and finishing touch was missing for most of the game. Clacton's Peter Wright did have the ball in the back of the net but his effort was ruled out for an infringement by Daniel Hunn.

The Seasiders lost Colin Hook inside 20 minutes when he took a hit to the hand that will rule him out for a couple of weeks. John Hambrook replaced Hook and had a steady performance down the right. At the back keeper Mike Key had one save to make and could do nothing about the two goals. Gavin Underhay had another solid game robbing the Romford forwards on numerous occasions.

In midfield Clacton took a while to get going and the forwards were reduced to receiving long passes during the first half. Midway through the half Romford found themselves in front when they reacted first to a loose ball in the circle.

The second half saw Clacton's midfield string some passes together through Tom Blake and Daniel Hunn, this allowed more players to join in the attack and when Peter Wright found himself on the left wing with the ball at his stick he calmly picked out Rob Lukey in the circle to deflect home the equaliser.

The momentum was short lived as Romford re-took the lead within two minutes and left Clacton having to claw back another deficit. With Romford dropping deeper and Clacton pushing on the Seasider's made use of Blake and Wright to spread the ball around. When Wright joined Carl Parkes on the right they worked an opening to find Sumption in acres of space for him to slot in Hunn who neatly rounded the keeper before flicking high into the net for 2-2 and eight minutes left.

Clacton kept pushing for the winner and with three minutes to go man-of-the-match Parkes drifted around the right before picking out Steve Key to score his first of the season with a well placed shot for 3-2 and secure Clacton's place in this league next season.

Next week Clacton take on top of the table Thurrock at Clacton Leisure centre (2pm).