Kris Newby expressed his disappointment at Romford’s performance as they tasted Essex Senior League defeat for the first time this season in a 2-1 loss to Little Oakley on Tuesday.

On an evening marred by torrential rain, experienced striker Darren Mills grabbed both goals to seal the points for the visitors, with Newby frustrated by his side’s complacent approach.

“It wasn’t us. I said that to my assistant after,” said Newby.

“The first 10 minutes – we didn’t enjoy the conditions. We didn’t look up for it. They took an absolute grilling at half time, and it took a couple of substitutions and a change of shape to get a reaction.

"Ultimately, it was very disappointing because for 40 minutes in the second half we absolutely dominated, and they couldn’t get out of their half. So very frustrating."

With the physical battle lost in midfield and numerous passes not reaching their destination, Newby’s tactical tweaks saw a rejuvenated performance from his players, and he pointed to a formation switch as the reason for the improvement.

“I put it down to a change of shape. In the first half, we couldn’t get to terms with them in the midfield. We didn’t really win a second ball and, in this league, if you’re not competing and winning the majority of the second balls in the centre of the park, you’re not going to get many results," he said.

"We’ve dominated the midfield battles in our last four or five games and just so happens in the first half we didn’t do that.

“Second half I went to a box four, so we had one spare player against their three that was playing in there the whole time, and it worked an absolute treat in the second half. I probably should've gone with that shape for the duration of the game, and I think the result would've been different if I had.”

Having beaten Sawbridgeworth Town 5-1 on Saturday, Boro looked to be comfortable favourites in midweek, but a lack of focus may have cost them.

“I put it down to complacency, because I’ve been bigging the boys up,” said Newby.

“We’ve not lost in the league, we’ve been frightening going forward, so perhaps I’ve given them a little bit too much praise.

"Perhaps they thought already they’ve done enough to warrant being in and around the play-offs at the end of the season, but I just feel we didn’t expect people to come and get in our face.

"We weren’t prepared for that and it’s a lesson learnt. I’m fully accepting of the defeat, but as we saw, you can’t just pick and choose when you want to turn up.”

Romford’s Essex Senior League campaign continues when they travel to Ilford on Monday (7.45pm).