McGugan and Betts made eight changes from the side that narrowly lost to Tamworth before Xmas. Sam Tyler and Thomas Hodgkinson made their Championship debuts, Jamal Kizito, Owen Hayes, Kian Hughes, Shonquae Johnson, Shiloh Atkinson and Maliki Shaw all start. Sam Tomlinson (driving test), Matas Lukjanoves (ill), Josh Lewis (ill), Dionysis Bykou (ill), Callum Altoft (injured) all miss out. Tyler Burrows moves to the bench and Alfie Upton is rested.

Shiloh Atkinson gave us the perfect start after just two minutes, Atkinson burst down the left wing before playing the ball inside for Maliki Shaw, Shaw’s shot was blocked, the clearance fell nicely at the feet of Shiloh who rolled the ball into the bottom corner.

Sixteen minutes later, Eastwood doubled their lead, Atkinson was involved again as the forward was brought down on the edge of the area, up stepped Thomas Hodgkinson to fire the free-kick straight into the top corner, kissing the crossbar on its way over the line.

Just before half time the visitors pulled one back, moments after being let off with a strong shout for a penalty Eastwood did concede a spot kick as Josh Shaw was adjudged to have handled Sam Tyler’s misplaced clearance. The Romulus man made no mistake from the spot and the score was 2-1 going in at the break.

HT Eastwood CFC 2-1 Romulus

Romulus came out fighting in the second half but Lackeem Powell soon put a stop to that. Good skill and patience showed by Shiloh Atkinson who played a quick one-two with Maliki Shaw before putting it on a plate for Lackeem Powell to stroke home his first goal since November 2024.

Eastwood controlled large parts of the remaining minutes of the game without really looking like extending their lead, however they did extend their advantage with one minute of normal time remaining, Shonquae Johnson played a firm pass forward that deflected into the path of Isaac Clarke-Jordan who drove towards the goal before unleashing an unstoppable left footed effort that lobbed over the goalkeeper.

FT: Eastwood CFC 4-1 Romulus

Eastwood CFC Lineup;

1. Sam Tyler (McPherson 46)
2. Josh Shaw
3. Marley Sutton-Watkin
4. Shonquae Johnson
5. Owen Hayes (Powell 46)
6. Jamal Kizito (Elliott 79)
7. Devayn Linger
8. Kian Hughes
9. Shiloh Atkinson (2)
10. Thomas Hodgkinson (18) (Burrows 62)
11. Maliki Shaw (Carroll 75)

Subs
12. Isaac Clarke-Jordan (89)
13. Jimmy McPherson
14. Tyler Burrows
15. Tommy Elliott
16. Jamie Carroll
17. Lackeem Powell (57)

Man Of The Match: Joshua Shaw