Hampton & Richmond Borough mdifielder James Simmonds ran Romford ragged as the Beavers made light work of their Ryman Division One North opponents to comfortably seal their passage into the third qualifying round of the FA Cup, writes Daryn McCleave.

Following Dean Inman's opener in the 18th minute, the game never looked in doubt and further goals from Ian Hodges, a Barrie Matthews penalty and a late strike from Dave Tarpey saw the Beavers net more than two goals in a game for the first time this season.

At the home of Aveley FC - Mill Field - where Hampton had seen off Romford's landlords in a replay a round later in last year's competition, boss Alan Devonshire named an unchanged starting eleven from the 2-0 win at Bishop's Stortford, preferring to stick with Hodges and Lawrence Yaku in attack as Charlie Moone and Tarpey were made to be patient on the bench.

After a sloppy opening couple of minutes on a chilly, blustery afternoon in Essex, where Romford applied some pressure from a couple of set-plays, the Beavers, wearing all red, took command, with Simmonds showing Yaku an early sight of goal, but the home side, known as The Boro, were thankful to the alertness of goalkeeper Adam Rafis who quickly came out to smother at Yaku's feet. The veteran forward had the next opportunity too, a move involving Inman - keeping his midfield place - and Simmonds, played in Yaku but he somehow managed to scoop his close range effort over the bar.

Danny Allen-Page then got forward down the right, sending in an angled cross for Hodges who stuck out a leg but only proceeded in poking the ball wide. But Hampton didn't have to wait long for the early goal they craved, when in the 18th minute, Simmonds and Hodges played a one-two on the left, before Simmonds burst to the edge of the box, showing great skill and control before laying it off to Inman who fired home with an excellent strike from 20 yards, beating Rafis low to his left hand post.

Inman then turned provider, playing through Hodges who really should have doubled the lead, but his tame effort was easily saved by Rafis. Romford were struggling to get hold of the ball, but when they did, Jack Barry wasted a possible foray forward when deciding to hit an effort from distance, which was lobbed well wide of Matt Lovett's goal. Continuing to push for a second, the Beavers found it in the 34th minute when Yaku picked it up on the right hand side of the area, showing a fine piece of trickery before laying it back to Simmonds, just inside the 18 yard box. His shot came back off the post into a crowded six yard area, where Hodges lurked to force the ball home, perhaps with a little help from the Boro's Matt Toms who couldn't react in time to clear the danger.

Hampton were cruising, with Simmonds bossing the midfield. He teed up Yaku who flashed an effort wide, and Inman - hitting a similar effort to his goal inches wide as the Beavers seeked to kill the game off before the break. But Romford's best opportunity of the match could have seen them back in it before half-time, Toms unable to keep his shot down following a dangerous corner from Kevin Neville.

The visitors were dealt a blow in the 43rd minute when skipper Dean Wells was forced off with an ankle injury when landing awkwardly from an ariel challenge, Orlando Jeffrey the natural replacement at centre-back.

As to be expected Romford came out after the interval trying to force a way back into the game, but despite enjoying a little more possession, the first incident of any note came in the twelfth minute of the second half when the game had to be halted when referee Mr Gillett was forced to ground when a stray pass caught him in the face. After receiving brief treatment the game re-commensed, but this seemed to distract the home side as Hampton regained control of the ball, without managing to create anything clear cut. Romford had made a couple of changes in a bid to alter the course of the afternoon, and they had a good chance when Ricki Mackin's cross found Barry's head. Either side of Lovett and it was in, but the tame effort caused no concern as the Beavers custodian had all the time in the world to gather the ball at his feet.

Three minutes later and instead of causing Hampton a nervy final 15 minutes, Romford were caught on the break and were dead and buried. Simmonds showing a clean pair of heels down the left with a run from his own half, bursting into the box before Richard Oxby hacked him down. Barrie Matthews wrong-footed Rafis from the spot, placing it low to the right for his second penalty strike in seven days. That, with 14 minutes left on the clock, ensured there would be no tense finale, as Romford's mid-week exploits took it's toll as they visibly tired. A lofted ball from Simmonds sent Yaku away but he fired straight at Rafis, and that man Simmonds was again at the thick of it, denied what would have been a well deserved goal to cap off a great individual performance, but Rafis pulled off a fine finger tip save over the bar. But Simmonds, who bounced back superbly from the red card he was shown at Stortford, hadn't finished, once again finding a superb throughball to send Dave Tarpey away as the game entered stoppage time. The substitute made no mistake as he fired underneath Rafis to add a fourth that Hampton's dominance had warranted.

The handful of travelling fans headed back onto the M25 happy with their side's efforts as everyone awaits the draw for the next round at Monday lunchtime, the dream of the first round proper now only a possible 180 minutes away.

Dean Wells ankle knock doesn't appear to be serious, but is enough of a concern to be a major doubt for Saturday's visit of Dover Athletic to the Beveree in a Blue Square Bet South league encounter, a game which will see James Simmonds serve a one match suspension as a result of those two bookings at Bishop's Stortford.

HAMPTON & R.B; Lovett, Allen-Page, Boateng, Inman, Stevens, Wells (sub 43 mins, Jeffrey), Collier, Simmonds, Hodges (sub 84 mins, Tarpey), Yaku (sub 84 mins, Moone), Matthews. UNUSED SUBS; Adams, Rochester, Robinson.

MAN-OF-MATCH; James Simmonds - Easy decision, tore Romford to pieces. Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself.