Romford's Essex Senior League play-off plans were thrown into chaos 24 hours before they were due to play Barking - as the league forced both semi-finals to be cancelled.

The Boro had finished their regular season on Saturday, losing 3-1 to Halstead Town, and it had dropped them down to third as Woodford Town moved above them into second.

That should have been enough to set up a clash with Barking, originally scheduled for Wednesday, but with problems involving games played by Saffron Walden Town, that has now been shelved for the time being.

A statement from the league, released on Tuesday evening, said: "Due to the delay of the hearing involving Saffron Walden Town, tomorrow's play-off semi-finals are postponed.

"The hearing is due to take place this Thursday, meaning we should be able to schedule the semi-finals for Friday, May 3, and the final on Monday, May 6."

Romford Recorder: Sam Deering opened the scoring in Romford's match against Halstead. Picture: ALAN BLACKHOLLYSam Deering opened the scoring in Romford's match against Halstead. Picture: ALAN BLACKHOLLY (Image: Alan Blackholly)

That drama had not reached manager Dan Spinks on Tuesday afternoon but while he half expected it, he was still having to plan for to face Barking at training.

He said: "It’s not that easy. There’s a hearing and we're planning to play Barking, but that could all change.

"And that's how it is. We're training [on Tuesday] and we’re setting out what it will look like if we're playing Barking. 

"And we're going to go from there, that's all we can do. 

"We were supposed to finish on April 20 originally but we’re finishing a month after. 

"I mean that’s all good because it means we’ve won a lot of games and have been involved in a lot of competitions. 

"And as I said a couple of weeks ago, it's our own success that causes these problems. 

"I'm not one to moan about fixtures to be honest with you. This has all caught up with us because we're doing well in other cups. 

"And I'd rather have that." 

The defeat to Halstead followed a 1-1 draw with Woodford and a 1-0 loss at Buckhurst Hill.

It makes life more difficult for Romford and the boss has banned all talk of the FA Vase final until they achieve objective number one.

Spinks said: "We've not had a great week to be honest, one point in nine ended up costing us second. 

"We had 36 points out of 36 before that, that's not bad, we were on a decent run, but we eased off a little bit. 

"We eased off and were waiting for the big games, waiting for the play-offs, waiting for the final and Wembley.  

"We're back in on Tuesday and we’ll switch back on again. 

"[The play-offs] are a fresh start, we all start level. We've got to win two games and we’ve got to beat two very good sides to get into the league above and that's our job now. 

"That's our job for the next seven days. 

"Wembley is not allowed to be spoken about, Wembley has been banned as of today. 

"That's how it's got to be and I know that sounds silly but ultimately our priority was to get out of this league. 

"We've now got to do it the hard way through the play-offs. 

"We've got the quality to do it, no question, as long as we get it right in the next two games. 

"Then we can concentrate on Wembley a little bit more."