Enfield Town 2 Horsham 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Enfield Town followed up Saturday’s confidence-boosting win at Margate with three more points to leapfog Horsham and move into fifth place in the table.

Tuesday’s fixture was the re-arranged game that was postponed because of the death of the queen and we took full advantage against another of the pre-season playoff hopefuls.

Horsham have stuttered somewhat after a fine start to the campaign but play the game the right way and had their moments against an unchanged Town.

But on clearcut chances, we were well worth the win and could go even higher if we can make it three in a row against Corinthian Casuals on Friday – a game that has been switched to QEII after a tree fell on the Casuals’ club house but for which we have precious little recovery time.

Enfield started the game with a bang and should have gone in front straight from the kickoff. Wraynel Hercules was played in down the right but panicked somewhat as he advanced on goal and put his shot on the running track.

But on 12 minutes we went in front when a cross into the box was only half-cleared  and Andre Coker shot low into the corner for yet another early-season goal.

The Hornets managed to fashion a number of promising positions without being able to supply the final touch and on 26 minutes our lead was doubled.  Coker’s shot was well saved and Adam Cunnington (pictured) — a tower of strength all evening, dribbling past fullbacks, turning goalkicks into corners —  forced home the rebound.

In the final action of the half, Lucas Rodriquez curled a 20-yard freekick over the wall but Nathan McDonald was on hand to make an excellent save.

H-T 2-0

The second half was just a couple of minutes old when Horsham, hit by a lengthy injury list, halved the deficit. Jack Mazzone whipped in a fierce low cross and Rian Bray, in trying to clear, only succeeded in knee-ing the ball into his own net.

Suddenly Horsham gained a new lease of life and started to winning second balls. Mazzone  narrowly cleared the bar from 25 yards and the defensive side of our game, so improved in recent matches, was frequently called into action.

But still we had the better chances – four in particular. When Sam Youngs took advantage of Michael Beeney’s punched clearance, his goalbound chip seemed certainly to make it 3-1, only for Tom Day to rush back and produce a miraculous  goal-line clearance.

There was more to come in the shape of substitute Bilal Sayoud who had three golden opportunities in quick succession to add to his sublime strike at Margate.

First, he struck a freekick fractionally over. Then, in the dying moments, he probably should have done better when pulling his shot narrowly wide, and got even closer by striking the post as Horsham pushed forward.

“In the first half we smothered them in midfield and they couldn’t get out,” said Andy Leese. “2-0 is an awkward scoreline and we started the second half exactly as we did at Margate.”

“At times we then had to dig in. There were some tired legs. We are running harder than we’ve ever done to get to where we want to be but it’s taking its toll on one or two.  I have to give a  special mention to Cunns for yet another outstanding shift. I’m absolutely delighted with the outcome. We don’t have much recovery time before Friday and may have to freshen things up but then we have a full week.”

Town:

McDonald; Spencer, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite, Payne; Hercules, Thomas (Soulya-Osekanongo, Youngs, Dayton (Wyllie, 79); Coker (Sayoud, 67), Cunnington.

Additional Reporting By Martin Bentley

We can now confirm that our away game with Corinthian Casuals, originally set for Saturday, has been switched to   Enfield because of a problem with the Casuals stadium where a tree recently fell on the clubhouse.

The game will be played at QE II stadium this Friday, ko 7.45, instead of Saturday.

Before then, Horsham are the visitors on Tuesday. They are currently fifth in the table two points ahead of Town but have played a game more.  

Their most recent result was a 0-2  home defeat to Bishops Stortford. Only one win in their last five but will provide a stiff Test for Town. 

Match Tickets are available here

https://enfieldtownfc.ktckts.com/event/match3/enfield-town-vs-horsham-

Margate 2 Enfield Town 5

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Anyone leaving the ground after 20 minutes at Margate yesterday – or even at halftime for that matter – could not possibly have imagined how the game would pan out.

We simply hadn’t been at the races, didn’t get close enough to the opposition, especially in midfield, and Towners fans feared the worst.

But as the old cliché goes, goals change games and once we levelled for the second time on the Kent coast, there was only going to be one winner as the hosts collapsed in spectacular fashion.

Missing the likes of Lyle Della-Verde (still suspended) and Jake Cass (injured), the fact that we managed to score five – albeit one an own goal – backs up the theory that we have goals all over the pitch despite Mo’s departure.

And there were a stack of positives, with Adam Cunnington simply outstanding in the air, a hungry Andre Coker again looking like a new player and an excellent debut on the right wing for Wraynal Hercules.

But it was an ominously worrying start.

Not once, not twice but four times in the opening period,  we escaped by the skin of our teeth as Margate came charging out of the blocks, prompted by their captain Ben Greenhalgh who actually has a Champions League medal on his CV.

It was no surprise when they took the lead on 22 minutes, Cameron Brodie rifling home from 20 yards after pouncing on a loose ball.

Our response was immediate with our first effort on target and a stroke of good fortune. Hercules mishit a cross-shot, bamboozling the Margate keeper who saw the ball squirm into the net at his near post.

Coker almost gave us the lead with a sublime strike that clipped the top of the bar but Margate had certainly been superior in the opening half.

H-T 1-1

We needed to up our game but within two minutes of the restart, we fell behind again as Greenlagh’s low, left-footed freekick was touched home by Harry Hudson.

But instead of capitalising on their chances, Margate  again left the door open at the back and Joe Payne, who had another fine game, was left unmarked to lash home our second equaliser.

Now the whole pattern of the game changed as the momentum switched. Within a minute, James Dayton’s excellent cross was side-footed home by Coker to put us 3-2 up  and as the home defence panicked, Hudson’s own goal gave us a fourth.

The best was still to come courtesy of two substitutes.  On 79 minutes, Marcus Wyllie showed great control to set up Bilal Sayoud for the sweetest of curling efforts (pictured) that had the purists purring.

There was still time for Nathan McDonald to make a flying stop from Greenhalgh but by then we were out of sight and celebrating a well-earned, hard-fought three points that can only boost confidence.

It’s not easy replacing so many quality players and although we may not look totally settled yet, we are now sitting in seventh with back-to-back home games to come, starting on Tuesday against Horsham.

“I thought we were dreadful for the first 25 minutes,” conceded Andy Leese. “It was a hard-earned 5-2 win but I thought the way in which we saw the game out was top class.”

“If you look at their results at home we knew it would be difficult down here. But really pleasing to come away  and score as many goals as we did. That 35 minutes in the second half we were excellent. We are slowly getting back to how I want us to play.”

Town

McDonald; Spencer, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite, Payne; Dayton, Thomas, Youngs, Hercules (Wyllie 72); Coker (Sayoud, 78), Cunnington (Urquhart 81)

We are excited to announce that we have signed former Brentford B winger Wraynel Hercules who featured prominently in our recent friendly against Beaconsfield

You may remember Wraynel, who has also played for Barnet under-18s and is still only 20, scored twice against us for St. Albans in pre-season

“Wraynel has been working with is in training and gives us another option up front with his direct style and pace,” said Andy Leese.

“He’s been in the professional game at Brentford, he’s a local boy, he’s young and we think he can develop with us.”

Welcome, Wraynel

Tomorrow we make the trip to Margate hoping to avenge our last-minute defeat in the corresponding fixture last season.

Margate are currently 14th in the early-season table with eight points from six games.

Last Saturday they bowed out of the FA Cup losing 1-2 late on at Dulwich Hamlet in front of a crowd of 1,725.

 In the League their most recent result was a 4-0 home win against Herne Bay.

You can purchase tickets here

https://margatefc.ktckts.com/event/mar2223h05/margate-v-enfield-town

The club are laying on a coach for Margate, Departure Point: QEII Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield, Middx

Departure Time. – Leave 10,45. a.m. SHARP

Cost: £18.00

For Bookings please contact Les Gold on 07979 727563

– lesgold@enfieldtownfooballclub.co.uk

Casuals Switch

There is a possibility next weekend’s fixture may be moved to Enfield because of a problem with the Casuals stadium where a tree has fallen on the clubhouse.

 The favoured option by both clubs is that the game is moved to the QEII Stadium next Friday 30 September , but we are currently waiting for the League to sanction this change. Obviously we will let you know as soon as we can.

Congratulations to Town central defender Alex Solomon, who was recently called up to Cyprus’ Under-21 squad. Alex (right of image) , who recently re-signed for the club following a spell with Swedish side Ytterhogdals, has joined up with his national teammates for their upcoming match against Malta. Συγχαρητήρια!

The Club will be running coaches for our next two Isthmian League Premier away matches at Margate F.C. & Corinthian Casuals F.C.

Match 1 – Margate F.C.

·       Date: Saturday 24th September 2022 – 3pm kick-off

·       Address: Hartsdown Park, Hartsdown Road, Margate CT9 5QZ

·       Departure Point: QEII Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield, Middx

·       Departure Time. – Leave 10:45 am SHARP

·       Cost: £18.00

Match 2 – Corinthian-Casuals F.C.

·       Date: Saturday 1st October 2022 – 3pm kick-off

·       Address: King Georges Field, Queen Mary Close, Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surrey, KT6 7NA

·       Departure Point: QEII Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield, Middx

·       Departure Time. – Leave 11:00 am SHARP

·       Cost: £18.00

For bookings, please contact Les Gold on 07979 727563

email:  lesgold@enfieldtownfooballclub.co.uk

or leave your details at The Club Shop

It is essential that bookings are made through either of these contacts only.

Early reservations are essential to avoid disappointment

Enfield Town 0 Canvey Island 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Frustration and disappointment were the key words used by Andy Leese following Tuesday’s distinctly underwhelming display.

After scoring nine goals in our previous two games, albert one of them a friendly, we were surprisingly toothless in the final third and would probably have lost but for several timely saves from Nathan McDonald — aided and abetted by some resolute defending across the back four.

The game was preceded by a minute’s applause in honour of the late Mike North, a life-long Town supporter who sadly died recently.

When the action got going, it was as if Canvey had been given a proverbial kick up the backside following their 3-0  home loss in the FA Cup on Saturday – one round after ironically inflicting a heavy defeat on us.

Just as in that fateful cup tie, Evans Kouassi was again their danger man, troubling us with his lightning pace and trickery before we got to grips with him and managed to stop his runs.

Twice in the first 20 minutes, Koussi broke clear to force excellent saves from Nathan, then whipped in a cross that was headed wide.

A Canver penalty claim when Luca Albion went down left the referee uninterested but the visitors remained a threat going forward, Bradley Sach’s opportunist effort bringing a another finger-tip save from McDonald.

Our two best half chances of the first half fell to Marcus Wyllie whose touch let him down – as it did, to be fair, with the rest of our attacking players.

H-T 0-0

Adam Cunnington managed to finally get a Town effort on target but frustratingly our passing wasn’t up to scratch as we invariably chose the wrong options whenever we had the ball.

But when you don’t take your chances, you can pay for it and the visitors almost did. In what looked like a Town training ground routine, Sam Youngs sped down the left to collect Coker’s freekick and his centre flashed across goal before being cleared off the line. Substitute Bilal Sayoud then forced a decent save from Bobby Mason.

But even a switch to 4-2-4 couldn’t produce any serious creativity for us, compounded by the absence of Lyle Della-Verde serving the first of a three-game ban.

 Luckily for Town, Canvey proceeded to waste a couple more opportunities, not least when Albon lashed wide.

“Hand on heart we didn’t do enough to win the game,” said Andy.  “After Brightlingea and Saturday’s friendly when we were full of attacking intent, we weren’t going past people or putting balls in the box. Our decision making in the last third was poor.”

“I’m frustrated and disappointed. We’ve got to be winning those sort of games at home if we want to be doing anything this season. The one real positive was another clean sheet.”

Next up a visit to Margate on Saturday and a chance to avenge  last season’s agonising last-minute defeat on the Kent coast.

Town:

McDonald; Spencer, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite, Payne; Thomas, Dayton (Cass, 73), Youngs; Wyllie (Sayoud, 63), Cunnington, Coker

The Blues Chapter fundraising gig in Butler’s Bar on Oct 7 has regretfully had to be postponed.

The band are hugely apologetic and we very much hope to book them again in the near future.

Anyone who has bought tickets in advance should contact Christine Hamilton for a refund