We get the chance to avenge our FA Cup defeat when Canvey Island visit the QEII Stadium Tuesday night, kickoff 7.45

Canvey have made a similar start to ourselves in the league with 8 points from 6 games. Their most recent league result was a 1-1 draw at home to Haringey but on Saturday they bowed out of the FA Cup losing 0-3 at home to St Ives Town in the second qualifying round.

Our last two results – a 4-0 away win at Brightlingsea and Saturday’s demolition of Beaconsfield in a friendly – give us plenty of cause for optimism

Tickets are available on line at https://enfieldtownfc.ktckts.com/

Enfield Town 5 Beaconsfield 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

It may only have been a friendly but Saturday’s dominant display against fellow Step 3 opponents was another sign of things moving in the right direction in the wake of our cup humiliation at Canvey Island.

Building on our 4-0 demolition of Brightlingsea in midweek, there was an air of resolute determination about the way in which we went about our business – combined with some superb goals.

Thoughts are already  turning to taking revenge on Canvey in the league on Tuesday night after the tables were turned on the Gulls when they too were knocked out of the FA cup on Saturday, albeit in the second qualifying round.

We can certainly take confidence from Saturday’s showing as we blew Beaconsfield away in a rampant first half.

Sam Youngs opened the scoring after 10 minutes and Scott Thomas doubled the lead with his first ever goal for the Town,  an unstoppable 25-yard thunderbolt (pictured)

On the half hour, Youngs’ through ball found former St Albans winger Wreynell Hercules who drew the keeper before squaring to Adam Cunnington for number three. And right on halftime,  Andre Coker, clearly relishing playing again, made it four.

A flurry of substitutions ensued including the welcome return of Josh Urquhart — back in a Town shirt after his lengthy injury layoff.

Beaconsfield pulled one back but with time almost up Lyle Della Verde – who now misses three games because of his dismissal at Brightlingsea – exchanged passes with Kian Wilkes and unleashed another of his trademark screamers.

Town starting line up:

McDonald; Spencer, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite, Payne; Thomas, Youngs, Soula-Osekanogo; Cunnington, Coker, Hercules

With no league fixture this Saturday, we have organised a friendly match at home to Beaconsfield Town FC. Beaconsfield also play at Step 3, in the Southern League Premier South, so it should be a competitive game.

Kickoff is at a slightly earlier time of 2pm – so supporters will be able to catch neighbours Spurs in their match at 5:30. Admission prices are £5 adults, £3 concessions, £1 under 16.

Brightlingsea Regent 0 Enfield Town 4

Report by Martin Bentley

Now that’s better. A dominant Enfield Town performance resulted in four goals and an emphatic win over a Brightlingsea side who started the evening one point above Town in mid-table.

Andy Leese shuffled his pack following the heavy FA Cup loss at Canvey Island, reverting to a flat back four with Juevan Spencer given a first start at right back and Joe Payne making a second, indeed arguably a third, debut following his recent move back to the Town from Cheshunt. There were also starts for Andre Coker and James Dayton, giving the Town line-up a radically different look.

The Town were into their stride from the first whistle, with Coker fizzing a shot over, Lyle Della-Verde hitting the side netting and Sam Youngs heading against the top of the bar, all in the opening 20 minutes. The first goal arrived after 27 minutes, with Adam Cunnington’s shot being deflected past home keeper Charlie Turner. Payne then had a shot well saved, and Della-Verde curled a free kick just wide as Town concluded the half well on top.

The home side enjoyed a spell of possession early in the second half, and fired a warning shot across Town’s bows nine minutes into the half, Luke Woodward heading powerfully against Nathan McDonald’s cross bar from a right wing cross. Within a minute, however, Town doubled their lead; McDonald’s long kick caused confusion in the home defence, and Coker ran on to the loose ball to beat Turner with a powerful finish. Coker repeated the dose six minutes later with an equally emphatic effort from the other flank, and Town were out of sight.

Still Town pressed for more goals, with substitute Jake Cass hitting the foot of Turner’s post before Della-Verde added a fourth with a curling effort from Sam Youngs’ lay-off. Unfortunately, the game ended on a sour note for Della-Verde when he received a straight red card for a late tackle on the home side’s Zack Littlejohn. The decision seemed harsh, with referee Hursey seemingly making no allowances for the greasy surface, and having previously punished a similar-looking offence at the other end by Regent’s Dominic Locke with only a yellow card. Town comfortably played out the remaining ten minutes without alarm, however, and completed an excellent win that saw them jump to eighth place in the table.

Town: McDonald; Spencer, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite, Payne; Thomas, Youngs, Dayton (Sayoud 85); Coker (Wyllie 74), Della-Verde, Cunnington (Cass 64).

Unused subs: McLean, Shulton.

Before tonight’s league game at Brightlingsea, Town are very pleased to announce two returning faces to the squad, as defenders Joe Payne and Alex Solomon have signed on at Donkey Lane.

“We decided to bring Joe back to the club to give us competition in the left back position”, said manager Andy Leese.

“Joe can also play centrally. We didn’t want to lose him when he moved , on but he comes back more experienced. Alex is in the same position. He went off to play professionally in Sweden and comes back with some games under his belt. He’s versatile for a young player and we will see how he gets on when we have international clearance for him.” Welcome back both!

In light of recent events, there will be no football this weekend as a mark of respect to HM Queen Elizabeth II.

All Isthmian League matches have been postponed. Our match with Horsham, originally scheduled for Saturday, will be played at a later date.

Canvey Island 5 Enfield Town 1

Report by Martin Bentley

Enfield Town’s FA Cup campaign lasted for only 90 painful minutes as they were dumped out of the competition in the first qualifying round.

Town were strangely lifeless for much of the game, only succeeding in competing meaningfully in the final half hour.

Ex-Towner Evans Kouassi enjoyed himself more than most, bagging a hat-trick against his former employers.

With Marcus Wyllie replacing Adam Cunnington in the only change from last Monday’s loss at Potters Bar, Town were forced onto the back foot from the opening salvo.

Nathan McDonald had already made two decent saves before the first goal arrived on 19 minutes, Kouassi converting Danny Parish’s astute pass from close range.

Four minutes later it was 2-0 when Parish ran onto Reiss Chandler’s long ball as Town’s defence failed to react.

As the half progressed, Canvey continued to find vast amounts of space on both flanks while Town struggled to get a foothold in the game.

We did manage a couple of shots on target, with both Lyle Della Verde and the industrious Wyllie having efforts well saved by Rhys Byrne in the home goal.

Two minutes before half time, however, the game was over as a contest when Canvey added a third, Jamie Salmon flicking in a near post header from a left-wing freekick.

Town made two substitutions at half time, but things did not get any better, Kouassi adding a fourth after 50 minutes. Two minutes later, Conor Hubble rolled a shot against McDonald’s left-hand post, leaving the disbelieving travelling support fearful of the eventual final score.

 Town succeeded in mustering a few attacks, with Wyllie having another shot saved by Byrne, and Jake Cass having a header tipped over from Bilal Sayoud’s free kick.

After 70 minutes though, Kouassi completed his hat trick with a rebound from McDonald’s parry to compound Town’s misery.

To their credit, Town managed a consolation goal within two minutes, Cass converting substitute Juevan Spencer’s low cross.

Unforunately even the goal carried a sting in the tail for Town, as Cass collided with Byrne and had to be helped off in obvious pain from what looked like a knee injury.

With Town down to ten men having made their subs, Canvey promptly replaced both their strikers, and the remainder of the game was largely uneventful.

Not a lot of positives to be gained here. Truly a dreadful day to be a Town supporter.

Town line-up: McDonald, McLean, Braithwaite, Shulton, Bray, Taaffe (Spencer 45), Youngs, Cass, Wyllie (Cunnington 58), Della Verde (Dayton 45), Sayoud. Unused subs: Thomas, Connolly, Marfo, Coker

We may not have a game on Saturday Oct 8 but don’t miss out on our latest fundraising gig the night before in Butlers Bar.

On Friday, Oct 7, the five-piece Blues Chapter bring their unique brand of driving Texas hotshot blues to the club with a mixture of their own compositions and covers of the likes of Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Joe Bonamassa.

Tickets priced £10 can be purchased in advance by emailing  Christine Hamilton at  ianchrisham@hotmail.com. The bar opens at 7.30 and tickets will also be available on the door depending on how many are left.

These guys really know how to tear up a stage, led by the rasping vocals of charismatic front man Sky Wood and the brilliant guitar playing of Jesse Thomas.

It might be best to book early for this one since people have been known to have been turned away in the past for Blues Chapter gigs. They are, quite frankly, probably the finest young blues band in London – and all left-handed to boot!

Save the date!

We enter the world’s oldest domestic knockout tournament on Saturday with a tough fixture away at Canvey Island

With the winners receiving £2,250 in prize money, both teams would probably have hoped for an easier draw but this promises to be a fascinating cup tie.

Canvey were promoted via the play offs to the Isthmian Premier Division last season.

Their opening fixture was a 1-3 home defeat to Horsham but since then they have won 5-1 at Brightlingsea, lost 0-1 at Cray Wanderers, beat Hornchurch 2-1 at home and most recently drawn 1-1 at Bowers and Pitsea.

These results suggest Canvey will more than hold their own in the Isthmian Premier and may even be one of perhaps a dozen teams who could challenge for a play off spot.

Address on Saturday is the Movie Starr Stadium, Park Lane, Canvey Island, SS8 7PX, kickoff 3pm

If a replay is necessary it will be at the QEII Stadium on Tuesday 6 September.