Tomorrow evening sees us take on Harrow Borough  for a place in the Middlesex Senior Cup Final against either Hayes & Yeading or Brentford B (kickoff 7.45).

This is a welcome relief from our exhausting league campaign and gives us a fantastic chance to stay on course for a significant trophy.

Like us, Harrow are in Step 3 and play in the Southern League Premier Division South.

They may be in the lower reaches of that division but have had some eye-catching results this season, not least in the FA trophy where they took National League Halifax Town to penalties before exiting in the fourth round.

Lewes 1 Enfield Town 0

Report by Martin Bentley

A lifeless Enfield Town performance at the Dripping Pan saw them slip to defeat at the hands of Lewes, with a 41^st minute strike from Deon Moore sufficient to secure the three points.

With all of the teams around them, Bishops Stortford excepted, managing to win, Town dropped to fifth place in the table and further into the chasing pack aiming for a play-off place.

Town lined up with Johnville Renee playing against his old team (pictured) and recalled Chez Isaac and Andre Coker to the starting line-up. Reverting to a 4-3-3 formation they began slowly, with the home side’s slick passing game a marked contrast to Town’s more direct approach.

Lewes, however, had only a couple of blocked and off-target efforts to show for their endeavours, and Town slowly grew into the game.

Coker was off target with a 13^th minute effort, but clear chances were at a premium until the 40^th minute. A Scott Thomas corner was cleared by the home defence to the industrious Moore near the halfway line. With Town short-handed at the back, the Lewes striker was able to run through and beat Nathan McDonald from the edge of the box.

H-T 1-0

No-one, however, suspected that this would prove to be the last meaningful effort on goal in the entire game.

The second half saw the home side control possession for long periods without troubling McDonald further, and Town had to wait until the 85^th minute for their only shot on target, Lyle Della Verde’s freekick looping off the defensive wall to be flipped over the bar by home keeper Lewis Carey.

Apart from Lyle’s effort, the final ten minutes of the game were truly bizarre, with Lewes content to retain possession in their own half, and Town seemingly content to watch them do so. Definitely a game to file under ‘must do better’!

Town: McDonald, Renee, Payne, Thomas (Kamara 74), Knight, Richmond, Isaac, Youngs, Cunnington, Wyllie (Della Verde 57), Coker (Taaffe 79).

After a thrilling draw at Hastings on Tuesday, we are back on the road this Saturday with an important trip to our friends and promotion rivals Lewes.

And we come into it off the back of a three-game unbeaten run as we look to revive the flawless form that has got us so far up the table.

Versatility will be key for Town as it showed on Tuesday. With top scorer Jake Cass still nursing an injury sustained last weekend at Bognor, Adam Cunnington provided the attacking spark and opened the scoring with a header. Wing-back Johnville Renee could also prove important; until this month he had been a Lewes player.

Town will have to be wary of the dangerous Joe Taylor in the Lewes frontline. Having already scored 23 goals this season, 13 of which have been in his last 12 games, he is someone that the Town defence will need to carefully marshal all afternoon. Winger Razz Coleman-De Graft has 10 goals for the season and was among the scorers when Lewes earned a 4-2 win at the QEII in October.

Lewes are without a win in five and will be eager for the points, but they are a potential banana skin for Town, having won the sides’ last three meetings, scoring 4 times in each. Remarkably, the Rooks have not lost on their own patch all season – 8 wins and 7 draws, so the traveling support will need to be in fine voice to spur on the boys to inflict their first home defeat of the season and hopefully bring home 3 points!

• Address: The Dripping Pan, Mountfield Rd, Lewes BN7 2XA
• Tickets: Adults £12/Concessions £8
• By Train: 3 minutes’ walk from Lewes Station, served every 30 minutes from London Victoria.
• Food/Drink: Loaded Fries & Hotdogs and Pie & Mash are available from Lewes’ two food kiosks. The Rook Inn bar down the stairs of the main stand is well-stocked with craft beers, ciders and soft drinks.

Hastings United 1 Enfield Town 1

Report by Glyn Smith

The 50-or-so hardy Town supporters who made another long trip to the Sussex coast were rewarded with us gaining a valuable point in a highly entertaining game against a very good Hastings side.

With Jake Cass absent due to the hamstring strain he suffered on Saturday,  Adam Cunnington came into an otherwise unchanged starting eleven, who again lined up in a 5-3-2 formation. James Dayton took Cunnington’s place on the bench for a game that was rescheduled after being called off in January because of the big freeze.

In temperatures almost as cold as back then, Town started on the front foot and in the ninth minute a run into the box by Sam Youngs ended with a good save by Louis Rogers in the Hastings goal to prevent Marcus Wyllie scoring from 10 yards out.

 Eight minutes later and great work by the very impressive Johnville Renee saw his deep cross to the far post headed home by Cunnington (pictured) to put Town one up.

Renee continued to be an attacking threat for Town but Hastings responded to going behind with some impressive passing moves without really threatening an equalizer until the half hour mark. Town failed to fully clear their lines following a Hastings freekick and Ben Pope curled a shot from around 30 yards that was destined for the top corner until Nathan McDonald brilliantly dived full length to tip the ball away for a corner in what is probably the save of the season so far.

Four minutes later Town lifted some of the increasing pressure with a cross by Wyllie that saw Cunnington slide in and narrowly miss the target from 10 yards.

The equalizer that had been threatened came two minutes before halftime.

A slick free-flowing passing move from the hosts saw Smith slide the ball into the onion bag with great aplomb past an exposed McDonald.

H-T 1-1

Almost immediately from the restart Cunnington put Wyllie though on goal but his shot was saved well by Rogers at the expense of a corner. Gbode for Hastings responded with a low cross that was well held by McDonald.

A 56^th minute cross by Mo Kamara saw Cunnington again thwarted at close range, but with Hastings gaining more of a foothold Andy Leese replaced Dequaine Wilson-Braithwaite with Andre Coker and changing to a 4-3-3 formation.

Coker made an almost immediate impact by putting Cunnington through on goal, but as with Wyllie’s earlier chance Rogers again saved the one on one. Hastings broke quickly from the resulting corner and James Richmond was booked for fouling the dangerous Smith.

With 20 minutes remaining Lewis Taaffe came on for Wyllie and his free kick shortly after saw Richmond’s header easily held by Rogers.

As the game became more stretched Chez Isaac replaced Kamara and with 10 minutes remaining another quick break by Hastings saw a low 30-yard drive held by McDonald. Isaac, though, was booked shortly afterwards for a foul on the edge of Town’s penalty area, but fortunately the freekick was curled over the bar.

As the game went into stoppage time another good low save by McDonald from a long shot, and subsequent block by Lewis Knight maintained the status quo.

In a final twist deep into stoppage time Hastings gained a throw in level with the edge of Town’s penalty area. They immediately made their final substitution by bringing on Ollie Black, and his long throw into the middle of the box was back headed over the bar and on to the roof of the net by a Hastings player.

Town – McDonald, Wilson-Braithwaite (Coker 59), Payne, Thomas, Knight, Richmond, Kamara (Isaac 77), Youngs, Cunnington, Wyllie (Taaffe 70), Renee. Unused substitutes Dayton, Della-Verde.

Six weeks after the original fixture was called off because of the big freeze, our rescheduled game away to Hastings takes place Tuesday night in what promises to be a challenging encounter.

Three days after our much-needed victory over Bognor, we return to the Sussex coast to face a U’s team who are slowly climbing the table and are now just four points behind Town in seventh place.

On Saturday Hastings, who we beat 1-0 in the reverse fixture in November, were held 1-1 by improving Wingate & Finchley, conceding a late equalizer after Joe Gbode had given them a first-half lead.

But they have only lost one of their last five encounters and seem likely to have another bumper crowd to spur them on in what should be a fantastic atmosphere.

Bognor Regis 0 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Two excellent first-half goals, coupled with clubs around us dropping points, made it a highly satisfying  journey to the  West Sussex coast for Town as we got back to winning ways in the first of five successive away league outings.

Playing in a 3-5-2 formation and with both new signings making their debuts, we totally dominated the first half, then showed the other side of our capabilities by digging in after the break.

Town came flying out of the blocks as Jake Cass burst through, only to smash his effort over the crossbar.

A late challenge on Johnville Renee, playing as a right wingback on his Town debut, resulted in  an early yellow card for Joe Rabbetts – Bognor’s player of the month for the last three months.

Cass saw another effort deflected  past the post before James Richmond missed from a mere two yards as he came up for a corner, holding his head in his hands as he somehow wellied the ball over when it seemed easier to score.

New boy Mo Camara, in central midfield alongside Scott Thomas, fired straight at the keeper before Joe Payne went into the book for a late challenge on Alfie Bridgman.

On 35 minutes, Town got what their attacking play deserved. With Bognor screaming for a penalty after Nathan Odokonyero went down in the box, we surged up the end  and Cass played the ball across for Marcus Wyllie – a threat all afternoon – to supply the finish and wheel away in celebration (pictured)

Three minutes the lead was doubled, with scorer and provider reversed.  Matt Rowley spread himself to keep out Wyllie’s effort but Cass showed fantastic control to thump home the rebound on the volley.

Sadly for Jake and the team, he had to be replaced just before halftime with a hamstring injury, the extent of which was being assessed.

Cameron Black’s toe poke moments later, clutched on the line by Nathan McDonald, was the closest Bognor had come to scoring  in a half we comfortably controlled.

H-T 0-2

Although Bognor looked far more menacing after the break, they didn’t carve out the clearcut chances their possession had threatened.

Dan Gifford diverted a corner over our bar when unmarked on the back post while Isaac Olaniyan’s dangerous cross evaded everyone.

We were still threatening on the counter and Richmond’s flicked header found Adam Cunnington whose own header was directed straight at Rowley.

 Kamara’s physical presence was eye-catching throughout for Town, his only blemish coming when he went into the book.

As Bognor’s desperation grew, so they threw men forward but got little change out of our defence, back to performing as a composed unit.

And there was still time for substitute Andre Coker to twist and turn his way into the box before forcing Rowley into a smart save.

“A much-needed win and better performance from us,” said Andy Leese after we cemented fourth spot and put pressure on those above us, with two more long trips to come this week.

“We adapted our shape and it gave us what we wanted. Bognor may have had the possession in the second half but I felt we defended well and created a few decent opportunities ourselves. Pleased with Mo and JV on their debuts. Both slotted in really well after just one session with us. The win sets us up nicely for a hugely challenging week.”

Town:

McDonald; Wilson-Braithwaite, Knight, Richmond; Payne, Youngs (Isaac, 67), Thomas, Camara, Renee; Wyllie (Coker 76), Cass (Cunnington 44)

We are excited to announce the signing of 25-year-old right-back Johnville Renee who will be available for selection today against Bognor Regis.

Johnville signs from Lewes where has been one of the club’s most consistent players this season. His previous clubs include Bishop’s Stortford, Maldon & Tiptree, and Braintree Town.

With Juevan Spencer victim of a bad injury, Johnville, who can also play in midfield, will play a crucial role in our promotion push.

“After receiving the bad news of the extent of Juevan’s injury we are thrilled to have been able to move quickly for a specialist right-back,” said Andy Leese. “Johnville has excellent experience at this level and is a player we’ve admired for a while. Welcome to the Town!”

After a three-game blip that didn’t thankfully do us much damage as far as the table is concerned, we aim to get back to winning ways on  Saturday with the first of five successive away league fixtures.

We travel to Bognor Regis who are currently 15th in the table with 37 points from 33 games. Back in October we drew 1-1 at the QEII Stadium, Jake Cass equalising from a penalty after Nick Dembele had given the visitors an early lead.

Bognor are one of those teams who have definitely under-performed this season and have lost their last four in the league.

 Yet they beat Bishops Stortford and Haringey in early February and we may well need to keep concentration for 90 minutes to take maximum points before another long haul to Hastings three days later.

Bognor were given a strong confidence boost on Tuesday by thrashing Bexhill United 6-1 to reach the semifinals of Sussex Senior Cup.

If you are travelling on Saturday the information on the link below maybe helpful.

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bognorregistownfc/a/first-time-visitor-information-47966.html

There is also a supporters’ coach to both Bognor and Hastings. You can book your seat by contacting Les Gold on 07979 727563 or email lesgold@enfieldtownfootballclub.co.uk

As some of you will know we have signed versatile midfielder Mohammed Camara on a dual registration basis from Concord Rangers. Andy Leese described him as a great boost to our squad and he should be available for selection on Saturday