As we enter 2024, no-one can deny that we are in a fantastic position in the table despite the recent setback at Cray.

And although our New Year’s Day visitors from nearby Haringey Borough might be second to bottom of the league, they will certainly not be under-estimated.

Everyone knows how Haringey invariably raise their game against us and having ideally targeted a minimum six points from our three holiday fixtures, Gavin Macpherson knows how vital Monday’s clash will be (kickoff 3pm).

“Games during this period are notoriously difficult, three games in six days represents a very tough ask for teams at our level, that’s why you focus on points rather than performance,” said Gavin.

“ It’s all about getting through with a good points return and minimal impact. We must turn the page quickly from a below par performance at Cray and focus on one of Enfield Town’s toughest games of the season.”

“I’ll be looking for improvements all round, we’re in a good position and winning the match is clearly the main focus, but I’d like us to get back to being a better more fluent version than we have been recently.

Cray Wanderers 2-0 Enfield Town

Enfield Town’s run of three straight league wins came to a dismal halt on Friday evening as they ended 2023 with a 2-0 defeat to Cray Wanderers at Hayes Lane.

Town had James Richmond (rib injury) and Obi Onyeagwara (illness) sidelined, though still named ten of the eleven which had started Boxing Day’s victory away at Cheshunt; Josh Okotcha the single change for Richmond in central defence. They arguably started the brighter, too. Marcus Wyllie had found some early joy down the left and with barely two minutes gone his squared pass fell into the path of Mickey Parcell, but his effort was snuffed out and cleared. Town were pressing high and recycling the ball well enough in the opening stages yet lacked a final product; minutes later Scott Thomas pounced on an errant pass and fed Dylan Adjei-Hersey whose deep cross looped narrowly beyond the far post.

Their best chances of the half – in truth their best of the entire match – arrived on 11 minutes as a fleet-footed counter down the left flank saw Ollie Knight and Sam Youngs exchange passes before Youngs’ guided shot was well parried by Shaun Rowley; Reece Beckles-Richards not quite close enough to turn in the rebound. The resulting corner was attacked well by Okotcha, only for his goalbound header to be nodded off the line by Frankie Raymond, who was well-positioned all game.

An injury to Cray’s Jack Holland on 20 minutes required a lengthy stoppage, and perhaps this disrupted the flow of Town’s game. Perhaps the change of intensity from Boxing Day’s local derby had rubbed off on Enfield. Not that either would have been any excuse to Gavin Macpherson who was seething at the aimlessness of Town’s play for the remainder of the match. Likewise at the manner in which Town ultimately fell behind. A cheap free kick was conceded down the inside-right channel, with Raymond’s flighted ball into the centre met by debutant Tayo Oyebola, glancing his header over a stranded Rhys Forster and in.

Enfield looked to respond in kind as a long ball released Beckles-Richards who could only shank the bouncing ball into the grasp of Rowley from the edge of the box. He was soon involved again but neither he nor Youngs could convert Ollie Knight’s inswinging cross. A stoppage time snapshot from Marcus Wyllie down the throat of Rowley was the only other effort of note as Town’s approach became increasingly direct, playing into the hands of their hosts who had the physical advantage throughout.

Half Time: CWFC 1-0 ETFC

The second half began as the first had ended; Town seeing plenty of the ball but failing to muster any kind of cutting edge, resorting to long passes which were mopped up with relative ease by the Wands defence who were beginning to spring some rapid counters of their own. Gary Lockyer had flashed an effort narrowly wide of the mark before he turned provider for Cray to double their lead on 58 minutes in route one style; Lockyer knocking down his goalkeeper’s punt upfield for Ellis Brown to hammer into the left-hand corner on the half-volley.

Enfield introduced Lewis Taaffe and Jonathan Hippolyte for Adjei-Hersey and Beckles-Richards, yet the pattern continued as Town’s build-up veered between the direct and the desperate. Youngs scuffed an effort straight at the goalie and Hippolyte’s close-range header nicked off a defender before the hosts went close to a third as Sam Wood and Alfie Evans tried their luck from distance. A game of precious little quality had precious little of note as it ebbed away, with Cray seeing out five minutes of stoppage time to record their first league win in six weeks; their first home win over Enfield Town at the sixth attempt.

This was a result which contradicted both sides’ league positions, and a sharp reminder for the Towners of the performance levels required to sustain a challenge for the top five, let alone top spot: “A dreadful game of football but we were the worse team out there”, said boss Macpherson. “It was long ball after long ball… we weren’t brave enough to get on the football today and we shrunk, in truth. Aimless balls down the centre-halves’ throat were never going to work and that wasn’t what was asked of them.”

“That’s probably the poorest we’ve played… unrecognisable from our point of view.
“The only thing we can do now is look forward to Monday and putting it right.”

Town: Forster; Parcell, McKenzie, Okotcha, Payne; Thomas, Youngs, Adjei-Hersey (Taaffe 61’), Knight; Beckles-Richards (Hippolyte 64’), Wyllie

Attendance: 307

The Christmas period is a busy time for everyone, not least our catering partners, Cooking Champions who, as most of you will know, are a registered charity providing food support across the borough and beyond.

 This year, with the demand for food banks across the country continuing to soar, the number of food parcels distributed by the Enfield-based company increased by 45% over 2002.

 Not surprisingly December was their busiest month during which Cooking Champions distributed an incredible 1,041 food packages across Enfield alone including an additional Christmas Eve service.

 The relationship between our club and Cooking Champions works both ways in terms of mutual support.

 So it’s a testament to Gavin Macpherson that when ceo Clare Donovan asked if we could assist by providing a couple of players to help serve meals at their weekly community lunch in Enfield following their admirable Christmas initiative, Gavin personally gave up his time, taking Jonathan Hippolyte with him.

“It’s been a real eye-opener in terms of what Cooking Champions do and how far it extends in terms of feeding people in the local community,” said Gavin during his visit on Thursday as a volunteer (pictured with Jonathan and the Cooking Champions team).

“For me, it’s been an education. There’s obviously a close association between the football club and Cooking Champions and it was an absolute pleasure to be there, quite humbling in some respects.”

 “I’ve probably opened up a little bit more of a career for myself in terms of being a waiter though I’m not sure how good I was!” Gavin joked.

 Jonathan Hippolyte added: “It was a lovely day and it was a pleasure meeting everyone at Cooking Champions.”

Andrew Warshaw

 

We are delighted to announce that we will be hosting Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s’ Premier League Cup fixture against Bristol City on Saturday January 6th, kickoff 1pm.

Tickets can be purchased in advance from the link below:

https://enfieldtownfc.ktckts.com/event/spursu21a/tottenham-hotspur-u21s-vs-bristol-city-u21s-

We have also agreed to host Spurs’ U21s for their PL Cup game against Peterborough United on Saturday February 3rd, kickoff 1pm. Tickets for this fixture will be available at a later date.

The arrangement represents yet another exciting partnership with our near-neighbours and builds on our excellent existing relationship.

Enfield Town have the chance to leapfrog  Chatham and move into second in the league  on goal difference tomorrow, Friday, when we end 2023 with a visit to Cray Wanderers in the second of our three holiday fixtures (ko 7.45).

Matches between the two sides often produce plenty of goals but Gavin Macpherson believes the task on Cray’s artificial pitch at Bromley could seriously test his players.

 Cray had their Boxing Day game against Margate abandoned late on because of a serious head injury to Yahya Bamba but have managed to play their way out of the bottom three in recent weeks.

In fact they haven’t lost at home in the league since mid-October, having drawn their last three,  and will be keen to put on a show in front of their fans.

“I think this is as tough as it comes,” said Gavin, one or two of whose players are still not back to full health following a bug that swept through the camp.

“I think Cray wanderers are a decent side and a really tough test awaits on an unfamiliar surface. It’s another significant hurdle we need to overcome and we’ll need to work very hard to do that.

“On a more important note I’m sure everyone at Enfield Town would like to wish Yahya Bamba a speedy recovery.”

Elections for Enfield Town FC’s Board of Directors are now open. There are eight candidates for six available positions.

Who Is Standing?

Candidates’ statements can be found by clicking on their names below. They are:

• Martin Bentley
• Graham Dodd
• John Dolan
• Christine Hamilton
• Geoff Lee
• Neil Lutwyche
• David Square
• Andrew Warshaw

Voting:

Members can cast their vote using the following methods:

• By email – Members will receive a ballot form by email. This should be filled out and sent to election@etfc.london
  
• In person – Ballot forms will be available at our home games with Haringey (1st Jan) and Folkestone (13th Jan) prior to the election deadline.
  
• By post – please mail postal votes to:
  ETFC Supporters Society, 21 Inverness Avenue, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 3NT

The ballot closes on Thursday 18th January. The six candidates obtaining the most votes will be elected to the board at the AGM on Thursday 1st February.

Cheshunt 1 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Bouyed by a majestic performance from new signing Taylor McKenzie against his old club and despite a woeful refereeing display, Enfield Town got their holiday fixture programme off to the perfect start in the so-called A10 Classico in front of a bumper 1,149 Boxing Day crowd.

Not surprisingly Taylor, signed the previous day from the Ambers, was given the bird by the home fans but showed exactly why the management team were so keen to bring him in, winning virtually every challenge both in the air and on the ground.

Cheshunt’s loss was very much our gain and the Enfield fans, who made up probably half the crowd if not more, taunted the hosts with chants of “Where’s your captain gone?” throughout the 90 minutes.

As a spectacle it wasn’t exactly pretty but then derbies invariably aren’t.

Town should have had the game wrapped up by halftime, then had to dig in towards the end after what Gavin Macpherson described as the worst penalty decision he had ever seen (more of which later)

Town were quickly out of the blocks as Rhys Beckles-Richards had one shot cleared off the line and was inches off target with another.

James Richmond planted a free header over the bar from a corner but on 20 minutes our early dominance told.

Ollie Knight’s freekick was only half cleared and when Marcus Wyllie’s turn and shot was fisted away by the Cheshunt keeper, Sam Youngs converted the rebound.

Moments later Beckles-Richards, who on another day might have a had a hattrick, forced Joe Rose into a smart near-post stop.

While Cheshunt at times looked slick going forward, we defended our box superbly and kept creating chances.

In the dying minutes of the half, Dylan Adjei-Hersey was sent clear but as his eyes lit up, he screwed his shot badly wide.

H-T 1-0

Cheshunt’s Isiah Noel-Williams, on a yellow card after a couple of dangerous challenges, was replaced at halftime and the Ambers re-emerged looking far more of a threat having hardly tested Rhys Forster.

Parcell put in a magnificent goal-saving challenge and we needed that second goal to put us in the clear.

It duly came midway through the half courtesy of a comical defensive mix-up as Jimmy Wallace headed the ball beyond his own keeper and watched it bobble over the line with Rose back-pedalling and Marcus Wyllie following up to make sure (pictured)

That should have given us breathing space. Instead, on 73 minutes Cheshunt reduced the arrears from the penalty spot thanks to a refereeing decision that had even the home fans scratching their heads in disbelief.

A highly demonstrative individual who had infuriated both sides with a series of random decisions — often from 40 yards away – somehow ruled that Solomon Baugh’s nasty trip on Adjei-Hersey was, in fact, a foul by the Enfield man.

Nwachuku coolly dispatched the spotkick but fortunately it didn’t end up costing us all three points. In fact, Beckles-Richards so nearly made it 3-1 before we saw out the remainder despite a couple of late scares to open up a six-point gap to Wingate and Finchley in fourth.

Afterwards Gavin could not contain his feelings about the penalty, the ultimate blunder in a series of baffling decisions that made the players afraid to tackle and included booking Scott Thomas for merely pointing out an offside flag.

“As long as I’ve been football I don’t think I’ve seen as bad a decision as that,” fumed Gavin. “It was a clear foul on Dylan’s ankle and he actually had to come off because of it. I was utterly astonished.”

On deciding to throw McKenzie into the lion’s den for his debut, Gavin said: “It was a bold decision. Over the last couple days I veered towards maybe not being able to bring in him at all, to not starting him to starting him. I only made the decision in the morning. He’s big enough and bold enough and he came through it with flying colours as I knew he would.

“I do have some sympathy for Cheshunt. I know there’s a rivalry but if you lose your captain and he’s out there playing for the opposition, I know I wouldn’t like it. That’s important to acknowledge.”

“Despite that, some of the rhetoric coming out of Cheshunt I just find despicable. But it’s a great start to the holiday programme.”

Town:

Forster; Parcell, McKenzie, Richmond, Payne; Adjei-Hersey (Onyeagwara, 81), Thomas, Youngs, Knight; Beckles-Richards (Donnallan 80), Wyllie

Enfield Town go into the first of three games in six games over a challenging holiday period with a mouth-watering derby at Cheshunt on Boxing Day, given extra spice by our signing of former Ambers’ skipper Taylor McKenzie.

Taylor joined Saturday’s training session just minutes after becoming a Town player for the second time following five years at Cheshunt — and will be available for selection for the so-called A10 Classico which kicks off at 1pm.

Relegated from Step 2 last season after one season in National league south, Cheshunt have had to adapt back to life in the Isthmian League from which they earned promotion in 2021/22 with a late burst and playoff victory – the same season we agonisingly missed out.

A recent defeat at Lewes saw them slip into the bottom four but they were in decent form up to that point, winning two and drawing two of their previous four league games, scoring 11 goals in the process. In fact they have lost only one of their last eight in the league.

Derbies are notoriously unpredictable and the Boxing Day clash against one of our fiercest rivals is bound to be a highly competitive affair. The fact that all three of our holiday fixtures are against sides fighting for their lives is not lost on the management team.

“I realise geographically there’s not a lot between the clubs but points against Cheshunt are worth the same as every other team so we should be focused on the job in hand,” said Gavin Macpherson as he looked ahead to the fixture at Theobalds Lane.

“It’s a tough game because Craig’s teams always are difficult opponents. We’ve planned and prepared, it represents the start of a difficult run of games in a short space of time when often performances become secondary to points on the board. We’ll need everyone to be at their maximum over the next week or so.”

Andrew warshaw

We are thrilled to confirm the signing of central defender Taylor McKenzie from Cheshunt.

An experienced, physically-imposing defender, McKenzie – who was named the Ambers’ skipper this season – has been with Cheshunt since joining from Enfield Town in 2018, notching over 100 appearances and helping them to promotion to the National League South in 2021-22. His other previous sides include Notts County, Wrexham, Corby Town and Chesham, as well as Enfield Town – with Taylor having played 35 times for us during the 2017-18 campaign.

“Clearly we are delighted to welcome Taylor back to the club”, stated manager Gavin Macpherson.

“We’ve worked extremely hard to finalise this but it hasn’t been an easy decision for Taylor due to his association with Cheshunt and that’s very understandable… Defensively we’ve been looking to strengthen and I believe we’ve done just that. My job is about continuing to build an Enfield Town team and that means bringing in the right players with the right character to add to an already excellent group.”

The club has parted company with centre-back Kyle Bailey. Kyle, who joined us from Hungerford in the summer, made 13 competitive appearances for Enfield Town, scoring once and helping the side to two clean sheets. We thank Kyle for his efforts with us and wish him all the best for the future.