After a below-par performance against Folkestone, Enfield Town aim to bounce back quickly when we visit Horsham tomorrow night, kick-off 7.45.

The match marks the first of four remaining January fixtures that include league leaders Hornchurch and play-off chasing Billericay, a challenging period but an ideal opportunity to put down a marker that we are very much still in the mix.

Mid-table Horsham’s exploits in the FA Cup and FA Trophy mean they have games in hand on every other side except Concord Rangers. On Saturday they were knocked out of the Trophy by Peterborough Sports.

In the league they have won only one of their last five games but crucially two of those were against the top two, against whom they gained creditable draws.

Our record on artificial pitches is not ideal but after two defeats in three games, we need a decent performance to restore confidence and prove our mettle on what is likely to be a freezing cold night.

“If we were absolutely firing and churning out results, you might look at the fact that Horsham have played a lot of games as being a bonus for us,” said Gavin Macpherson.

“But at the moment I’m doing some real soul-searching to work out how I drag this team out of where they are.  I was bitterly disappointed on Saturday with what we did as a collective group and that includes me and the rest of the management team.”

“There will be bumps in the road all the way, we know that, but we’ve now got to find some points in some very tough games to keep us in there.”

Andrew Warshaw

Enfield Town 0 Folkestone Invicta 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Gavin Macpherson warned in midweek that we would have to improve on our performance versus Haringey to bag another three points against Folkestone on Saturday.

We didn’t and we paid the price as our visitors proved on the day that anyone can beat anyone in this division if you are not on your game.

 To make matters worse for the 600-plus crowd, everyone around us in the playoff positions picked up a maximum haul as we slipped from third to fifth — certainly not the ideal sendoff for physio John Abbott in his last match after a generation of sterling service to the club.

The first half was pretty much a forgettable affair and by the time Gavin gave his halftime team talk, we already had a mountain to climb

An encouraging start didn’t last long and we fell behind on 13 minutes. Tom Derry’s powerful low shot evaded the challenge of James Richmond and nestled in the far corner under the legs of keeper Rhys Forster.

Folkestone were working harder off the ball and it could have been two as Ade Cole’s rasping effort flashed past the post.

Marcus Wyllie, for whom the goals seem to have dried up recently, had a great chance to level but drilled his shot wide.

It soon proved costly as Scott Heard, who pulled the strings in midfield all afternoon, put the Seasiders in the driving seat, taking advantage of Ollie Knight’s mistimed header that looped into the danger zone.

The deficit was almost halved as James Richmond’s close-range effort was somehow cleared off the line. But Folkestone might well have gone in three up when David Smith sent a bullet header straight at Rhys Forster when of either side of him would have made it three.

H-T 0-2

Town couldn’t get much worse so cue a double halftime change that saw the introduction of Obi Onyeagwara and new signing Herson Alves.

Both had an immediate impact, Obi scaring the life out of Folkestone with his pace and trickery down the right and Alves shooting narrowly over (pictured).

As Town improved, a string of chances came and went though most of them were either rushed, off target or cleared by a tall, resolute Folkestone defence.

In truth, we weren’t smart enough and fair play to the visitors who never lost their shape or positioning and even found the net again late on but were clearly offside.

“I’ll be brutally honest, I don’t like what I’m seeing at the moment,” admitted Gavin after our second defeat in three games that saw Taylor McKenzie pushed up front for the last 15 minutes to try and alter proceedings.

“Our quality was poor and we’ll have to put our finger on it very quickly. The front players are struggling and it seems like confidence has gone.

“Folkestone were very game and worked extremely hard whereas we fell short. We had enough chances to win the game twice over but we’re going through a patch where we’re inconsistent in terms of results and performances.”

Forster; Parcell, McKenzie, Richmond, Payne; Adjei-Hersey (Onyeagwara, 46), Thomas, Youngs, Knight; Beckles-Richards (Alves 46), Wyllie (Hippolyte)

Following our midweek win over neighbours Haringey Borough, Enfield Town attempt to do the double over Folkestone Invicta tomorrow as we stage our second successive home game (ko 3pm)

Back in August we won 2-1 at Folkestone with goals from Marcus Wyllie and Oliver Knight before Callum Davies pulled one back for Folkestone 15 minutes from time.

Surprisingly Folkestone have had a mixed season and are currently 17th in the table with 23 points from 22 games.

But Gavin Macpherson is taking nothing for granted with Folkestone  showing signs of improvement under new manager Andrew Drury, their last result being a 1-1 draw with in-form Wingate and Finchley, preceded by an away win at Margate.

“It will be tough. They are a team I believe will start to climb the table,” said Gavin. “New manager, new players in and gelling. If our standards don’t improve from Haringey, it may not be good enough.”

Gavin would also like it known that Louis Birch had to have a second operation just before Christmas.

“I’m gutted for Louis,” said Gav. “I brought him here and there have been games when I wish I had Louis out there. He’s had a very difficult season and I feel for him.”

Enfield Town 1 Haringey Borough 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Enfield Town left it late on Tuesday night to jump back into the top three with a thoroughly merited if sharpness-lacking win over injury-hit Haringey Borough in a match re-arranged from the New Year’s Day postponement.

Over 500 fans, a fantastic midweek turnout, braved freezing conditions to see us return to winning ways after the setback at Cray as Jonathan Hippolyte again came off the bench to hit a 75^th-minute winner and end Haringey’s brave resistance.

Our visitors were missing influential midfielder Matt Young  among others and it showed as they had little creative spark even though Mekki Leacock-McLeod caused us plenty of problems with his pace, especially in the first half.

To be fair we weren’t anywhere near our inventive best although we had the vast majority of the ball and the chances.

The first of those came after just two minutes as  Joe Payne rifled over after exchanging passes with Sam Youngs.

Ten minutes later, Dillon Barnes managed to clutch on to the ball at the second attempt with Reece Beckles-Richards breathing down his neck.

The same pattern continued as we struggled to break down a Haringey team that got in block after block including one incredible goalmouth scramble that kept us out four times.

Every team in this division has a period of the ball and Haringey’s came towards the end of the half.

Taylor McKenzie deflected a goalbound Leacock-McLeod effort for a corner and Rhys Forster then produced a tip-over save from Haringey’s dangerman having minutes earlier raced off his line to beat Anthony Mendy to the tackle and prevent an almost certain goal.

H-T 0-0

Straight from the restart, Youngs had a shot palmed away but still we lacked the guile to break through.

Cue a double substitution on 70 minutes with Obi Onyeagwara and Jonathan Hippolyte replacing Beckles-Richards and Adjei-Hersey .

It was an inspired move because five minutes later both contributed to the breakthrough.

Marcus Wyllie found space to head Obi’s low centre against the far upright and Hippolyte was first on hand to prod home the rebound (pictured).

It may not have been pretty but Gavin Macpherson was relieved to see us get over the line on the back of two postponed fixtures.

“It looked like Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year rolled into one,” said Gavin. “We tried to make training as real as we could but you’re not replicating game situations.”

“Haringey did exactly what I expected. They play in a similar way to Cray so we worked very hard in the last couple of weeks on ball retention. We didn’t have enough quality but we found a way.”

Thanks in part to the two super-subs who made an instant impact.

“I thought long and hard about who to bring on but Hipps can do that as we saw against Dulwich and Obi, being a bit of a maverick, can always be a threat.”

Team

Forster; Parcell, McKenzie, Richmond, Payne; Adjei-Hersey (Hippolyte, 70), Youngs, Thomas, Knight; Wyllie (Taaffe, 85), Beckles-Richards (Onyeagwara)

We are very pleased to confirm the remaining dates for our matches in Group A of the Fenix Trophy.

The group phase matches will conclude with a double-header against fellow newcomers, Welsh side Llantwit Major FC. Town are to host Llantwit Major at the QEII Stadium on the evening of Tuesday 19th March 2024. Tickets will be available in due course.

We will then play our final group match away in South Wales on Tuesday 9th April 2024.
Click Here For Tickets – Llantwit Major (A)

As ever, we hope to see as many of you – home and away – as possible!

Will the rest have done the players the world of good in terms of recharging batteries? Or will the enforced layoff leave us lacking sharpness despite several training sessions?

We’ll find out tomorrow (Tuesday) night when, after having our last two games postponed, Enfield Town take on local rivals Haringey Borough (kickoff 7.45) in the re-arranged fixture from New Year’s Day that was postponed because of the weather.

Haringey may be near the bottom of the table but invariably raise their game against us and are a force to be reckoned with on their day.

The corresponding fixture earlier in the season ended 1-1 and on Saturday, in their latest outing, they gained a commendable 2-1 win over Canvey Island.

“Haringey have beaten Billericay recently and defeated Canvey on Saturday so they will certainly get the respect they fully deserve,” said Gavin Macpherson.

“It’s going to be tough but at the same time we’re ready for the challenge. We’ve haven’t played recently but we’ve kept working hard. It’s important we impose ourselves on the game.

“After Cray it’s also important we faced the reality of why we fell short. It is not the first time we have lost but we’ve always had the ability to bounce back and that is all that matters now. The lads have worked hard at their game over the past week or so, there’s no pressure on them, they are enjoying the challenge.”

As widely anticipated, our league fixture away at Concord Rangers today has been postponed following an early-morning pitch inspection

Details of any rescheduling will be announced as soon as possible

Enfield Town’s next scheduled league game is now our re-arranged Haringey Borough home fixture on Tuesday, kickoff 7.45

Amidst the disappointment of games being called off, we are pleased to announce the arrival of leftback Renedi Musampu.

Renedi has represented both Chelsea and Birmingham at under-23 and under-21 level respectively and was released by Hornchurch in mid-October.

A welcome addition to the squad who is only 24, he has also played for Dulwich Hamlet and under Gavin Macpherson at Met Police and will provide crucial versatility, being able to fit in anywhere across the back line.

“Renedi played in the recent friendly at Ware and has spent much of his footballing life in the pro game, initially with Chelsea and more recently Birmingham,” said Gavin.

“He’s someone I’ve worked with previously, albeit over a short period, and adds fullback competition to the squad as he can play on both sides. With the long-term injury to Carlos (Velasco) this is something we’ve needed for a while.”

Welcome Renedi!

We regret to announce that the Tottenham Hotspur under-21 Premier League Cup fixture versus Bristol City, scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, at 1pm, has had to be postponed.

We had been looking forward to hosting the game at QEII but unfortunately have been beaten by the weather with all the recent rain rendering the pitch unplayable.

Details of any rescheduling will be announced as soon as possible.

Our arrangement with Spurs includes a second game against Peterborough United on Saturday, February 3, kick-off 1pm, and this still stands.

Our home league game against Haringey Borough, postponed on New Year’s Day because of a waterlogged pitch, has been re-arranged for Tuesday next week, Jan 9, kickoff 7.45.

Tickets purchased on the website for the original date will remain valid.