Dulwich Hamlet 0 Enfield Town 4

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Sensational, electrifying. One could run out of superlatives to describe just how good Enfield Town were in demolishing Dulwich as we stretched our unbeaten league run to 11 matches with arguably the best all-round performance of the season.

Yes the hosts lost their top central defender to injury in the warmup, reducing them to a shadow of the team that had put themselves in the playoff mix in recent weeks.

But if Gavin Macpherson was worried that being named Manager if the Month would end up being a curse, he needn’t have. He and his team are building something special and the fact that Dulwich, in front of a 3,300-plus sellout, didn’t lay a glove on us or have a single shot on target from start to finish says everything about our momentum as we edge closer to the finish line.

 With one of two other results going for us, finishing third and getting a home semifinal playoff draw is now very much in our own hands whatever Horsham do in their two games in hand. Even finishing runners-up to newly crowned champions Hornchurch has suddenly  come into the equation.

If that smacks of getting ahead of ourselves, Gavin will certainly not let that happen. With four games to go, it’s still incredibly tight with any unexpected loss of form potentially proving catastrophic.

Town lined up in  a highly effective 3-5-2 formation but were fortunate not to go behind early doors. Scott Thomas lost control near halfway but Josh Shinibare wasted a golden chance to capitalise  by shooting wide when clean through on goal.

It was the Hamlet’s best chance of the entire match, a measure of just how comfortable we were thereafter.

Ollie Knight and Marcus Wyllie both tested Will Lakin before Marcus lost his footing when presented with a fantastic opportunity by Bernie Tanner’s long clearance.

The deadlock was broken on 23 minutes when Dulwich failed to clear a long throw and Sam Youngs powered home a sublime half-volley on the edge of the box for his 22^nd league goal of the season.

Whenever Dulwich did foray forward,  they were thwarted by a defensive togetherness in which Tanner, newly nicknamed “the Enfield Maldini”, was superb.

With Dulwich dangerman Luke Wanadio largely kept quiet, it was only a matter of time before we tightened  our grip on the game. Knight saw another goalbound effort pushed away and on 43 minutes we doubled our lead as Marcus, played in by Jake Cass, rode two tackles before placing his shot in the corner for league goal number 28.

H-T 0-2

Any belief left in Dulwich was quickly extinguished and within nine minutes of the restart we were home and dry.

Lakin had already come to his team’s rescue once again by saving with his legs from Marcus but in the very next move he was beaten again. Youngs headed a corner against the woodwork and when the ball rebounded to Cass, he made no mistake with a sweet left-foot strike through a ruck of players (pictured), peeling away in joy – understandable given the type of season he has had.

Only now, far too late, did Dulwich show any genuine intent, largely through substitute Anthony Jeffrey, though without really troubling Rhys Forster.

A tiring Jake and a limping Dylan Adjei-Hersey were both replaced but we weren’t finished yet. On 84 minutes Marcus latched on to a fantastic Tanner ball, got the better of his marker and tapped home.

There was still time for Bernie to go on a surging run and flash a shot narrowly wide as the hosts were again badly exposed, their playoff hopes crushed for good.

“We did our analysis and  went with a bold system but the boys still had to carry it out,” said Gavin.

“You rely on the personalities out there to put their trust in us. If they do that and it goes wrong, it’s my fault but today we got it spot on.

“Dulwich have a very experienced squad and management team and are a side we all thought would be challenging not only for a playoff place but perhaps the title.”

With four games left, Gavin reserved particular praise for the central defensive partnership after a second straight clean sheet. “Bernie and Taylor both have different attributes but have formed an excellent relationship.”

“I don’t like looking at the table and we’re not there yet. This is a massive step obviously but we still have work to do against some very good teams.”

Town:

Forster; Parcell, McKenzie, Tanner; Adjei-Hersey (Beckles-Richards, 80) , Thomas, Youngs, Taaffe, Knight; Cass (Turner 69), Wyllie (Hippolyte 88)

Thirty-seven played, five to go.

Gavin Macpherson will hope  his thoroughly deserved manager of the month award for March does not end up being the proverbial curse when we visit Dulwich Hamlet tomorrow in front of what will surely be by far the league’s biggest gate.

Gavin and his team have steered us into a 10-match unbeaten league run but Dulwich, one of the division’s big hitters and relegated from Step 2 at the end of last season, are still very much in with a shout of a playoff place if results go their way and will be a tough nut to crack on their own patch.

Despite losing both their Easter fixtures, the Hamlet were in strong form up that time, winning five of their previous seven as they bid for an immediate return to National League South under Hakan Hayrettin.

“It’s another in a long line of very tough games,” said Gavin as we prepare to make the trip to Champion Hill stadium.

“There are very few teams in the league as it stands who don’t have anything to play for and Dulwich are still very much in the mix.”

“Hakan has assembled a very experienced squad with plenty of quality in the ranks. We understand the task ahead but see it as quite simply as another step towards our aim no matter the opposition. The boys have worked hard all season and will continue to do so.”

AW

Enfield Town 3 Cheshunt 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Dave Bryant would have been so proud. In front of our record league gate of 1,271 and despite only 48 hours’ preparation, Town swept aside neighbours Cheshunt in the so-called A10 Classico to complete a maximum six-point haul over the Easter weekend.

In what was a case of breathtaking finishing at one end and a “thou shalt not pass” mentality at the other, Town stretched their unbeaten league run 10 games with five fixtures remaining.

With all the main playoff contenders winning, it’s very much a case of “as you were” as we battle to stay in the top three and secure that home semifinal draw, nothwithstanding Horsham’s two games in hand.

Much of the post-match chat was about which goal was the best. It’s rare enough to have one worldie in a game, let alone three, as we put the game to bed by halftime to bury any chance of an Ambers comeback.

Even before kickoff, there was a buzz of excitement around the ground with the teamsheet showing Jake Cass in a starting role – his first since that terrible injury back in August.

Joe Payne went for goal with an early freekick that totally deceived Cheshunt keeper Woody Williamson  before hitting the side netting but on 11 minutes we took the lead. Off his line, Williamson directed a miskick  straight into the path of Lewis Taaffe who showed wonderful skill in curling an audacious lob into the far corner of the net from 25 yards (pictured celebrating).

Skipper Scott Thomas, on his 34^th birthday, rifled a corner narrowly over the bar before we doubled our lead on 23 minutes when Taaffe squared for Sam Youngs to unleash a sublime side-foot finish.

With only two changes from Saturday’s 4-2 win at Bognor, it was inevitable we would not have things all our way but a combination of two excellent saves by Rhys Forster and several last-ditch blocks by the back four snuffed out Cheshunt’s goalbound efforts.

As we continued to be a threat going forward, Marcus Wyllie flashed a header wide before extending our advantage with another stunning goal, putting one Cheshunt player on his backside before sidestepping another and bending his shot into the net.

In the final action of the half, the excellent Mickey Parcell cleared off the line from Antonis Vasiliou whose team must have realised it was never going to be their day.

H-T 3-0

With some tired legs out there, it was now a question of managing minds and bodies as well as the scoreline.

Jake completed 65 minutes before being substituted and after Cheshunt missed a golden chance to pull a goal back, a glorious rainbow provided the perfect backdrop to our first home game since Dave Bryant sadly left us.

With such fierce rivalry between the two sets of fans, the usual mutual goading was to be expected but there was no need for flares being thrown on to the pitch at the Cheshunt end which briefly held up proceedings.

Eight minutes of stoppage time were added on accordingly during which Cheshunt, who had previously played the game in a good spirit,  were reduced to 10 men.  Vasiliou was upended by Taaffe who duly received a yellow card before the Ambers front man was shown a straight red for what looked like a punch in retaliation.

There was still time for 10-man Cheshunt to carve out and promptly miss another chance to reduce the arrears. But it was anyway too little, too late.

“Great goals and a clean sheet but there were still things I thought we could do better, particularly  from long throws and set pieces,” said Gavin Macpherson, ever the perfectionist. “I didn’t want us conceding scrappy goals.”

“People may have been surprised by Cassy starting but it gave us that extra ability to secure the ball and he brought a physicality this particular game needed. I also felt that after Saturday it would have been a long day for Marcus being up there on his own.”

“Given such little time between games the players had to understand, if you like, a  training session on the tactics board and they deserve huge credit for putting it into practice. If Horsham win their games in hand and end up above us, so be it.  But we’re in a good place.”

Town:

Forster; Parcell, McKenzie, Tanner, Payne (Okotcha, 73); Knight, Youngs (Alves 83), Thomas, Taaffe; Wyllie, Cass (Turner 65)