Chelmsford City 1 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Without tempting fate, we’re almost there! Rock bottom at New Year, Enfield Town stretched their unbeaten run to seven games with arguably one of our most impressive displays of the season as we came from behind to open up a six-point gap above the drop zone.

With both St Albans and Salisbury going down, the latter suprisingly to relegated Aveley, it was almost the perfect day as goals from Bailey Brown and Jack Bates cancelled out Chelmsford’s opener as we took a giant step towards safety, leapfrogging Salisbury into 19^th place as well as distancing ourselves further from St Albans.

Gavin Macpherson’s pre-match comments about momentum being all-important could not have been better exemplified as we dominated most of the game and got our reward, celebrated wildly by a large away following who knew the significance of the result and cheered Gavin’s name to the rafters.

Despite once again missing Adam Thompson, Town were as solid at the back as they have been in recent weeks, the only change being Jack Bates for Anointed Chukwu with Sam Youngs playing alongside the tenacious Cian Dillon up top.

After a three-minute delay while one of the nets was repaired, Town immediately grabbed the initiative as Youngs, showing great control, saw Ted Collins off his line and volleyed just wide.

Xavier Benjamin then found Dillon with a superb pass through the lines, only for no-one to keep pace to convert the latter’s pullback.

A clearance off the line after a Collins spill kept Chelmsford in it but Town continued to pose the greater threat until, on 28 minutes, we went behind against the run of play.

Joe Wright rushed off his line to clear a one-on-one with his knees but only succeeded in losing out to Kane Crichlow whose ball to Charlie Ruff was swept into the net despite the efforts of two Town defenders to keep it out.

As Town responded, Youngs and Brown both went close while Ruff blazed over at the end of a half that in no way reflected the scoreline.

H-T 0-1

Carrying where we left off, Town took just five minutes to restore parity as Brown latched on to Mickey Parcell’s chipped ball and equalised  with a superb finish across goal (pictured).

 It was no less than we deserved but every team has its spell in nearly every game and Chelmsford, briefly, now had theirs.

But they were unable to find a way through as two magnificent sliding tackles – first by Parcell, then Henry Hawkins – said everything about our resilience of late.

It was just the incentive we needed to go on and win the game. Bates’ rising snapshot was tipped over by Collins but Jack wasn’t finished yet. On 75 minutes, he burst through on goal and  slotted the ball through Collins’ legs, sending the sizeable Town end, who outsung the home fans throughout, into raptures.

Ex-Towner favourite Ryan Blackman came off the Chelmsford bench but fortunately didn’t affect proceedings. Nor did two disallowed late goals. Chelmsford thought they’d equalised, only for Crichlow’s 85th minute effort to be ruled narrowly offside. Then Town sub Hisham Kasimu’s close-range effort was also chalked off for a high kick by Hawkins.

 Now attention turns to the mother of all local derbies on Good Friday when victory  over St. Albans will preserve our National League South status while even a draw will keep us in the box seat for the Great Escape.

Before discussing that, Gavin was quick to pay his respects to Clarets boss Robbie Simpson who missed the game through a family bereavement.

“He’s gone through something very similar to what I went through and we need to share a thought for that because some things are miles bigger than football,” said Gav.

Turning to St Albans and our last three games, Gavin urged caution until the job is finally done.

“We haven’t yet achieved our goal and we now reset for St Albans. We thoroughly deserved the result today after a travesty of a halftime score. Chelmsford are a really good side but our performance today was above the level we showed at Hemel and this time, we found the net twice.”

“We’ve taken a huge step forward but I’ve said to the players they have to re-programme quickly. There musn’t be any talk of we’ve done it –  until we have.”

Town

  Wright; Bates (Sidwell 86’), Benjamin, Peake (Kasimu 83), Youngs, Dillon (Oyenuga 83), Leonard, Brown, Hawkins, Stallard, Parcell

By Andrew Warshaw

With four games to go, starting at Chelmsford tomorrow, Gavin Macpherson has opened up on the importance of squad bonding as we maintain our quest for Step 2 survival.

The visit to Essex has come slightly too soon for Adam Thompson who again misses out but is hoping to be fit for the mother of all clashes against St. Albans on Good Friday. Otherwise there are no new injury concerns for a game Gavin believes will be a lot tougher than our last three, all of which yielded draws.

“Adam has a slight ankle injury that is almost repaired and needs another couple of days,” Gavin said. “Every game now is being scrutinised. I can’t influence what St. Albans do, we have to look after our own camp.”

Salisbury have by far the easiest run-in on paper of the three clubs fighting to stay up including games against already relegated Aveley and Weymouth but Gavin is trusting both to fight on.

  “These teams have not given up their season and are still running hard and playing without pressure.  I’d be surprised if they just roll over.”

“I want to get enough points as quickly as we can. Chelmsford are an extremely balanced, well- established Step 2 side and I expect a much harder game than Hemel last time out. The way I look at it as we’ve been a goalscorer short of being a top-half team though defensively we are up there with the best over recent weeks, notwithstanding our goal difference which was particularly damaging early on.”

Manager of the month awards often end up being a proverbial curse and in typical vein, Gavin is playing down his award for March in typically understated vein.

 “I don’t place too much store on these awards and just want to get on with it,” said Gavin who disclosed that he had a deeper than usual private chat with the players at training on Thursday about the bigger picture of life outside football.

“I told them about some of the things that have happened in my life, including my brother, and how the club assisted me in navigating through that and how much of a help that was. It was designed to let them know I’m with them as regards the life struggles that sometimes come round. We’ve had a few personal issues within the camp and I wanted them to know they are not on their own and how much, psychologically, camaraderie can help and act as a kind of therapy.”

Continuing on the same theme, Gavin added: “We are a team with a bit of momentum at the moment in terms of the form table but once you get it, you can’t afford to lose it.  The point of the discussion was to bring a human side to the narrative and acknowledge that the boys have fought tooth and nail for the badge after going through something of a transition.”

Gavin revealed that he had been instrumental in arranging a straw poll among Town fans in terms of what the club meant to them. Why?

“I wanted the players to know, if they didn’t already, where the club has come from and how the supporters see themselves.”

“We put a collage together and fed the quotes back to the players. The community aspect is key to the inner workings and morals of the club. I did an analogy with other clubs who maybe only get more fans once they are doing well. That’s the measure of Town supporters rather than fair weather fans who sometimes only come out as and when.”

Footnote:

Just a reminder that we have live commentary on all four remaining games. Tomorrow’s link is: https://mjl99.mixlr.com/

Also don’t forget to buy your tickets in advance for the St Albans and Worthing games on the following links:

https://enfieldtownfc.ktckts.com/event/245match22/enfield-town-vs-st-albans-city

https://enfieldtownfc.ktckts.com/event/245match23/enfield-town-vs-worthing

We are delighted to announce that Gavin Macpherson has been named March’s Vanarama Manager of the Month for National League South

Following defeat to Dorking on the first day of the month, Town went five games unbeaten in March, picking up 11 points out of a possible 15 in our push for Step 2 survival.

Everyone at the club would like to congratulate Gavin on his award though he would like it to be known that it was as a result of a collective team effort by players and management staff alike.

Hemel Hempstead 1 Enfield Town 1

Report by Martin Bentley

Enfield Town’s clash with Hemel Hempstead fizzled out into a disappointing 1-1 draw at a warm sunny Vauxhall Road on Saturday but survival is still very much in our hands.

Gavin Macpherson may have rued his side conceding an equaliser but the outcome was actually not too bad a result, as a draw for St Albans and defeat for Salisbury saw Town hold on to 20^th position with a three-point cushion and just four games left to play.

 Gavin made several changes, starting with a new strike force of Anointed Chukwu and on-loan Cian Dillon, his first start.

Indeed, Dillon announced himself with a high-speed gallop down the left in the opening seconds as Town started the game very much on the front foot.

Sam Youngs had already had a header saved by home keeper Jameson Horlick before Town took a fourth-minute lead. Bayley Brown ploughed through the middle before feeding Billy Leonard on the right wing and Leonard’s cross was nodded in at the far post by Lennon Peake.

 Town might have doubled their lead in the 16^th minute when Chukwu’s effort was blocked by Horlick, the rebound finding its way to Leonard on the edge of the box, only for his shot to be hacked off the line by Mazeed Ogungbo.

Youngs then headed Peake’s corner wide as Town continued to ask questions but Hemel were slowly gaining a greater share of possession.

The dangerous Ollie Lynch had an effort ruled out for offside and a shot blocked within the space of four minutes as the Tudors finished the half on top.

  H-T 0-1

The interval saw Hemel substitute a presumably injured Lynch, much to Town’s relief, but apart from a Leonard shot that was saved comfortably by Horlick, there was very little to excite the spectators in the opening 20 minutes of the half.

 On 66 minutes, however, Hemel found an equaliser with their first meaningful shot. Ajayi’s flick-on found  an unmarked Joe White, who beat the advancing Joe Wright comfortably.

 The game seemed to fizzle out at this point, probably due to the unseasonably high temperatures; the final half hour was a frustrating series of mishit passes and wayward crossing.

However the Tudors might have nicked all three points when Ogungbo sent a free header inexplicably wide of Wright’s left-hand post.

Three straight draws now for Town and suddenly that St Albans game on Good Friday looks more and more crucial.

 Town

Wright, Benjamin, Hawkins, Stallard, Leonard (Oyenuga 88), Parcell, Brown, Peake (Knight 80), Youngs, Chukwu (Bates 64), Dillon (Kasimu 90)