Enfield Town 2 Arsenal under-21 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

What a difference a few days make. Following a lacklustre, disjointed display at Wingate on Saturday, all the commitment and endeavour came flooding back when we secured a well-deserved and highly promising win over a technically gifted Arsenal under-21 side.

Despite being without the unavailable Adam Thompson, Town were solid at the back, competitive in midfield and created chances up front – all ingredients that augur well for when we start the season proper.

The young Arsenal side may have been physically inferior yet they made up for that with skill and technique and, as expected, bags of possession. But Town’s management team will have been delighted by our pressing game and the ability to get into dangerous positions.

As early as the third minute, Lamar Reynolds showed the pace he will bring by racing through on goal, only for Gunners keeper Remy Mitchell to spread himself and keep out Lamar’s shot.

Lamar was again in the thick of the action when he  managed to get a touch to Billy Leonard’s low cross but not enough to steer the effort on target.

Arsenal’s Ceadach O’Neill found the net, only to be ruled offside, and although Louis Zecevic-John forced Rhys Forster into action on a couple of  occasions, Town continued to probe.

 Sam Youngs, skipper for the night with Mickey Parcell on the bench, couldn’t quite connect when Avan Jones lashed the ball across goal. When he did connect, from a corner, Sam planted a powerful header straight at Mitchell with Tommy Wood lurking.

In front of a 950-plus crowd, all Town’s new signings were showing what they could offer and there was a collective sigh of relief when the excellent Jones was soon up on his feet after taking what at first looked like a worrying knock.

H-T 0-0

Town didn’t let up and a trademark Leonard run and cross was again met by Youngs who again headed straight at Mitchell. The young Arsenal keeper followed that up with a wondrous tip-over save to thwart Jones on the volley.

Demaine Agustien should have put the visitors ahead, only to see his curling shot clear the bar. But  on 67 minutes we got what we deserved by opening the score. And what as goal it was.

A seemingly routine route-one clearance by Forster found Reynolds in space and our new striker plucked the ball out of the air with terrific technique before lobbing Mitchell with pinpoint precision.

Youngs, who could have had a hattrick on another day, saw his goalbound effort blocked by Marcell Washington before we doubled our lead with eight minutes left. Substitute Harry Lodovica, who towered above the Arsenal defence when he came on, was not picked up as he leapt to head home Joe Payne’s long throw.

“We were really disappointing on Saturday, we felt we were flat and a long way off it, and let them know that,” said Town assistant manager Jon Underwood. “We asked for a reaction and I think we got it.”

“The Braintree clean sheet and the one Saturday may have been a bit fortunate but we fully deserved it tonight. We’re demanding high standards and this time we got them.”

“When you play Arsenal, whatever the age group, they keep the ball, have lots of movement and ask a lot of questions of you. But we pressed when we could, then at other times had to drop off a bit deeper and be compact. That’s probably the best we’ve been out of possession. That’s important cos there are going to be spells in this league where you don’t have the ball.”

“Lemar complements the other strikers we have here. He missed a couple of weeks of pre-season and has been catching up. Ruaridh Donaldson the same. They’re seasoned players at this level but you can’t fast track these things, they have to get the minutes in their legs.”

Without a game this coming Saturday, Town’s final pre-season outing will be against Tottenham’s under-21 squad next Tuesday. “It’s not easy to get the balance right but we’re doing our best and tonight felt like we’re getting there,” said Unders.

Town

Forster; Benjamin, Hawkins, Donaldson; Leonard, Bullas, Brown, Youngs, Jones; Reynolds, Wood

Subs during part of second half:

Payne; Knight, Triallist A, Lambert, Parcell, Ludovica

Wingate and Finchley 0 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Forget the scoreline. Gavin Macpherson was more than a touch peeved after what he described as our worst pre-season outing so far, calling into question the attitude of the players.

On an excellent playing surface and against Step 3 opposition, Town were second best for large parts of the game and might easily have lost – only to snatch victory four minutes from time through an Avan Jones header.

A performance lacking in cohesion and ideas was somewhat of a surprise given we lined up with a strong side. Harry Lodovica made his debut up front with another new recruit Hayden Bullas, on loan from Orient, in midfield.

Yet Wingate looked the sharper, more energetic side against a strangely lacklustre Town who didn’t seem to come to grips with the 3-5-2 formation.

Having said that, we got off to a decent start when Wingate keeper Charlie Granger clawed a Sam Youngs header on to the bar. Sam hit the woodwork again with a close-range header from a corner but either side of those efforts, it was  the hosts who posed the greater threat.

The second half saw the management team ring the changes as per, only for Wingate to create the majority of the chances from open play

The fact that none of them found the back of Enfield’s net was down to a mixture of finishing being narrowly off target, our own woodwork hit twice, sharp stops from Adi Connolly and a healthy dose of good fortune.  On one almost comical occasion, a hospital backpass from the normally reliable Adam Thompson saw the ball bounce over Adi’s head and roll inches wide of an unguarded net.

On 86 minutes, however, Town got over the line when a freekick from a triallist saw Jones steal a yard on his marker and power home a header. Another set-piece goal, another clean sheet but Gavin was not a happy bunny.

“It’s by far the worst we’ve played in pre-season,” he bemoaned. “I felt we were lacking commitment. They ran harder than us and outworked us. It was really poor and something we’ll need to have a look at. Yes another clean sheet and set-piece but I’m not going to dress it up into something it’s not. We could easily have conceded today.”

“Too many of the players are still not up to speed. Too many have missed chunks of pre-season. I can’t accept performances like that whether it’s the league or pre-season.”

Better to have such a below-par performance now, perhaps, rather than when the season starts and we have two more friendlies, against the Arsenal and Spurs under-21 sides, to put things right.

“That’s true but I expect standards to be as high as they can but there was an attitude problem and that’s something we simply cannot guilty of because we are in a league where we are a small minnow,” said Gavin.

“The one thing we have to have on our side – and did have for large chunks of last season – is the fact that we battle and work hard. If those two things are not there as a fundamental, we’re going to have a very difficult season because, without any disrepect to Wingate, we’re going to face a whole lot better than the team we faced today.”

First half team:

Forster; Benjamin, Thompson, Donaldson; Payne, Parcell, Bullas, Youngs, Leonard; Lodovica, Reynolds

Second half subs:

Jones, Hawkins, Knight, Wood, Brown, Connolly, two triallist

We’re thrilled to welcome forward Harry Lodovica to the club after a highly encouraging pre-season.

Harry, 26, joins us from Maidstone United in the National League South, with previous experience at Hendon, Braintree Town, Chelmsford City, Aveley, and Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Championship.

A versatile striker who scored the penalty in our 2-0 win over Braintree on Tuesday and almost netted again, Harry can play as a complete forward, advanced playmaker, or target man, bringing dynamism to our attack.

“Really pleased to get Harry over the line,” said Gavin Macpherson. “Harry came in pre-season and I thought he was a real handful, there’s only better things to come from him. He’s been professional and has worked really hard since coming in.”

“We’ve had a good look at him and feel we have a chance to get him back to the level he was after an injury-hit season. I feel that if we can get that right, we could have a good player on our hands. He’s humble, works hard and wants to find a home again after a difficult season with injury at Maidstone.”

Welcome, Harry!

Enfield Town 2 Braintree Town  0

 In their latest pre-season run-out, Enfield Town recorded a morale-boosting win over full-time National League opposition with Lamar Reynolds notching his first goal for the club.

If the win was a touch fortunate as Braintree Town dominated possession for long periods and created plenty of chances, a combination of solid defending, good goalkeeping and a couple of visits from Lady Luck edged us closer to where we want to be come the start of the season.

Indeed the first-half side, minus the unavailable Sam Youngs, was as close as we’ve seen so far to how we might set up against Torquay.

Although Bayley Brown had the first chance of the game with a shot comfortably saved by Braintree’s triallist goalkeeper, the visitors were quickly into their stride.

Soon after a Braintree effort was disallowed for offside, however, Town drew first blood in the 12^th minute, Ruaridh Donaldson’s right-wing corner nodded powerfully home by Reynolds. Another set-piece goal – huge promise for the season to come.

Now Braintree flicked the ‘on’ switch and pinned Town back for long periods. Rhys Forster was a busy man, keeping out well-struck efforts from Tom Blackwell and Jacob Pinnington, while centre-forward Lewis Walker blasted over an open goal.

Town still threatened on the counter, a delicious piece of twinkle toes skill from Bayley Brown setting up Reynolds who this time got his feet in a tangle.

The siege continued into the second half, with Blackwell replaced by an equally speedy triallist. Both Adam Thompson and Henry Hawkins had to deal with dangerous low crosses in the first two minutes, followed quickly by another disallowed Braintree effort.

 The best of Forster’s saves came after 63 minutes, a point-blank block from Freddie Hockey. At the other end, Billy Leonard had a header well saved, with the rebound falling to a triallist, resulting in another excellent block, this time from the visiting defence.

 With the arrival of the Triallist Army later in the half, Town started to enjoy more possession, and doubled their lead on 71 minutes. Thompson was fouled 12 yards from goal following a corner and a triallist thumped the penalty home with a refreshing lack of ceremony. The same triallist headed narrowly wide from Knight’s cross as Town finished the game on a high. Whilestill not the finished article, there were plenty of encouraging signs.

“It was a really good test for us and it could have been a bizarre scoreline,” admitted Gavin Macpherson who dispensed for the first time in pre-season  with 4-4-2 in order to try out two other formations and put an extra player in defensive midfield where Ruaridh Donaldson partnered Micky Parcell in the first half.

“Last Saturday we had 11 chances and scored one so to come out with a couple of goals from fewer chances is a real plus,” said Gavin. “I’m really pleased for Lamar. Last season we didn’t manage to stretch teams enough.”

With three friendlies left, however, there is still much to think about. “ We have work to do in terms of our movement and how we function out of possession,” said Gavin. “Physically we’re in good shape but there is clearly work to do tactically.”

First-half team:

 Forster, Benjamin, Hawkins, Thompson, Leonard, Parcell, Donaldson, Brown, Jones, Wood, Leonard

Subs in second half: Lambert, Payne, Knight plus 7 triallists

Martin Bentley

Potters Bar Town 2-1 Enfield Town

Enfield Town’s fourth pre-season runout will have left Gavin Macpherson with plenty to ponder after failing to take advantage of their chances in a 2-1 defeat at neighbours Potters Bar Town.

The hosts, opening a new 3G pitch at their Lantern Stadium, were set upon early on as Towners debutant Lamar Reynolds glanced a header narrowly off target, while Henry Hawkins and Billy Leonard also both went close. Trialist A wearing 7 for Town was the next to threaten, taking Billy Leonard’s cross and shimmying round a defender before forcing a smart stop from the legs of goalie Jack Berman.

However, it was Potters Bar who eventually broke the deadlock inside 20 minutes when a lofted cross evaded the Town defence and fell to teenager Harry Brant, whose back-post header beat Adi Connolly and nestled into the roof of the net. The Scholars were unfortunate not to double their lead shortly afterwards as again Town’s backline switched off, but Brant blazed over when presented with another cross.

Bayley Brown thought he had levelled after sweeping home from a free kick, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag, but Town did ultimately find an equaliser just shy of the break when Tommy Wood powered home Leonard’s inswinging ball for his third pre-season goal in as many games.

Four new faces were introduced at the break but they were powerless to stop Town from falling behind again just minutes after the restart. A cheap free kick on the edge of the box was ruthlessly punished, flying inside the near post and providing an unwelcome sense of déjà vu from Tuesday evening.

The rest of the match was a story of Town providing plenty of effort, but not enough cutting edge. Some fine interplay between Trialist C (wearing 16) and Sam Youngs allowed Town’s midfielder space for a clean half-volley which was excellently saved, before the same Trialist himself twice had efforts from close range but found Berman in inspired form to deny him.

“It’s a game we should win, but don’t win because we concede two really poor goals and contrive to miss quite a few chances, though we have to pay tribute to their keeper”, said boss Gavin Macpherson.

“I think we’re where we want to be with the conditioning side of things, but probably not with our tactical side – albeit we should probably win the game quite comfortably. There’s work to do, and that’s what pre-season is for … we’ve got three weeks and a few games left to get us up to speed.”

First half: Connolly; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins, Payne; Leonard, Parcell, Youngs, Trialist A; Wood, Reynolds

Second half: Connolly (Trialist G, 60′); Jones, Benjamin, Hawkins, Payne (Lambert, 60′); Leonard (Trialist E, 60′), Brown (Trialist D, 60′), Youngs, Trialist C; Wood (Trialist F, 60′), Trialist B

As we approach the halfway stage in our pre-season programme, Town make the short visit to Potters Bar tomorrow with the added incentive of free entry to all supporters.

The game celebrates the Scholars’65th anniversary and is being played for the Potters Bar Charity Cup.

Just as importantly for the hosts, it is being treated as the official opening of their new-look ground following the completion of 3G works.

No tickets are being sold online and instead of an entry fee, supporters are encouraged to donate money for the Potters Bar Charity Cup Benevolent Fund, which will be distributed to a number of local charities.

With our opening fixture at Torquay three weeks away, the management staff are stepping up their scrutiny of the playing staff in terms of recruitment and fitness.

“I’ve talked already about the pitch at Walthamstow. The game had very little quality but you have to recognise it for what it was,” said Gavin Macpherson. “Did we get out of it what we wanted? Not really but hopefully we’ll get more out of Saturday.”

“The strategy going forward now is to improve on the things we need to. That’s what pre-season is about. I’ve seen teams lose every pre-season game and get off to an absolute flier, and vice-versa. I’m comfortable where we are and where we have to improve. Not having any injuries is key.”

One huge boost for the club is that Lamar Reynolds’ international registration has now come through after weeks of bureaucratic snafus.

“Lamar for us is expected to be a big player,” said Gavin.  “He’s pacey and will hurt defences with what he does. When you have a player like that who you can’t use, it’s really frustrating. It’s really difficult to plan. If we think what Lemar is going to be for us, then he’s pivotal.

“We’ve had to go along with triallists at the top end of the pitch until such time as Lamar is available. Now we can start to plan ahead. I can’t say at the moment whether he will play at Potters Bar because I need to see where he’s at. I don’t want to push him too hard too quickly. And that goes actually for the rest of the boys.”

With Tommy Wood showing signs of good form already, things appear to be shaping up in an area of the pitch that is notoriously difficult to fill.

“I said when Tommy came in, there’s a hell of a player there who will rattle defences,” said Gavin. “So far the signs are good but he has to keep that up and can’t allow himself a lull and get too comfortable.”

With five more friendlies, the intention is to strengthen squad still further to make sure we have enough on board to be competitive.  

“I think we probably need at least another three before the season starts including one in the middle of the park,” said Gav.

AW

Walthamstow FC 1 Enfield Town 0

Despite a performance lacking cohesion and fluidity, this was — let’s face it — another building block on the road to the start of the season with a number of first-team players again missing for various reasons.

On the plus side, Ruaridh Donaldson made his Town debut at left-back and looked assured on the ball if a little rusty.

And once again Tommy Wood, clearly growing in confidence, looked like he will prove a more than useful asset up front.

The game was officially for the Kaylen Dennis Memorial trophy in honour of  the 17-year-old who was a member of Walthamstow’s under-23 team and tragically collapsed and died during a game last December.

Understandably perhaps, therefore, the hosts were somewhat more motivated but for Town, it was mainly all about trying to get another 90 minutes under their collective belts and coming away injury-free.

In the first half, Town’s best chances were a bullet header from Wood who connected with a Donaldson freekick and was narrowly off target; and a close-range Sam Youngs effort that brought a magnificent reflex stop by the Stow keeper.

But the hosts certainly gave as good as they got, producing a couple of decent chances and showing commendable pace.

Rather than change the entire team at halftime, Gavin Macpherson this time gave the starting eleven until the hour mark before making nine switches.

But it was the hosts who ended up victors, winning  the game on 55 minutes with a spectacular curling freekick from Te Wihongi after what in truth looked a somewhat innocuous foul.

Whilst it was hard to pick out any particular Town individuals for praise, that wasn’t really the point of the exercise though defender Jay Lambert, as he did on a couple of appearances last term, looked a promising prospect in the second half.

Conspicuous by his absence again was Lamar Reynolds as we await his international clearance to come through. Whilst he is eligible to play friendlies, it makes total sense not to risk him getting injured but it’s also hugely frustrating for the management team in terms of their inability to plan properly.

One might imagine Gavin may have been a trifle miffed given the opposition were Step 4 but far from it.

“I asked them to go out on an unbelievably difficult pitch and to look after themselves and go and get a workout,” said Gav. “I don’t mean that with any disrespect to Walthamstow. But it was always going to be devoid of quality. Potters Bar on Saturday will hopefully produce more on the pitch.”

AW

Canvey Island 0 Enfield Town 1

A Sam Youngs strike proved the difference as we carved out a narrow victory in our second pre-season fixture after kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes because of a traffic accident.

On a bobbly pitch that didn’t make for much quality and 30-degree heat, the management team once again played two different sides for each 45 minutes, with three triallists in the first half and eight in the second.

After nine minutes a fine cross from Avan Jones was headed goalwards by Triallist B and saved low down by the Canvey keeper.

With a number of players unavailable, including some of the new signings, there was little further incident until Sam’s 36^th-minute strike after good work by two trialists.

For the rest of the encounter, Town were defensively strong with all the triallists again trying to impress, one of them lifting a shot well over the bar when clean through.

Commenting on a solid if underwhelming performance, in which Xavier Benjamin partnered Adam Thompson at the back in the first half with Henry Hawkins playing alongside a triallist in the second, Gavin Macpherson said: “There were plusses and also things that we need to work on. The pitch was very difficult but we never looked like conceding. Once again thankfully there were no injuries  but I believe we still have a couple of players to sign.”

Next stop Walthamstow on Tuesday night.

Enfield Town 2 AFC Wimbledon 4

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Not much should be read into this scoreline.  There were loads of positives to take from our first pre-season outing of the season, not least the fact that with our strongest available side we took a 2-0 lead against League One opposition before the management team sent out a heap of young trialists for the entire second half.

The visiting Dons squad, promoted in last season’s playoffs, was packed with first-team members but in that opening half you wouldn’t have guessed they were three divisions above us.

Even with the likes of Bailey Brown and a couple of new signings unavailable (Lamar Reynolds was watching from the stands), Town’s first-half  performance was highly encouraging, notably a back four that included promising new recruit Evan Jones. We wait to see whether that will be Gavin Macpherson’s preferred formation when the season proper gets under way.

 Before kickoff, the mayor of Enfield, Cllr Margaret Greer, officially opened our new stand by cutting the proverbial ribbon (pictured with ETFC chairman and vice-chairman Paul Reed and Paul Millington), a landmark occasion.

Then it was down to the action on the pitch which was in superb condition thanks to the hard work of Neil, Jack and their team.

The Wimbledon starting eleven included a familiar face in Harry Sidwell who had such an impressive loan spell with us marked by that scorcher against Truro. The Dons also fielded  Matty Stevens, their 21-goal marksman last season.

But Town started like a train and so nearly grabbed the lead on five minutes when Ollie Knight was sent clear by Sam Youngs, only to see his superb left-foot strike bettered by a terrific one-handed stop from Joe Mcdonnal.

But it wasn’t long before we broke the deadlock  courtesy of Tommy Wood, our new striker who quickly endeared himself to Town fans with two quickfire goals. First his movement in the box created space for him to head home Billy Leonard’s corner and within a minute he struck again, starting and finishing an excellent move  by converting Ollie’s fizzed-in cross.

Stevens duly halved the deficit and should have levelled just before the interval when he put a free header wide but we were good value for our lead.

H-T 2-1

Both teams changed their lineups for the second period, the difference being that our visitors still paraded first-team squad members whereas Gavin threw on a heap of untried trialists.

It was perhaps inevitable therefore that Wimbledon – who had left three on the pitch —  took the game away from us given the gap in quality and the fact we were now fielding an entire relatively inexperienced line-up who had never played together.

Now it was the Dons’ turn to hit two in a minute after 73 and 74 minutes through an Alistair Smith side-foot and an Osman Foyo strike that beat Adi Connolly at his near post. Foyo then doubled his tally as he smashed in a fourth off the underside of the bar.

“In the first half we played a relatively familiar team though with a few still missing but even in the second half really pleased with the effort even though I kind of expected it may go that way,” said Gavin.

“Obviously their fitness levels were going to be miles better but the important thing is we got out of it what we wanted. For our first pre-season it was as much as I could have asked for. There may have been a few doubters about Tommy but I’ve got great faith in him. If he’s fit and focussed and has found a home, all of a sudden you’re getting a very good player.”

Next up Canvey Island on Saturday and a likely similar scenario of two different elevens. “It’ll be 45s again,” said Gavin. “It’s about avoiding injuries and building towards that first game of the season. Which we know is going to be extremely tough!”

Town’s first half line-up:

Forster; Jones, Hawkins, Thompson, Benjamin; Leonard Youngs, Parcell, Knight; trialist, Wood

You simply couldn’t make it up. A year after starting our National League South adventure with a daunting trip to Torquay, the 2025-6 fixture list has thrown up exactly the same scenario. What are the chances of that?

So on Aug 9, Town make the long trip to Devon to take on the side that were widely expected to have gained promotion in April but lost in the playoffs and will now be odds-on favourites to challenge for the title once again.

Many Town fans might have one eye on a long weekend by the so-called English Riviera but on the pitch it’s a tall order for Gavin Macpherson’s boys who were beaten  2-1 in last season’s corresponding fixture after taking a shock early lead on their Step 2 debut.

Whatever the result, the fixtures don’t come any easier. A week later, we face Maidenhead United – one of the teams who dropped down from the National League and will be desperate to get straight back up.

Hornchurch follows at home, followed by a trip to Worthing to complete our first four fixtures. August Bank Holiday Monday sees us hosting promoted Totton while the August programme is wrapped up with a visit to Slough.

View all our fixtures here:

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=122134044248830833&id=61574925016092&rdid=GZZQGAduc6ncuPFZ#

They can also be viewed by clicking on the following website link and scrolling down:

https://www.thenationalleague.org.uk

AW