Special and stressful. That’s Gavin Macpherson’s take in the build-up to Town’s biggest FA Cup fixture for two years when we visit Slough in the fourth qualifying round on Saturday.

Already without the suspended Mickey Parcell, Gavin is sweating on “at least three more” as we attempt to reach the Holy Grail of the first round proper for the first time in our history.

Fresh from our sobering defeat at Chesham, when whatever could go wrong did go wrong, Gavin is fully aware of what’s at stake and the need to bounce back.

“It’s been pretty stressful to be honest in terms of personnel but I also realise how special the game is. We are hanging in the balance with a few but I know full well about the narrative of the game.”

“The people at this club deserve to be in the first round in terms of exposure and its unique status. We are in a position to affect that on the field.”

Gavin achieved the same goal twice when he was manager at Met Police. “I remember the huge flurry of activity in the week leading up to it, national press as well as local. You can’t buy that publicity. Financially too it can be a game changer.”

If there is a replay it will be on Tuesday but the focus is getting the job done first time round. “We know from when we played Slough in the league how difficult it is there, coupled with our own problems within the camp over the last couple of weeks.

“I know how much this means to the people at the this club, especially after what happened two years ago at Cray and the huge disappointment at the same stage. Obviously a replay is better than going out but ideally we’d like to get it done.”

AW

(for those unable to attend, there will be commentary on the game via a link on this website as per).

Chesham United 4 Enfield Town 1

All teams are entitled to the odd bad day at the office, and Enfield Town certainly had one at The Meadow, home of Chesham United. True, there were a number of mitigating factors; the absence of two key players, the injured Adam Thompson and Lamar Reynolds and the forced retirement from the game of Billy Leonard in the first half, but the Town’s performance, particularly in the second half, fell way short of expectations.

With Town having the advantage of the high wind blowing almost end-to-end, they got off to a flying start; Reynolds’ replacement Tommy Wood, got on the end of Leonard’s low cross in the 12^th minute. After that excellent start, the game degenerated into an untidy mishmash of overhit passes Town) and inaccurate crosses (Chesham). Decent shots on goal were at a premium, and the half-time whistle arrived with the nagging feeling that Town had not taken sufficient advantage of the wind.

They hadn’t. Within two minutes of the restart Chesham were level, Alfie Williams drew the home side level when his cross from the right was deflected past Rhys Forster by an unlucky Wood. It soon became clear that the home side were taking much better advantage of the wind, with every cross and every long throw by winger Josh Addae causing chaos in the Town goalmouth. Although Wood and Nino Adom-Malaki both had chances for Town, the majority of action was taking place at the other end.

The game tipped irrevocably in the home side’s favour after 62 minutes. Town’s attempts to clear a corner resulted in a high tackle by Mickey Parcell, a bout of handbags on the edge of the box, and a red card for Town’s skipper. The double whammy was delivered moments later when Alex Babos’ free kick found its way past Forster aided by a deflection off the end of the wall. Further home goals were added by Matt McClure (72) and Nathan Minhas (81) and the game concluded with the travelling support relieved to hear the final whistle.

Of course, one bad day does not define a season, but Town now have to pick themselves up for next week’s FA Cup tie at Slough. And hope that all the injuries clear up in time.

Team: Forster, Benjamin, Hawkins, Donaldson, Leonard, Parcell, Gallimore, Bullas, Adom-Malaki, Youngs, Wood

Subs: Jones (for Leonard 42), Brown (for Wood 64), Knight (for Bullas 75), Bates (for Youngs 75), Lodovica (for Donaldson 75). Not used: Lambert, Connolly

With only one point separating us from Chesham United, the importance of our visit to The Meadow on Saturday cannot be over-estimated.

Like us, the Generals have two league wins to their name this season and were knocked out of the FA Cup last Saturday by King’s Lynn.

Our own progression to the fourth qualifying round has certainly boosted morale, coupled with our home league win over Chippenham.

Like last Saturday when most of them luckily managed to make themselves available on the day without being fully fit, a number of players have persistent knocks and again it looks touch and go for one or two.

Chesham have traditionally been one of our bogey teams but we broke that jinx with a 3-1 away win last February, including a couple of goals from Sam Youngs, and a similar result would do very nicely.

“Every single point counts and Chesham are going to be a very well-organised side,” said Gavin Macpherson. “They have very good players working to a system. If you can start accumulating points early on, it’s far easier on the heart and mind than have to claw back in March and April.”

The improving fitness of the returning of Jack Bates, who came on as a sub against Quorn, is a major plus. “It gives us a different option in the middle of the park,” said Gavin. “Technically he’s excellent and gives me another tool in the box. Jack has been training with us for several weeks following a couple of injuries and it was a case of getting him into the squad at the right time. He’s not quite up to full match fitness but not far off.”

AW