Harborough Town 3 Enfield Town 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Ignore, if you can, the scoreline. On another day, with a stronger lineup, we would in all likelihood now be looking forward to another crack at the FA Trophy.

Despite almost everything that could go against us having gone against us, the feeling, as we waved goodbye to knockout football for another season, was one of frustration.

Frustration at what might have been had we had a full-strength side – or even a half-strength one — rather than a skeleton line-up and too many square pins in round holes.

For any cynics or dissenters out there – and there appear to be a small but vocal minority –  this  was nowhere a 3-0 scoreline in terms of ball possession, effort, application, desire and purpose.

To put that into perspective, we were able to field  only three – repeat THREE – substitutes. And one of those was our 38-year-old goalkeeping coach! Any team at any level would have struggled with such depleted resources.

Yes we were well beaten in the end. Yes there was a lack of communication at times on the pitch. And yes Harborough made the most of capitalising on individual errors, a feature of our season generally.

But it would be unfair and misleading, given the fact we had TWELVE players missing, to compare this result with previous setbacks.

With so many disruptions – including two new injury setbacks after training Thursday and our new  goalkeeper Tom Norcott being ruled out 24 hours before kick-off – all planning went out of the window.

Nevertheless, we started very much on the front foot against an unbeaten team who are top of their Step 3 league.

But as so often, after an encouraging opening spell, we  fell behind courtesy of a self-inflicted blow. A dithering Nino Adam-Malaki was needlessly dispossessed and quick as a flash the ball was fed to Brady Hicky who fired low beyond Adi Connolly.

Adi, who it must be said could do nothing about any of the goals we conceded, had already made a reflex stop from Riley O’Sullivan but strange as it may seem, we were playing the ball far more on the ground than of late. Olly Davis almost pulled us level, curling a shot just outside of the post after a great touch from Eli Ackeson, only recently promoted from the academy but arguably our most effective player on the day.

H-T 0-1

For all the pre-match concerns about what Harborough might do to us, we were well in the game at this point, Davis and Ackeson showing skill and technique and the whole side running their hearts out.

But that, perhaps understandably in the circumstances, was not going to be enough against a side who have conceded just 18 goals in all competitions. When Town half-chances were created, there was no-one to complete them. When a succession of crosses did go into the box, there was no-one on hand to convert them.

The next goal, without extra time or a replay, was always going to be crucial and it went Harborough’s way. In another cheap giveaway, Mickey Parcell, returning to the side in an unfamiliar central defensive role, tried to find Ollie Knight, only for Harborough to intercept quickly with debutant David Kamara eventually converting at the back post.

Far from heads going down, Davis and Ackeson continued to probe while Avan Jones’ header  from a superb Ollie Knight centre should have found the target from four yards out instead of ballooning over.

Halving the deficit then would have given Harborough plenty to think about. Instead, on 70 minutes, the Bees put the game to bed. Substitute Ben Stephens was unceremoniously hauled down by a tiring Bailey Brown and when the referee played the advantage instead of awarding a penalty and possibly sending Brown off, O’Sullivan chased the ball down to blast home.

It looked well offside but to no avail and it might have got even worse had Harborough not fluffed two more golden opportunities in quick succession.

To make matters worse, Jones became our 13^th casualty with what looked like a groin strain but in the dying  moments Ackeson thought he’d scored a deserved consolation, only for Elliott Taylor to pull off a blinding save when a Hayden Bullas drive came back off the post and rebounded to the teenager.

 It summed up Town’s day and now comes the mother of all six-pointers against Farnborough next Saturday when thankfully at least four players should be returning.

“I think Harborough were a really good side and it was always going to be a tall order with a very young side. I’m immensely proud of the boys but losing matches through individual mistakes is happening too often,” said Gavin.

“Certainly we’d have given ourselves a better chance with players back. With the blows we keep being given, this is without a doubt the hardest time in my managerial career but I have to try pick them up and regroup.”

Town:

Connolly; Jones (Cann 76), Benjamin, Parcell, Adom-Malaki; Leonard, Bullas, Brown, Knight; Ackeson, Davis.

The club can confirm that after initial agreements to dual register, it is with great sadness that we can announce the permanent departure of goalkeeper Rhys Forster.

After signing in the summer of 2023, Rhys appeared 107 times for the club and played a pivotal role in securing promotion to National League South. We will be eternally grateful for Rhys’ efforts and commitment to the club, and wish him the best for the future.

“The initial conversations was for him to stay with us,” explained Gavin Macpherson. “But his view was that it was probably the right time for a fresh break. I have to respect that.”

“Rhys has been with me for a long time as many people know and it was very difficult to have the conversation. I want to place on record what Rhys has done for the club, he was a big part of getting us promoted and seeing us through last season. We have to wish him all the very best for whatever he does in the future.”

It never rains…unless it pours. Enfield Town face the nightmare scenario of being without new fewer than ELEVEN players for our FA Trophy tie at high-flying Harborough tomorrow – described by both manager and assistant manager as the worst crisis either of them has ever seen in all their years in football.

Two more senior players have now joined the list of casualties which, added to suspensions and international call-ups, stretches us to the barest of bones with a number of academy kids potentially having to be drafted in.

A free midweek next Tuesday cannot come soon enough in order to try and recover some of the walking wounded. Four of the current absentees – those suspended and on international duty – will thankfully be available again for our Whole Club Day next weekend against Farnborough when we try and arrest a slump that has seen us lose five league games on the spin. But that  will still leave a crippling injury list which has now lengthened to include two more crucial and hugely experienced players ruled out after Thursday’s training session.

Before training, Gavin Macpherson was talking of nine absentees rather than 11 but bullish about at least putting a competitive team on the pitch against unbeaten Harborough, top of Southern League Premier Central with games in hand.

The fixture would have been tough enough anyway even with one or two sidelined. But when a non-league side is  shorn of a whole first team of experienced individuals for an important cup tie on a plastic pitch with not enough time to draft in emergency loanees, you could be forgiven for concluding the footballing gods have got it in for us.

“There’s a bit of bad luck going our way but we have to take it on the chin,” Gavin conceded. “It’s very rare for all this to happen at the same time but there’s no doom and gloom about the place.”

“The FA Trophy is a really important competition that clubs at our level  have done well in,” said Gavin. “Harborough need no introduction in terms of where they are. You don’t stay unbeaten into November without being a very solid outfit. I acknowledge they are geared up to be at our level and it’s probably like playing another Step 2 side. But we’ll go there with a plan despite all the absentees.”

If the match is drawn over 90 minutes there will be a penalty shootout with no extra time. Let’s hope, given our record, it doesn’t come down to pens!

For  fans still wishing to travel, there are match tickets and places on the coach available on the following link:

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/market-harborough/harborough-town-football-club/harborough-town-fc-vs-enfield-town-fa-trophy-second-round-away-fans/2025-11-15/15:00/t-qmvezpq

Coach: £30 – text 07493 425359 to reserve your seat. Leaving at 10:30am

AW

Enfield Town 1 Salisbury 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Same old failings, broken record, call it what you will. Gavin Macpherson was certainly making no excuses as he cut a disconsolate figure after Enfield Town’s fifth straight league defeat – and our sixth in seven games.

But when everything conspires to kick you in the proverbials during one of the worst losing streaks of recent seasons, maintaining belief and keeping the faith is paramount.

With so many players either injured or unavailable (it’ll get even worse at Harborough in the Trophy on Saturday), Town simply have to get through the current crisis, hope further damage can be limited and look forward with optimism once bodies are recovered. Only then can players and management be judged accordingly.

Having lost Cian Dillion to international call-up only a few hours before kick-off, Gavin ended up being without six available first-team players and even a couple of those on the bench were not fit to play a part. No wonder he said afterwards he had never seen anything like it.

Having said all that, there is little question we again shot ourselves in the foot on the night in what was at  times a scrappy encounter. Whilst there were perhaps mitigating circumstances at Dover, falling four points adrift of the safety zone was certainly not what the doctor ordered though there is, let’s remember, plenty of time to recover.

Not for the first time, our final ball was too rushed and it was the visitors who had the better of the first-half chances, such as they were, former Towner Josh Keeya notably blazing just over.

As we grew into the half, we forced a number of corners in the wind and rain and were just beginning to threaten the Salisbury goal when we fell behind.

Adam Thompson was penalised for a foul and we were caught cold by the resultant quick freekick,  Matt Briggs squaring for Matty Taylor to tap in as we switched off completely.

It was a horrible goal to concede and while Bailey Brown got his head to a hanging ball just before the interval, we were void of the proverbial cutting edge.

H-T 0-1

We needed a quick response but didn’t get it. Instead, after  Taylor was denied his second goal by the linesman, we fell further behind. On 56 minutes, we didn’t deal with a corner despite a small-ish Salisbury front line and an unmarked Briggs converted a click-on.

Only now, in familiar fashion, did we up the tempo. Two penalty shouts – one when Tommo appeared to be elbowed, the other more far obvious when substitute Eli Ackeson was clearly tripped – went unheeded.

As we pushed up, so Salisbury could have added a third on the breakaway but for two smart saves from our new keeper Tom Norcott and a last-ditch hook away from danger by Xav Benjamin.

With eight minutes left, however, the deficit was halved. Ackeson, showing commendable youthful awareness, found Hayden Bullas who smashed the ball home.

Salisbury were now on the ropes but it was too, little late for all our endeavour to take a point.  On the positive front, Ackeson’s minutes on the pitch having recently stepped from the academy was hugely encouraging as was the performance of Olle Davis (pictured) while Bullas never stopped running and Ruaridh Donaldson was an authoritative figure in front of the defence.

Rudridh, sadly, now misses the Trophy trip to Harborough because of suspension, as does Tommo – making eight players potentially unavailable.

“Personnel is sparse and we are running on bare bones but I was confident this team could have beaten Salisbury and if they’d done things differently they might have,” said Gavin. “The first goal, for instance, was unforgivable from a defensive standpoint. At the other end I thought we let them off the hook though we didn’t have anywhere near our regular forward line.”

“Whichever way you look at things at the moment it stops with me. The only way I know is to get back on and work hard.”

Norcott; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins; Adom-Malaki, Donaldson, Brown (Knight 70), Bullas, Leonard; Wood (Ackeson 66), Davis

We are delighted to announce the signing on a three-month loan of 20-year-old Tom Norcott who made his Town debut in last night’s defeat to Salisbury.

Tom has been released to us by Reading after a loan spell at Step 1 Woking where he made six appearances — and immediately proved his worth by pulling off a couple of excellent saves against Salisbury

“Tom comes highly recommended from a number of people and we are thankful to Reading and delighted to bring him into the squad,” said Gavin Macpherson.

During his post-match interview, Gavin explained the rationale behind the decision to change keepers and how he had an “adult conversation”  with Rhys Forster with whom he has worked for many years.

Welcome Tom

Allow us to offer you the opportunity to sponsor Enfield Town FC for a period of 16 months – January 2026 to April 2027, from either £1.65 or £2.06 per day!

ETFC is a very special club.

June 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of its birth as the UK’s first fans owned club.

Born out of the demise of Enfield FC, the club’s most prominent team is the Saturday 1st team playing in National League South – just two steps away from the Football League!

But there are many other facets to ETFC – a football academy, Ladies teams, flourishing boys’ and girls’ sections, walking football, disability football and a Saturday soccer school, truly making it fully immersed in the Borough.

So why not link your name to the biggest non-League club in the area, with a strong community feel?

We have designed two new sponsorship packages for this special offer:

Package 1 – a pitch side banner (including production) and a half page match day programme advertisement @ £50.00 per month = £800.00 for 16 months

Package 2 – package 1, but a full-page advertisement in the match day programme @ £62.50 per month = £1,000.00 for 16 months

You could also add a website link from our site to yours taking the charge for package 1 to £1,100.00 (£68.75 per month/£2.29 per day) and package 2 to £1,300.00 (£81.25 per month/£2.68 per day) for 16 months.

Website links are currently one of the most popular choices for our existing sponsors.

You may also like to consider our match day sponsorship options?

For just £150.00, you could choose either the man of the match, sponsor the match ball, or sponsor the match

day programme. Each option comes with 2 tickets to a game and boardroom hospitality and can of course be added to the packages above. All charges above are subject to the imposition of VAT.

Payment terms – to help manage your finances, whilst happy to invoice the full value of package at the time of commitment, we would equally be happy to offer you a 2-stage payment schedule.

Stage 1 – 50% payment on confirmation of the package, i.e. from now until the end of January.

Stage 2 – 50% payment of the balance in May 2026.

For any further questions or discussions, please email commercial@etfc.london and either Graham or Neil will respond, or call Graham on 07973 701515. We would also be happy to create an alternative package to meet your budget in addition to the options above.

Sometimes the use of the phrase six-pointer is overdone but it certainly isn’t on Tuesday even if the season hasn’t quite reached the halfway stage

If the visit of Salisbury to the Dave Bryant stadium was already important, it has now become pivotal as we aim to get back to winning ways after a wretched run that has yielded three points out of possible 18.

While the sendings off of Adam Thompson and Ruaridh Donaldson at Dover prevented us from getting anything from the game, fortunately they will both be available against the Whites since their respective one-match bans don’t kick in until next weekend.

The bad news, conversely, is that they will both miss the FA Trophy tie at unbeaten high-flying Harborough Town on Saturday.

The problems don’t stop there as Tosh Gallimore is unavailable for both games due to international call-ups. Just like on Saturday, Gavin is having to juggle his resources in order to put out a fully fit eleven with a handful of players again battling for fitness at the time of writing.

In his programme notes for tomorrow, Gav bemoaned the fact that we can away from Dover with nothing, in the process slipping into the bottom four.

“Saturday’s trip to Dover was one of those games that come around once a season. For us it was the wrong day as I really felt confident we could go there and win,” he writes.

Every ounce of concentration, therefore, will be needed for the visit of the Whites who leapfrogged Town in the table on Saturday with a 1-0 win at Chesham. We simply cannot afford to fall further adrift in what is undoubtedly the biggest league game of the season to date.

AW

With Christmas 2026 fast approaching, members, supporters and indeed Enfieldians all over the world will be searching for a Christmas present and/or stocking filler which will cap off a perfect seasonal moment to remember.

 We are now stocked up to meet the annual expectations of a retail/commercial entity, but can, on specific items, still get caught out. 

 Whatever your requirements, we strongly recommend getting any orders in by the end of November to guarantee Christmas delivery.

 We are over stocked with Enfield Town favourites such as white, yellow and grey replica team shirts (£49 Adults £35 Juniors).

We have premium woolly hats in blue and purple (£20) as well as all standard hats, scarves, gloves and snoods — at a set price of £15.

 Our popular winter coats (£80) and gilets (£55) are also available in various sizes. 

Our sweatshirts, hoodies and rugby jerseys are prominently worn by many regular supporters and at £35 each they offer great value

 Thermo and plastic drinking bottles are regularly bought on match days at £15 and £6 respectively.

 Winter blankets/throw overs and beach towels aren’t your usual non-league club shop items but again are very popular seasonal purchases, useable items on the bed or by the pool of a sun-kissed holiday. Both are priced £25.

 We also have a special and limited number of books, including an illustration of all match-day programmes of every Tottenham Hotspur fixture between 1909-1946 (45)

Additionally we are down to our last copies of the 2025/26 non-league guide and all non-league tables from 1889-2025. both at £12.99.

 Stocking fillers are also aplenty on our club shop shelves. Smaller items such as ETFC chocolates, key rings, card holders, pens, rulers, pennants plus much more can make that special day for the recipient a complete one.

A new product which some members and supporters have taken up are ETFC Gift Vouchers which can be redeemed at the club shop or Butler’s Bar. They can be both personalised and/or set at any value.

Please purchase from the Club Shop on a match day or by communicating via text 07493 425359 where we can arrange posting to your chosen address.

 Whatever you decide to buy, the club will include a pack of 3 air fresheners as a small traditional and seasonal show of thanks for your support.

 This is our club, our 100% fan owned club let’s make this Christmas an Enfield Town FC one.

Dover Athletic 4 Enfield Town 1

Report By Charlie Baker

Losing a man, or men in this case, was Town’s downfall as we drifted into the bottom four after yet another setback. But it could all have been so different.

Dover hadn’t won at home since August, while Town were looking for their first win in five.

Something had to give and while the Whites started on the front foot, with Alfie Matthews looping a shot onto the bar and Jalen Jones missing another chance, Town soon gained a foothold as Olly Davis, who scored a sublime freekick in Tuesday’s loss at Dorking, shot just wide.

On 15 minutes, more Town pressure paid off with great hold-up play in the box from the returning Cian Dillon, who put it on a plate for Billy Leonard to fire into the roof of the net.

But just when we were looking to push on, Adam Thompson was caught out by Rhys Forster and in the ensuing mix-up hauled down Rolando Onu when clean through. Inevitably Tommo was shown a red but unlike at Chesham, the hosts didn’t score from the resulting free kick.

Ollie Knight was soon sacrificed for Avan Jones as we bid to shore up the defence, but still we looked the more threatening side with Dillon having a header clawed off the line by Mitch Walker in the Dover goal.

The hosts also came close but we saw out the half relatively comfortably.

HT 0-1 

The second half began in  end-to-end fashion, a volley  from Dover’s George Nikaj just missing the target while Evan Jones went close with a header.

Town held out until the 69th minute when Dover’s extra man finally told as leftback Harrison Sodje picked up the ball on the edge of the box and rifled it into the bottom right-hand corner.

Having failed to break down 10 men for the majority of the match, Dover now had the momentum as winger George Nikaj shot just wide.

Town looked for damage limitation as Davis came off for Ruaridh Donaldson – but the centreback lasted just a matter of seconds.

As Dover launched a long throw into the box, a scramble ensued and Donaldson pulled down his man in front of goal and was also shown red. Harshly perhaps, especially when double jeopardy ensued, Matthews netting from the resultant penalty and putting any Town hopes to bed.

Moments later, Matthews struck again – and this time in spectacular fashion. The midfielder collected the ball 25 yards out and unleashed a rising drive that flew beyond Forster, sparking a release of relief and celebration around Crabble.

Dover controlled the final minutes with composure, drawing the sting from what had been a tight and tense contest. And it was no surprise when they added a fourth as Francis Mampolo, on as a second-half sub, threaded a quick-thinking pass to Ruben Soares-Junior who finished with aplomb.

Killed by the two-man deficit, Town had battled hard throughout and would certainly have fancied their chances with 11 players against a poor side who created precious little.

Next up Salisbury on Tuesday – now an even bigger game than it already was before suspensions kick in for both Thompson and Donaldson at unbeaten Harborough in the FA Trophy.

Town

Forster; Adom-Malaki, Benjamin (Ackason 89), Thompson, Hawkins; Knight (Jones 26), Bullas (Brown 84), Leonard, Davis (Donaldson 73), Gallimore, Dillon (Wood 84),.

(Edited by Andrew Warshaw)

Gavin Macpherson has described the next couple of weeks as the most challenging period of the season as we bid to arrest a worrying slide, put points on the board and stay in the FA Trophy,  all despite a well chronicled injury crisis.

At the time of writing ahead of the Dover game, no fewer than 10 players were carrying knocks of some description with some of them ruled out totally and others hoping to play a part in a vital fixture after five bruising defeats in six outings.

None of those absent at Dorking are likely to have recovered in time for our trip to Kent and Gavin has an unenviable juggling act to perform to try and make sure we can put out a competitive team both tomorrow and at home to Salisbury on Tuesday in what is a potential six-pointer.

Then comes the Trophy tie at high-flying Harborough followed by some much-needed midweek respite before we go again with three more games by the end of the month.

It’s a taxing time and such was the length of the treatment table that actual training on Thursday was replaced by an analysis session.

“We’ve played a lot of football in a short space of time and are about to do so again even more,” said Gavin.

 “There was no actual physical training as such so we focussed on Thursday on having a good look not only at the opposition but also ourselves. It certainly wasn’t a wasted session but there’s no getting away from the fact that we’ve a lot of players carrying knocks at the moment and the worst thing I can do is put half-fit players on the pitch. We were good with injuries up until a few weeks ago. Now suddenly it’s hit us.”

Although Dover picked up a point at Horsham in midweek, their home form is poor, an extra incentive for us to finally pick up speed, boosted by the re-signed Cian Dillon.

“In some respects it’s a reversal of a year ago where at times we weren’t even in games,” said Gavin as he reviewed recent encounters

“Some of the games we won last seaaon, we clung on whereas this season we’ve been as good if not better than the opposition, with one or two exceptions. The stats show we’ve created more chances in some games. It’s as if we’re a nearly team at the minute but unfortunately that’s not good enough.”

Without the possibility of a revolving door due to squad size, the changes Gavin says must happen are limited in terms of personnel.

“Change can also mean working practises, formation tweaks and moving players into slightly different positions,” Gav explained. “When you take everything into consideration, including carrying so many injuries without the backup some teams have, I’d consider this the most challenging time of the season.”

“In terms of Dover, I believe they have a virtually fully fit squad. We’ve done an extensive briefing on them and it’s for us to be able to pull something out the bag. I 100 percent believe we can. I feel for the supporters who travel every week because we believe we’re so much better than last season.”

AW