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

We are delighted to announce that striker Cian Dillon has rejoined the club on a 28-day loan from Queens Park Rangers.

The 19-year-old Republic of Ireland U19 and U21 international had an important spell with us late last season, helping us preserve our Step 2 status by scoring twice in six appearances.

Now he is ready to make his mark again in a Towners shirt.

“Happy to have Cian back with us,” said Gavin Macpherson. “Although we tried desperately to get him over the line for Dorking last night he will add some much-needed resilience to a squad already lacking through injury.”

Dorking Wanderers 2 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Amid a worrying injury crisis, Enfield Town suffered a fourth league defeat in five games on Tuesday as a battling performance once again yielded no reward.

Town remain just above the relegation on goal difference courtesy of other results going in our favour but arresting the slump is not lost on the management team and has become a crucial priority.

No-one, least all Gavin Macpherson is making any excuses for the current malaise but it doesn’t help when a small-ish squad compared with most other sides in the division is shorn of a stack of players.

Already without the likes of Sam Youngs, Jack Bates and Ruaridh Donaldson, Town were able to name only six subs when Nino Adom-Malaki pulled out shortly before the game with a knee issue.

The fact that neither Bailey Brown nor Mickey Parcell were fit enough to play a part because of individual knocks despite being named on the bench and you get some idea of how stretched we were – and may still be for a few games yet with Tosh Gallimore ruled out of the FA Trophy at Harborough because of international duty.

Yet no-one can fault us for energy and application even if we were again lacking in the final third. Despite a disastrous start, Town were certainly not overawed (only once in truth have we been all season) and had we shown the same attacking intent over the 90 minutes as we did in the last 10 after pulling a goal back with Ollie Davis’ sumptuous freekick, we might well have come away with a point.

Tommy Wood found the going tough after being given a rare start in the absence of Sam but at the other end the hosts were in front inside a minute when two of Town’s back three inexplicably stepped out, allowing on-loan Forest Green Rovers forward Jose Marquez to give Dorking a quickfire start. Rhys Forster produced a strong hand but only proceeded to push the ball further into the net and will perhaps be disappointed he couldn’t keep it out.

Despite the setback we settled down but you have to take whatever chances you get, especially away from home and what a glorious one we had to equalise. Hayden Bullas – arguably Town’s best player on the night – went on a surging run before finding Ollie Knight whose shot stung the hands of the Dorking keeper. The rebound only needed a tap-in but Evan Jones blasted over.

For the rest of the half,  with 38-year-old Luke Moore pulling the strings in front of the Dorking defence and Dennon Lewis a constant threat, we couldn’t create much else going forward but at least managed to keep Dorking away from our own goal, including one superb tackle from Adam Thompson on Alfie Rutherford who was injured in the process and had to be subbed.

H-T 0-1

Dorking continued to press, however, producing a flurry of threatening inswinging corners and crosses. Jimmy Muitt flashed a header wide and Rhys pulled off a fine tip-over save.

Eventually one of the crosses seemed likely to pay off  and so it proved.  On 71 minutes, Muitt got the better of two Town players and when no defender got a foot in to clear the cross, Lewis rifled home at the back post.

Cue the introduction of both Davis and Eli Ackason, both of whom made an immediate impact which augurs well for the future.

Eli showed commendable quick feet but it was Davis who stole the show from a Town standpoint, showing exactly why he’s such a potentially exciting asset by wrapping a sublime freekick round the wall with 10 remaining on the clock.

Now we pinned Dorking back but  for all our endeavour, it was too little, too late.  Jones, leaning back, thrashed the ball over but as we poured men forward, Dorking came within a whisker of adding a third through a Lewis breakaway.

“I think we were playing against the best team in the league,” Gavin declared. “We were literally trying to throw a team together and the boys worked desperately hard. We didn’t create too many clearcut chances if I’m honest but we went toe to toe with a very good side even if at times we had to hang in. But at the end of the day we’ve no points, again, and it has to stop.”

Hopefully starting at Dover on Saturday.

Town

Forster; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins; Leonard (Ackeson 81), Gallimore, Bullas, Knight, Jones; Wood, Reynolds (Davis 73).

Dorking Wanderers is a tough enough away fixture with a full squad to choose from let alone having to deal with a number of walking wounded.

Having lost three of our last four league games, though there is an argument to suggest we  deserved better in two of those losses, Town go into Tuesday night’s fixture without Sam Youngs, who has been skippering the side of late, as well as potentially a few other forced absentees.

In all likelihood, Sam will be out for a minimum 10 days having had a number of staples inserted in a 3-cm gash to the head suffered during  Saturday’s defeat to Eastbourne.  

With Jack Bates and Ruaridh Donaldson again likely to be on the sidelines and Gavin facing the prospect of at least two other first-team absentees, the squad could be stretched to its limit for what is bound to be a massively  awkward tie against one of the strongest sides in the division that have put together three straight league wins and are especially formidable at home.

Town fans will be hoping we can at least repeat last season’s hard-fought draw as we bid to move clear of the drop zone.

“The task is not lost on any of us,” said Gavin. “I have huge belief in our squad but it’s got to the point where we would all take a poor performance but sneak a scrappy 1-0 win in the last minute. I’m working dreadfully hard to get this team to where it should be. We all know how strong Dorking are but we have to get something either tomorrow or at Dover on Saturday, preferably both.”

AW