Ebbsfleet United 2 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Talk about bitter-sweet. On another day, under different circumstances, an away point against full-time opponents with a formidable home record would be cause for celebration.

Instead, Enfield Town’s hard-fought draw at a rain-lashed Ebbsfleet on Tuesday served only to push us further into the mire courtesy of our three closest rivals in the hunt for survival all winning.

Few could have imagined that Hampton and Richmond, Eastbourne and Chippenham would all gain maximum points on the same evening.

But so it was, only goal difference now separating us from Chippenham – remarkably, victorious over leaders Torquay – at the bottom of the table.

The argument of course is that you can only manage your own results and in that respect Town left Ebbsfleet with their heads held high as they twice came from behind.

For once, given how many times the ball has been on the other foot, it was Gavin Macpherson’s men who produced last-gasp drama, Bailey Brown’s 94th-minute header gaining an invaluable point.

Yet the reality is that away draws, even at extremely tough opponents, aren’t going to get us out of a relegation scrap. Winless in 10 tells its own story. We simply have to start winning games especially at home.

Still missing T’Sharne Gallimore but otherwise relatively injury-free, Town looked comfortable for much of the first half in a cavernous stadium where every instruction barked from the dug-out could be heard from above.

Hayden Bullas – a close second behind Henry Hawkins in the man of the match stakes – saw two shots blocked but at the other end former Towner Lennon Peake looked a constant threat with his pace and customary delivery.

And it was from one of those crosses that the hosts took a 27^th minute lead, Dom Samuel supplying a close-range finish that Joe Wright only managed to half stop. It looked for all the world like Samuel was offside, only for Xav Benjamin to have played him on.

The  lead was short-lived, however. Just 90 seconds later, Town levelled as Lamar Reynolds played in Corie Andrews who powered home a fine equaliser to open his Town account (pictured celebrating with fans). Five minutes before the interval, Corie had the ball in the net again but an offside flag had already been raised.

Shortly after, Benjamin, who had struggled against Peake in an unfamiliar rightback role, was cautioned on the edge of the area. The  freekick came to nothing but the yellow didn’t help Xav’s cause of which more later.

Quite how an Ebbsfleet defender avoided a similar  caution for pulling back Lamar when he burst forward from halfway is anyone’s guess but Town had been arguably the better side in the opening 45 minutes.

H-T 1-1

Whatever was said at halftime, The Fleet burst out of the traps and started to push us back. Toby Edser, Ebbsfleet’s danger man in midfield, curled a shot narrowly side while a rare mix-up at the back almost cost us dearly, Hawkins managing to hack clear. Two Fleet penalty shouts went unheeded (as did one for Town late on) while another effort was cleared off the line.

Town appeared to have weathered to storm only to concede with 82 minutes on the clock as Josh Passley took a touch from just outside the box before rifling home a magnificent strike off the far post.

With time running out, on came Ely Ackeson and Ruben Bartlettt-Antwi but it was the third of three successive Nino Adom-Malaki throws that ultimately salvaged a point. The first two were taken short to Mickey Parcell (how good to see him back in a Town shirt) and came to nothing. But the third was launched long and found the head of Brown, who had only just come on and rose to beat his marker despite a suspicion the ball had skimmed off a home defender.

There was still time for more drama, however, as Benjamin was adjudged to have bundled over an Ebbsfleet player on the edge of the area and received a second yellow, resulting in a one-match ban. Fortunately, the resultant freekick was ineffective and Town had their precious point.

“Obviously we have an interest in what the others are doing but I can only talk about the boys who were magnificent,” said Gavin. “They worked so hard. Although we shouldn’t necessarily celebrate draws, there is a recognition that this is a very good one.”

“We had to change shape to slow them down. It took a lot after the lad’s fantastic strike for us to go again. But we went at it and I’m full of praise for them.  Corie is lacking game and is still not up to speed but it was good step forward. As for Mickey, it’s been difficult for him and I was champing at the bit to get him on. It’s a cliché but I hope coming off the back of two away draws it can act a springboard with a lot of home games to come.”

ETFC: Wright; Adom-Malaki, Thompson, Hawkins, Benjamin; Bullas (Parcell 80), Knight (Bartlett-Antwi 87), Traore (Brown 89),  Youngs: Andrews (Ackason 76), Reynolds (Leonard 61),

On paper, it’s the tallest of orders. With only one away win in the league all season, Enfield Town go into the first game of a hugely testing schedule on Tuesday against full-time opposition who rarely lose at home.

Only twice have Ebbsfleet United been beaten on their own patch and with two games a week between now and March 24, which is currently our first free Tuesday, the energy-sapping task facing Gavin Macpherson’s men cannot be overstated.

It goes without saying that part-time clubs have far less time to prepare for a constant  Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday programme. But by the same token, as Gavin stated recently, going on a run can work in your favour.

“It could be our saviour or it could kill us,” Gav admitted. “When you only train twice a week, clearly this sort of schedule makes life much harder. I trust my squad but if we have an injury crisis, we’ll be in trouble. It’s obviously more of an advantage if you’re full-time. There’s a reason why these teams generally flourish.  We clearly need to find some form but let’s see where we are after a few of these games. A lot of them are at home.”

But not tomorrow. Town may have won the corresponding fixture against Ebbsfleet 3-1 back in October but no-one is under any illusions.

“If I’m not mistaken they have the best home record in the division and our away record isn’t good,” said Gav. “That suggests a tough day at the office and that we’re going to have to put everything together to come away with a result. But football doesn’t always work like that.”

Town’s task hasn’t been made any easier with Hampton and Richmond and Farnborough both snatching late draws at the death last Saturday. “Listen these teams are scrapping hard,” said Gavin. “As it stands, we have to try and match that.”

Even if things don’t go our way at Ebbsfleet, said Gav, there is room for optimism.

“Right now we’re focussing hard on Ebbsfleet but there’s a run of games thereafter where people might think we should pick up points so whatever happens tomorrow, after that we’ll be focussing on those.”

AW

Following the postponement of our home fixture against Horsham last Saturday because of a waterlogged pitch, this will now be played next Tuesday, Feb 17, kickoff 7.45

Today’s game against Horsham unfortunately has had to be postponed because of a waterlogged pitch

The unprecedented amount of seasonal rain is causing a fixture pile-up for numerous clubs and we will communicate a revised date for Horsham as soon as possible

Due to the incessant rain, there will be a pitch inspection at 9am Saturday morning to see if our game against Horsham can go ahead.

We will communicate the outcome shortly afterwards

On the eve of our home fixture against Horsham, pending a 9am inspection, Gavin Macpherson has given a personal insight into how a club of our stature deals with a prospective pile-up of games.

If Horsham goes the same way as our matches against Dorking and Hampton (the latter now scheduled for March 3 at the FOURTH attempt), Town face being embroiled in massive fixture congestion through the rest of February and March.

“There are many ways you can come at it ,” Gavin explained. “Yes it helps to have more time on the training field. And if you go on a run during a fixture pile-up and get points on the board, it can work in your favour and you can be champing at the bit to get out again.”

“But on balance, for a club like us with a smaller squad than most, you’d wish there wasn’t such a pile-up.”

Originally, the first Tuesday in March was put aside as a midweek rest, only to be forced into deployment against Hampton once that fixture was called off for a third time this week. It leaves Town with precious little breathing space in the coming weeks.

“If Horsham is off too, that will be another one in the mix,” said Gavin. “If so, we will use the time as preparation for Ebbsfleet next Tuesday.”

Without, however, the versatile Avan Jones who has left for Step 3 Uxbridge.

“We had no choice but to let him go,” said Gavin. “Some supporters may not realise that if a club puts in an official approach for a non-contracted player and he wants to go, we can’t stop him. We made it clear to Avan how we saw the outlook but ultimately it was his choice.”

But how do you legislate for having a small squad and losing players just at the time when you have to play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday? Triple whammy on paper.

“That’s why it’s far more difficult for us than for a lot of teams,” Gavin admitted. “Take Ebbsfleet for example. They will train Monday and may even come in on Sunday.  For us, it’s harder with a smaller squad to rotate which means a proportion of players are always going to have to play every game. Which then throws up a possible injury situation. With fixture congestion, it’s much easier for full-time teams to cope with Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday and prepare accordingly.”

As for Horsham, Gavin said he “desperately wants” to get out and try and pick up three points but is ready to switch attention instead to Ebbsfleet if the weather scuppers yet another fixture.

“I understand about not winning football matches the longer our run goes on but it’s no good me stressing about it. We’ve done our homework on Horsham whose big advantage coming into the season was that they were planning for Step 2 over several years. Probably they’ve exceeded expectations but they’ve kept the players they wanted to, havn’t had too much upheaval and have plenty of goals in them.”

AW

Our thrice postponed home game against Hampton and Richmond will now take place on Tuesday, March 3, kickoff 7.45

Following a seven-day approach, we can confirm the departure of full-back Avan Jones, who has joined Step 3 side Uxbridge.

After joining us in pre-season from Chesham United, Avan made 22 appearances for the Towners and kept 3 clean sheets.

We thank Avan for his efforts and wish him well for the future.

Following a pitch inspection, tonight’s game against Hampton and Richmond has been postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

Unfortunately this is the third time this vital fixture has had to be called off because of adverse weather.

We will advise on a rescheduled date as soon as agreement can be reached between the two clubs

With persistent rain forecast for tomorrow, there will be a pitch inspection at 3pm tomorrow, prior to our scheduled league game with Hampton & Richmond.

We will communicate the outcome as soon as we have further information.