Month: July 2026

Billy’s Boys Put Best Foot Forward

Enfield Town 4 Hornchurch 2

Report by Martin Bentley
Image: Bob Sharman

Pre-season continues to supply unexpected and pleasant surprises for the Town faithful. For the second time in a week, Enfield Town went toe-to-toe with National League opposition, and on this occasion, managed four well-taken goals to come out on top.

 The game burst into life in the 13th minute when Nana Kyei surged down the left wing before playing in Amrit Bansal-McNulty for his first goal in Town colours. An unfortunate injury to Ayo Tanimowo after 21 minutes saw the eagerly awaited introduction of leftback Junior Moses for his first minutes in a Town shirt following his return from a trial at Peterborough United.

 Although Hornchurch’s superior fitness saw them retain possession for long periods, they failed to trouble Town’s trialist goalkeeper until the 44th minute, and by then, we were two up. Another galloping run from Kyei saw him find another trialist on the right, and he cut inside to beat visiting keeper Rhys Byrne with a low effort to his right.

 The game really woke up after half-time though as Hornchurch used their superior fitness and physicality to push Town back for long periods. Mr Trialist in Town’s goal was forced into three decent saves before the visitors pulled a goal back after 50 minutes. A foul on Jesse Akubuine in midfield went unpunished, and the ball was worked into the box for sub Bobby Kelman to score.

 By now, the visitors’ tactics were treading the fine line between physicality and intimidation, with a series of late tackles and cheap shots going unpunished.

To their credit, Town’s response tended to be to take a quick free kick and crack on, but a horrible late hack by Kelman on a Town trialist provoked a minor bout of handbags and some strong words from the referee, after which the game calmed down a little.

Back to the football. Hornchurch drew level after 67 minutes when a left-wing corner dropped to former Town loanee Joe Kizzi, who netted from close range. Within four minutes, however, Town were back in front when Moses scored from five yards from a Luke Deslandes cross.

 There was time for sub keeper Matt Setters to make an excellent save from a Hornchurch header from a corner before Tom Avgoustidis put the game beyond doubt in the final minute, galloping onto a ball over the top, rounding Byrne and running the ball into an empty net. A lovely end to a satisfying evening. Next up Bishop’s Stortford away on Friday which, don’t forget, is now a 6.45 kickoff.

 Team: Trialist, Tanimowo, Mensah, Trialist, Triallist, Trialist, Akubuine, Corrigan, Kyei, Youngs, Bansal-McNulty

 Subs: Moses, Setters, Parcell, Leonard, Deslandes, Watson, Avgoustidis, Efobi, plus 3 Trialists

Town Sparkle In Worthing Draw

Enfield Town 1 Worthing 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw
Image: Keith Drew

It’s still a work in progress but the fact that Town looked the team two divisions higher in our latest pre-season fixture – at least for the most part – augurs extremely well as we continue to prepare for our return to Step 3.

By a remarkable coincidence, the game was played exactly 25 years to the day since the club’s first-ever fixture – also a pre-season friendly against their landlords at the time, Brimsdown Rovers.

Equally remarkable was that the scoreline was identical but enough of the history.

This was by far our most watchable pre-season outing as the players sparkled in the evening sun, made all the more entertaining and enjoyable by over 50 German fans who had flown to London to watch their beloved Hansa Rostock face Watford but decided to take in a non-league game 24 hours beforehand, making their presence felt and apparently drinking Butler’s Bar dry!

Billy Holland has made it clear how he wants to play when the real business starts and this was arguably the most refreshing illustration so far, a mixture of short, crisp passing to feet and playing it long when necessary.

Building from the back, pressing the opposition high up the pitch and pace on both flanks made for a highly encouraging all-round display with several eye-catching individual performances from the likes of winger Thomas Avgoustidis, the trialist at leftback, midfielder Amrit Bansal-McNulty and Nana Kyei, who scored our 67th minute equaliser (pictured) when he smashed home a Billy Leonard cross, cancelling out Worthing’s early opener. Bansal-McNulty also produced an audacious 40-yard chip when he spotted the keeper off his line, only to see his effort clawed away.

A word on Billy Leonard who is clearly enjoying his new responsibities and occupied not one, not two but three different positions during the evening while Sam Youngs led the line.

After Worthing controlled the opening 20 minutes, during which they took the lead, any concerns they might press home their Step 1 status were soon dispelled. By the end, believe it or not, the woodwork had come to their rescue no fewer than three times with plenty of further chances for the hosts.

Let’s not get carried away just yet, however. We are not the complete package, striker and goalkeeper being the most obvious missing pieces of the jigsaw. Of the former, George Nunn has already been released  while Luke May-Parrott is nursing an injury. On the keeper front, teenager Dylan Thompson was a late call up to Tottenham’s tour of Australia and New Zealand will have therefore have to be replaced for the remainder of the friendlies, as he was last night by a giant of a trialist.

 Meanwhile, the highly promising Junior Moses, chased by a handful of clubs and who we managed to acquire from Cockfosters down the road, has been quickly plucked away for a trial by no lesser light than Peterborough United.

While we await developments on Junior, none of that should detract from an evening of free-flowing promise, with Hornchurch next up on Tuesday.

Town: Trialist A; Tanimowo, Trialist c, trialist d, trialist b;  Rydings, Leonard, Bansul-McNulty; Deslandes, Youngs, Avgoustidis

Pre-Season Success at Stotfold

Stotfold 0 Enfield Town 1

Report by Martin Bentley

The scoreline suggests a narrow win for Enfield Town in their latest pre-season outing, but in truth only some excellent goalkeeping and wayward finishing prevented Town from running up the proverbial cricket score. The crisp, positive attacking football played by the Town must have pleased manager Billy Holland, although the failure to convert more than one of the chances created would not.

On a pleasant summer’s evening, Town roared out of the blocks, and had already seen an Amrit Bansal-McNulty shot fly over the bar before they took the lead in the 4th minute; an incisive move released an impressive trialist on the left, and he cut in to score via the visiting keeper’s left hand post. The remainder of the half was played almost exclusively in one half of the field, with further Town efforts coming in from George Nunn, Finlay Corrigan and two trialists.

The second half began with the home side surprisingly on the front foot, winning a corner and having a shot blocked in the first minute. Stotfold had visibly raised their game, and the second half was considerably more evenly matched, particularly after the customary procession of substitutions disrupted Town’s game. Adam Thompson was in imperious form at the back for Town though, restricing opportunities to an absolute minimum.

Still the chances kept coming for Town though, with new signing Tom Avgoustidis impressing on the right flank. He had a couple of efforts well saved, Billy Leonard had an effort deflected wide, while one of the second half triallists blazed over an empty net after being set up by Nana Kyei. At the other end, despite having a goal ruled out for offside on the hour, Stotfold had failed to trouble Dylan Thompson in the Town goal until the final minute, when an effort from the edge of the box clanged against his crossbar.

Team: D.Thompson, Tanimowo, Mensah, A.Thompson, Trialist, Akubuine, Corrigan, Bansal-McNulty, Trialist, Nunn, Trialist

Subs: Rydings, Leonard, Avgoustidis, Kyei, Deslandes, plus 3 trialists

Challenging Start For Town

Billy Holland admits Enfield Town have been “thrown in the deep end” after we were handed a tough opening start to the new league campaign on our return to Step 3.

Town begin their campaign with trip to the wonderfully named Dripping Pan to play divisional big-hitters Lewes on Aug 8 (watch this space for details of possible coach travel)  followed by a pair of home fixtures against heavily resourced St Albans – now home to Ollie Knight – and Ramsgate and then a visit to promotion contenders Brentwood, who lost in last season’s playoff — both hugely ambitious clubs.

“Those first four games are very, very difficult,” said Billy who continues to develop his squad for the long campaign ahead.

“We certainly haven’t had it easy as far as August is concerned. They are all big boys, along with Chatham. Brentwood almost got promoted and with the players they’ve signed, and their budget, they’ll be right up there.”

“Lewes may have had a bad season by their own high standards last season but I can’t see them replicating that. All four August opponents will be at the top end of the table. Ramsgate sacked their last manager because he didn’t spend enough! We’ve certainly been chucked in the deep end so it will be sink or swim. But we’ll take the first five games or so and see where we are.”

AW

Plenty Of Positives In Orient Loss

Enfield Town 1 Leyton Orient 4

Report by Andrew Warshaw
Image: Keith Drew

Once again, forget the scoreline. Billy Holland deliberately chose this quality of opposition  for our first home pre-season friendly to check on how Town would fare without the ball.

And in the main, it worked well as League One Orient, four divisions higher and fielding a significant chunk of their first-team squad, put us to the test by enjoying large swathes of possession on a sweltering evening.

At least that was the story of the second half. In the first we more than matched our lofty opponents and if anything had the better chances as Billy once again selected an almost totally different eleven in each half as he continued to monitor our development.

Watched by a crowd of over 700 – our next game is not for another 10 days – Town actually went ahead within the first 20 minutes with a typically clever Sam Youngs header, getting on the end of a left-wing cross and re-directing the ball across goal.

For the second game in a row, Luke May-Parrott, if somewhat light in stature, showed why he could be a significant goal threat once he has built up his sharpness. He could and should have put Town further ahead when clean through, only to be thwarted in a one-on-one by the Orient keeper, and had a couple of other half-chances.

It was also encouraging to witness Town’s movement on and off the ball as well as their use of both flanks as several of the triallists did their chances no harm at all.

Orient equalised through Armando Dobra heading into the break and as expected totally dominated the second period after also making wholesale changes.

Charlie Wellens, son of the manager, put them in front, Phil Chinedu extended the lead with an unstoppable drive and with the very last kick of the game, Orient completed the scoring from the penalty spot.

With Mickey Parcell out with a slight knock, Eli Ackeson not required on the day, the goalkeeping position still to be decided and and the much-touted Junior Moses yet to make his Town debut, there are plenty of positive signs.

Talking of which, some home supporters clearly identified one of the trialists as a certain quality centreback from our Step 2 campaign. Nuff said, except to reveal that whether or not he re-joins the club, having originally mooted at retirement, will hopefully be decided in the next few days. Boy, that would be some coup. Watch this space!

Honours Shared in First Pre-season

Haringey Borough 3 Enfield Town 3

It’s a needless exercise trying to reach any conclusions after one pre-season friendly but there were plenty of positives to take away from our visit to Haringey Borough on Saturday.

Scorelines are pretty much irrelevant right now. More important is to see who might and who might not form part of the squad come early August.

Billy Holland admitted as much after playing virtually two totally different elevens in each half.

Certain players will have caught the eye, among them the trialist right fullback, one of only two to have played both halves, Finlay Corrigan in front of the back four and pacey winger Luke Deslandes.

Up front there was plenty of promise from the tall George Nunn, who displayed commendable hold-up play, and the technically impressive Luke May-Parrott, who already looks like he could become a fans’ favourite and scored two of our three goals – the first a well-timed flick from a corner, the second from the penalty spot. Our third was netted by the evergreen Sam Youngs (who else?) from close range after being teed up by Deslandes. For the record, Sam also missed a sitter by his own high standards!

Defensively it’s fair to say we looked somewhat shaky at times but things are still largely experimental.

One notable factor was the sight of Billy Leonard playing in a central midfield role which is in fact his natural position and seems to be where he will line up for us next season.

Another was the unavailability of much-touted new signing Junior Moses and skipper Mickey Parcell. Junior is away for just a week or so while Mickey is likely to be available for the visit of Orient on Friday evening – our first pre-season home friendly — when the management team will be focussing primarily on how we fare without the ball.

AW

Town Kick Off Pre-Season

By Andrew Warshaw

With our first pre-season friendly taking place at Haringey Borough on Saturday, Billy Holland’s recruitment drive is in full flow as he plots a course ahead of Town’s return to Step 3.

With only three of last season’s playing staff remaining — skipper Mickey Parcell, evergreen record appearance maker Sam Youngs and Billy Leonard – our new manager gets a chance to watch his emerging squad in a match situation for the first time, some of whom have followed him from Waltham Abbey.

Arguably the most eye-catching acquisition among the new recruits is leftback Junior Moses, signed from Cockfosters down the road and one of the standout players in their recent FA Vase final at Wembley.

Only 19, Junior’s performance caught the eye of several clubs higher up the non-league pyramid but Town managed to get a deal over the line.

A former trialist with AC Milan, Junior posted 19 goal involvements from left-back last season and also impressed when Cockfosters upset Town in the London Senior Cup.

“Junior is a real modern full back – high energy levels, and his attacking mindset really matches up with how we are trying to,” said Billy.

Junior was so keen to join Town that he apparently turned down the offer of a contract at a Step 2 club. “I knew he was way better than Step 5 but it was difficult because after the Vase a lot of clubs came in for him,” Billy explained.

“He asked whether I could match this and match that and although the answer was no, I told him that what I could do is put him in the shop window, use his strengths and improve his weaknesses. Plus the style of football we want to play.”

Among his former players, Billy has brought in attacking midfielder Amrit Bansal-McNulty, a product of Queens Park Rangers’ academy who gets fans off their seats and last season earned a spot in the Isthmian North Team of the Year.

While Billy has been unable to persuade more than three of last season’s National League South squad to remain, he is focussing on the positive.

“To be honest I’m happy with the three I’ve got. People need to realise  that when a club goes down from a higher division, the budgets are not going to be the same. Players think they belong at a certain level so they are all going to be looking for similar money regardless of whether a club is relegated under their watch. It’s so good to have Mickey and Sam with us and see how positive they are.”

Gavin Macpherson’s successor at the Dave Bryant stadium doesn’t seem at all fazed by the fact that some of the new recruits have had limited success at Step 3.  Or that clubs at the same level as Town have outbid him numerous times for prospective additions to the new-look squad.

“Enfield Town has got a big name with great fans but I don’t mind players going elsewhere for more money. Some of these clubs will offer players the world in pre-season, then have to let them go.  I’m not going to offer players something I can’t back up. What I will say is that we’ve been working very hard behind the scenes to bring in the kind of player who suits our style of football.”

Training started a couple of weeks ago ahead of the pre-season fixtures which come thick and fast before the new Isthmian Premier League campaign gets under way in August.

“The home friendlies may look like a tall order but they are deliberately designed to see how we do when we haven’t got the ball,” Billy explained. “When teams have more possession than us, how do we react? We are trying to drill into the boys that we are going to come up against big-name teams with big budgets and who will sometimes control games. It’s something I want the boys to get used to in pre-season.”

While the search for a number one goalkeeper could be decided by the time we play Orient next Friday, at the other end of the pitch Billy has brought in two strikers in George Nunn and Luke May-Parrott. “They can both drop in or play in behind so that helps with rotation,” said Billy. “I’m not one who just plays a no.9 who you play long to.”

It seems like a really early start at Haringey – promoted back to Step 4 at the end of last season — but, again, that’s a deliberate strategy. “We are embarking on a whole new system, a whole new way of playing,” said Billy. “I want all my players to understand quickly what I’m asking of them.”