It isn’t just on the football field that Town are showing off their collective brains!

An ETFC team were victorious in a charity quiz organised by local Macmillan cancer support volunteer and fundraiser Hayes Rees, with former Enfield mayor Margaret Greer as quizmaster.

Hayes, who has raised thousands of pounds for Macmillan, generously selected our club’s community charity arm as one of four beneficiaries of Friday’s quiz.

And lo and behold, the ETFC team (pictured celebrating) played a blinder on the night!

Enfield Town 4 Chatham Town 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

(photo: Tom Scott)

Sublime, dazzling, collectively and individually imperious from first whistle to last. Football from the Gods.

No excuses for running out of superlatives to describe Tuesday night’s sensational win over a distinctly over-physical Chatham Town to keep us flying at the top of the table.

No-one is getting carried away because we’re not even a third of the way through the season and every team has an off-day — as we’re bound to have at some stage in the weeks and months ahead. But the standards being set by the players cannot be over-estimated with confidence sky high and the way we blew away a virtually full-time team who train three times a week was mightily impressive.

Billy Holland made three changes from the FA Trophy team and it wasn’t long before we imposed ourselves on the Chats in what was our first meeting since that memorable playoff final.

The visitors may have been without two of their key defenders but hardly posed a threat as we started on the front foot and maintained our dominance throughout.

It took just six minutes for Town to impose themselves as Billy Leonard played a gorgeous ball to Tommy Avgoustidis who found himself free on goal but saw his shot blocked by the legs of Nathan Harvey.

It set the tone for some great link-up play and it wasn’t long before we took the lead. Amrit Bansal-McNulty skipped past two opponents and his pass to Tariq Al-Sadi was superbly drilled into the net from the acutest of angles.

Straight from the kickoff, Dylan Thompson had to backpedal to keep out an instinctive long-ball Chats response but it was a rare moment of danger from the visitors.

Five minutes later, our lead was doubled courtesy in part to a brilliant piece of Dylan distribution.  His inch-perfect ball to Al-Sadi wide on the right completely caught Chatham out and Sam Youngs was on hand to convert Tariq’s pinpoint cross.

Shortly afterwards, Chatham, whose game plan of disrupting us failed miserably, were lucky to still  have 11 players on the pitch as Oliver Hobden took out Declan Rydings yet only received a yellow.

He wasn’t the only culprit over the 90 minutes but Town refused to be unsettled. Youngs saw another effort fly just over the bar while at the other end, Mickey Parcell rolled back the years with a wonderful display of composure.

Chatham simply couldn’t live with us and Billy Leonard’s right-foot volley was sensationally saved by Harvey on the stroke of halftime.

H-T 2-0

They say 2-0 is a dangerous scoreline but as Town continued where they left off, the silky football – all pace and movement – was a joy to watch and within 10 minutes of the restart, we put the game to bed.

A sensational diagonal ball from Rydings – arguably the pass of the season so far – found Al-Sadi in space but he still had a lot to do, moving inside before steadying himself, rounding the keeper and rifling home (pictured). “Three-nil again” chanted the Town faithful, referring to our playoff victory a couple of years ago.

Chatham responded with arguably their best spell of possession and  Dylan had to get his angles spot on to keep out a ferocious Bradley Stevenson strike.

But by now Town were cruising to another three points, wowing the fans with some trademark interplay. Luke May-Parrott, off the bench, couldn’t quite beat the keeper to the ball after being played in by fellow sub Dan Efobi.

But five minutes from time, the rout was complete courtesy of our on-loan 17-year-old whose strength and hold-up play have added an extra ingredient to Town’s options. Put through by Avgoustidis, Efobi sent the Town faithful into raptures as he buried his third goal in two games since arriving on loan from Cambridge United.

Yet another goal spree then by the Town, described by Billy Holland as our best all-round performance so far. Now on to Burgess Hill on Saturday to try and keep the momentum going before a much-needed week-long respite.

The draw for the second round of the FA Trophy took place this afternoon, handing Enfield Town a home tie against Spalding United of the National League North.

This will be a first meeting between ourselves and our Lincolnshire-based opponents, who won promotion to the National League North last season for the first time. At the time of writing Spalding sit 12th in the division, with dangerman Bart Cybulski leading the league scoring charts with 10 goals and counting.

The tie will take place on Saturday 14th November. Due to our progress in the Trophy, as well as Aveley’s, our league game against the Millers will be rescheduled.

Enfield Town 5 Hanworth Villa 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

(photo: Tom Scott)

Enfield Town powered their way into the second round of the FA Trophy with a second-half masterclass despite the atrocious conditions.

Both teams may be riding high in their respective Step 3 divisions but Hanworth were without a string of regulars — either injured or rested – and paid the price as we booked our place in Monday’s draw with a ruthless late goal spree.

With a virtually fully fit squad at his disposal and others back in training, Billy Holland could afford to bench  likes of Adam Thompson and Declan Rydings with a huge game against Chatham to come on Tuesday yet still fielded a strong side which on the day was far too potent for our Southern League Premier Division South opponents who had to field their third-choice keeper.

The driving rain kept the crowd down to 373 but those who braved the conditions saw Town handsomely run away with the tie despite  conceding first.

We had the ball in the net after just six minutes but Tommy Avgoustidis was adjudged to have been ahead of the last defender. A shame as it came at the end of a classic Town three-man attack.

Huge credit must go to the ground staff who worked tirelessly to get an increasingly rain-lashed pitch playable ahead of kickoff but it was Hanworth who struck first with one of their few efforts on target. Jack Timberlake had already got within inches of converting a dangerous low cross when Elliott Bolton struck a fierce half-volley from the edge of the box.

Town were briefly wobbled but soon regrouped and saw a second goal disallowed. This time the linesman ruled the ball had already gone out for corner.

As we continued to push Hanworth back, a Sam Youngs shot and swivel just lacked enough power to trouble the keeper. Then Jez Davies had an effort cleared off the line as did Tariq Al-Sadi whose delicious chip over the keeper was miraculously diverted by Joe Addo-Peters.

But as halftime approached the pressure finally told. Youngs charged down a Hanworth pass to find Avgoustidis who drove towards goal before unselfishly laying the ball off for Al-Sadi to unleash a cracking strike. And there was still time for Town to see a third effort cleared off the line, this time from Mickey Parcell.

H-T 1-1

On chances created, we should have been comfortably ahead but two minutes after the restart we deservedly hit the front. Once again it was that man Al-Sadi with a thunderbolt out of nothing that gave Villains keeper Jonny Williams no chance.

Weight of pass was becoming increasingly tricky to judge on an energy-sapping surface and for a 10-minute period, the pace slowed. But as Hanworth showed little sign of coming again, so Town found the gaps with three quickfire late goals.

On-loan Cambridge United forward Dan Efobi, off the bench, couldn’t quite sort his feet out as he shot wide with virtually his first touch. His next, however, produced Town’s third goal as he forced a defensive error before breaking away to score, albeit with a scuffed effort that squeeked over the line with the keeper already committed.

In the horrible conditions, the beleaguered Villains keeper then allowed a speculative Nana Kyei effort to slip through his fingers for 4-1 . Nana then turned provider for 17-year-old Efobi to complete a highly encouraging debut with his second goal to wrap a thoroughly rewarding victory three minutes from time (pictured).

The only downside to an otherwise excellent collective display was the sight of the influential Jez Davies limping off with what looked like a thigh or leg  injury which hopefully won’t mean a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Town

Thompson; Parcell, Mensah, Hart, Townsend-West; Avgoustidis, Leonard (Rydings 60), Davies (Thompson A 82), Al-Sadi (Kyei 66); Youngs (Tanimowo 60), Bansal-McNulty (Efobi 60)

The draw for the quarter finals of the John Taylor Senior Cup has pitted us at home against Harrow Borough.

The match will take place on the evening of Tuesday 24th November 2026 [19:45]. Step 4 Boro compete in the Isthmian South Central division, where they currently find themselves 17th having taken 10 points from their first 12 games. We last faced Harrow back in 2022-23 in the semi-finals of the Middlesex Cup, going down 2-1 to two late goals.

We are very pleased to welcome striker Dan Efobi to the club, signing on a youth loan from Cambridge United.

17-year-old forward Dan, brother of ETFC Academy forward Kaobi, joins us until January and is eligible in the FA Trophy and Middlesex Senior Cup. Dan has been with Cambridge since under-15 level, progressing through the academy ranks and gaining senior experience with the Us’ first team, as well as on loan with the likes of St Ives, Biggleswade, and Real Bedford.

Welcome, Dan!

Enfield Town 4 QPR Under-21 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

(photo – Ram Ismail)

It may not be the most prestigious knockout competition but Enfield Town are into the last eight of the Middlesex Senior county cup after a 4-2 home win over a QPR development squad.

Saturday’s upcoming clash with Hanworth Villa in the FA Trophy is, of course, the real deal but Billy Holland was pleased with what he saw in the lesser tournament against visitors who may feel the scoreline was slightly flattering given the amount of possession they had.

For the first ever competitive fixture between the two clubs, Billy fielded a strong line-up of established first-team players whilst at the same time giving some of our big hitters like Amrit Bansul McNulty – himself a product of the QPR academy — Tariq Al-Sadi and Jez Davies the night off.

In all, six changes were made from the 3-3 draw with Three Bridges, Luke Deslandes making a welcome return after a lengthy injury lay-off and Mackye Townsend-West  making his first start. It was also heartwarming to see Shiloh Remy and Olly Davis warming up beforehand.

Town were quickly into their stride after kickoff was delayed for half an hour due to QPR’s traffic-induced late arrival and took the lead on nine minutes with a trademark Sam Youngs penalty after Billy Leonard was felled.

In a persistent drizzle we doubled our advantage when Luke May-Parrott got the last touch to a 32^nd-minute corner.

However as half-time approached, after Darren Foran had pulled off a terrific save from Gabriel Oluwabusola, the deficit was halved by Oluwabusola’s bullet header.  

H-T 2-1

Not for long. Shortly after the break, our two-goal lead was restored in bizarre fashion when Kasey Taylor in QPR’s goal saw his clearance strike May-Parrott, who was pressing him, and ricochet back over his head for 3-1.

An even more catastrophic goalkeeping error then ensued at the other end when Town substitute Matty Setters inexplicably kicked the ball straight at Oluwabusola who lashed it home.

Only a timely intervention by Sonny Hart prevented a certain equaliser though to be fair Town had a couple of one-on-ones to extend their lead but couldn’t make them count.

On 88 minutes Oluwabusola had a great chance to take the tie to penalties but screwed his shot wide. He was made to pay in stoppage time when Town countered quickly and May-Parrott, with loads of time and space to complete his hat-trick, unselfishly fed academy prospect Kobi Efobi for a tap-in.

After a thoroughly entertaining workout against a side who have in the past loaned us the likes of Alfie Tuck and Cian Dillon, Billy commented: “We knew QPR would be quick and sharp and I wanted to see how we fared without the ball because in most games this season it’s us who will mainly have the ball.”

“I wanted the boys to see, whenever we got dragged over the pitch, whether we could look after certain areas. I think we did that.”

Now on to hosting Hanworth on Saturday. “It’s an important cup and we will prioritise it as much as the league,” said Billy who confirmed that Junior Velazquez has moved on.

“Junior ideally wanted to stay but wanted more game time. The door is open if it doesn’t work out for him.”

Town:

Doran (Setters 55); Tarima, Hart, Mensah, Townshend-West; Rydings (Kyei 65), Leonard, Deslandes (Parcell 55); Avgoustidis (Watson 65), May-Parrott, Youngs (Efobi 55)

Three Bridges 3 Enfield Town 3

Report by Paul Manel

Photo: Paul Manel

Towners one hundred per cent away league record ended against a spirited and battling Three Bridges side in the Autumnal East Sussex sunshine. This always looked like it might well be a goal fest with Town coming into the game as the league’s top scorers and The Bridges having failed to score in only one of their previous matches this season despite their lowly league position. And so, it transpired with both sides providing thrills and spills aplenty in this six-goal humdinger!

With games coming thick and fast, Towners boss Billy Holland made five changes from the side that won at Carshalton Athletic on Monday night. Added time goalscoring substitute Tariq Al- Sadi came in for Tommy Avgoustidis, Skipper Mickey Parcell replacing Scott Tarima, Adam Thompson in for EJ Mensah and Sam Youngs replacing Jez Davies. We had a Spurs loanee between the sticks bit not Dylan Thompson. He had been recalled by Spurs as temporary cover and Dylan was replaced by another Tottenham loanee, Farren Doran.

The home side came quickly out of the blocks. They pressed high and won the majority of the second balls in the opening exchanges. It was difficult to work out which team was top and which was lying 20^th in the Isthmian Premier League. It was not a surprise, when after four minutes, the home side took the lead. Sonny Hart gave the ball away deep in his own half. Sam Bull released Bridges skipper Noel Leighton who applied an astute finish, giving the Towners stand in keeper no chance!

Sonny’s mistake was symptomatic of a sloppy, sluggish start by the league leaders. In contrast, the home side were sharp and hungry! On 15 minutes they doubled their lead. Town were pressed high and lost possession once again. Ade Adeyinka showed great composure to cut inside the Towners box and slip the ball past Doran.

Towners were looking ragged! Sam Youngs had picked up an early booking after he caught a Three Bridges player. The home fans were screaming for a harsher punishment! The referee was put under further pressure on 22minutes when Youngs brought down Dekari Deebari on the edge of the Towners box. Thankfully referee Anthony Cross was not vexed enough to flourish another yellow.

Minutes later, Billy Holland took the decision not to take any further risks by replacing Towners’ number eight with Jez Davies. Jez brought a much-needed energy, drive and composure to Towners midfield. We talk about games of two halves; this was a half of two halves! Jez played a great ball to release Tariq down the right. The Towners number four forced a fine save from Sam Roberts, but Amrit Bansal-McNulty was on hand, watching the ball carefully to apply a clinical finish.

Towners were now passing with precision and just a minute later Towners equalised! Amrit threaded the ball through for Billy Leonard to finish coolly. Cue delirium amongst the Towners faithful behind the goal. Towners went searching for a third before half time. On 42 minutes Amrit shot straight at the keeper but two minutes later the Towners number seven and Tariq conjured up another contender for goal of the season! Al-Sadi displayed twinkle toes worthy of Strictly Come Dancing before combining with Amrit. He threaded a lovely ball back to Tariq who finished wonderfully from a tight angle.

A crazy half of football!

H-T 2-3

The expectation amongst fans was that the game might settle down a bit after the break. Nobody told the two teams! The match became stretched and often resembled an end-to-end basketball match as neither side managed to exert much control.

Towners made a half-time change with new signing from Wingate and Finchley Mackye Townsend-West replacing Ayo Tanimowo at left back. It was Mackye who released Billy Leonard on 53 minutes but his cross fizzed across the box with nobody running in on the end of it. A minute later and it was the home side on the charge. A cross from the right found the ever-dangerous Bridges number nine Leighton but thankfully his header went over.

The sliding – doors moment of the second half came on 56 minutes. A quality Amrit corner found Tariq running in at the near post, but his bullet header went narrowly wide. If that had gone in it could well have been another three points on the road for the Town. Four minutes later, however, Three Bridges centre half Scott Malone popped up 25 yards from the Towners goal, and his curling effort flew into the top corner.

The end-to-end nature of the match continued. Town’s best chance came to Tariq following a fine marauding run down the right by Mickey Parcell. His excellent cross found Al-Sadi but his shot was blocked by a defender and deflected for a corner.

As the game entered its closing stages hope remained amongst the Towners travelling faithful for another late – late show like at Carshalton on Monday night, but it wasn’t to be.

Towners had to settle for a draw, but we are still top of the league, and we remain unbeaten on the road in the league this season. Billy Holland gave an honest post-match assessment. He felt that a number of the Towners players had not performed anywhere near their best. Avoiding defeat when you are not at your best and coming back from 2-0 down is a major  positive to take from the afternoon. There is also the great news that Tariq Al-Sadi will be with us for at least another month.

Town

Doran, Parcell, Hart, Thompson, Tanimowo ( Townshend-West 45), Al-Sadi Leonard ( May-Parrott 80) , Rydings, Bansal-McNulty, Youngs( Davies 28), Kyei( Avgoustidis 63)

We are delighted to welcome defender Mackye Townsend-West to the club, signing from Wingate & Finchley.

Capable across the back line, Mackye started his career with Stevenage before featuring at the likes of Ware, St Albans, and Royston Town. The 23-year-old Montserrat international is available for selection in this afternoon’s matchday squad away to Three Bridges.

Carshalton Athletic 1 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

(photo: Michael Michalia)

Let’s not tempt fate after just a quarter of the season but if, come mid-April, Enfield Town have managed to claw their way back up to Step 2, this will surely be one of those results they will look back on as pivotal.

Because for long periods it looked for all the world like we would be securing our first draw of the campaign rather than celebrating maintaining our 100 percent away league record and going three points clear at the top against a Carshalton team who, until they ran out of gas, gave as good as they got – and sometimes more.

Having dealt with almost everything they had to offer in a wonderfully entertaining encounter, Town did what Town have been doing so well – spotting the opposition’s tiring legs and using their fitness, speed, teamwork and game management to take full advantage.

We all know we can’t win every game and that there will be bumps along the way. But the way Tariq Al-Sadi was mobbed by jubilant teammates after netting our 91^st-minute winner said everything about what this particularly victory meant after certainly not have everything our own way —  especially after the Robins equalised early in the second half.

Billy Holland, who made three changes from Saturday’s win over Dulwich with only 48 hours in between, admitted as much as he gave an honest appraisal of a Carshalton side whose strong press made it an even contest until the final stages.

The fact that Robins fans said it was their team’s best display of the season only served to illustrate what an impressive achievement it was for us to get over the line – ultimately courtesy of two pieces of magic.

Without the unavailable Sam Youngs, Town, for all their trademark approach play, at times lacked a presence up front and it was the hosts who enjoyed the early running.

Three times, Robins skipper and chief dangerman Nathan Young-Coombes had the chance to open the scoring, each time shooting straight at or close to Dylan Thompson.

But on 20 minutes, the hosts were made to pay when Amrit Bansal-McNulty’s precise pass was handled just outside the area. Up stepped Amrit to send a gorgeous dipping freekick over the wall and under the bar.

Carshalton’s form has deteriorated badly of late after winning their first five league games but their heads didn’t drop as they carved out a number of corners, most of which were well defended – especially by the rock solid Sonny Hart – although one saw Nico Jones head narrowly over.

A weak Carshalton penalty claim came and went and Town on balance shaded the first half, mainly due to their superior transition play and Carshalton’s tendency to lack power and direction in the final third.

Indeed we should have gone in 2-0, Billy Leonard firing over from close range in the final minute of the half after Aye Tanimowo played a cleverly disguised ball into Billy’s feet.

H-T 1-0

Instead, three minutes after the interval the hosts restored parity when that man Young-Coombes got the last touch to the latest Carshalton corner to stab home at the far post.

Town were having problems playing out from the back as the Robins cut off the spaces and forced the pace. Having said that, we were always dangerous on the counter and our lead should have been restored when Declan Rydings scooped over from substitute Luke May-Parrott’s layoff.

As a persistent drizzle eased on the artificial surface, Town were given a golden opportunity on 70 minutes to stop Carshalton in their tracks when Bansal-McNulty had his leg clipped as he was about to unload.

In the absence of Sam Youngs, Amrit took the penalty but saw his powerful effort down the middle superbly pushed over one-handed by Benjamin Dudzinski.

The miss didn’t faze Town who could see their opponents’ energy levels drop and now went for the jugular with Al-Sadi, like May-Parrott, making his presence felt from the bench as did the returning Micky Parcell at the other end.

Six minutes of stoppage time were signalled and just as  it looked as though both sides might have to settle for a draw, Tariq used all his skill to drift infield and kiss the post with a dramatic winner to send the visiting Town faithful, as well as the players, into raptures (pictured). And there was still time for May-Parrott to loop an opportunist effort over Dudzinski and on to the top of the bar.

A ninth league win then, arguably our toughest so far, and now off to Three Bridges on Saturday to try and make it 10 from 12 games.

Town

Thompson; Tarima (Parcell 77), Hart, Mensah, Tanimowo (Velasquez); Kyei, Davies (56 May-Parrott), Rydings, Avgoustidis (Al-Sadi 63); Bansal-McNulty, Leonard