Enfield Town 1 Chippenham Town 0
Report By Andrew warshaw
The hosts hadn’t won at home, the visitors hadn’t triumphed on the road.
Something therefore had to give in this basement battle and it was Enfield Town who deservedly came out on top.
Once again, Town’s defence – one of the meanest in the division – was a hard nut to crack. If only we could convert a better ratio of chances at the other end.
That’s not for want of trying. Just like two weeks ago against high-flying Weston-Super-Mare, we had by far the better openings in a highly physical game but at least we took one, Henry Hawkins getting the last touch to an 18th minute corner.
And this time, after gaining a foothold and only occasionally relinquishing control, we managed to bag all three points though in truth anything other than a home win would have been a travesty.
Town were at full strength with the returning Hawkins and Bailey Brown and when Hayden Bullas was felled just outside the area early doors, Nino Adom-Malaki drilled the resultant freekick narrowly wide.
Town had started like a train and it was no surprise when Hawkins rose highest from an inswinging corner to power home a header (pictured).
For 20 minutes the Bluebirds couldn’t lay a glove on us but Henry Sady supplied a warning against complacency by rattling the bar after finding himself free of an otherwise assured defence.
But Town were very much the dominance force . Lamar Reynolds, whose skill and technique was a delight to watch, was just about to pull the trigger when the ball was smuggled away from under his feet.
H-T 1-0
A surprise halftime change saw Tommy Wood replace Sam Youngs who was suffering from dizziness but Town maintained the pressure, a gorgeous turn and shot from Lamar so nearly doubling the lead, only to be saved by the legs of Will Henry.
How we weren’t awarded a penalty for a blatant handball is anyone’s guess but as we built up another head of steam Hayden Bullas fairly tackled a hesitant keeper but his pull-back fell to a visiting defender instead of to Lamar who would have had a simple tap-in. A few minutes later, Lamar left three players for dead, only to see his shot cleared for a throw-in while Wood missed a golden chance from close range to get on the scoresheet, taking the wrong option.
Late in the game, an ugly flare-up involving Wood and Dan Ellison resulted in both being wrestled to the ground. The referee’s decision in a lengthy stoppage was to consult both linesmen, then to book neither of the culprits and instead issue yellow cards to the respective captains for failing to control their players. New rules apparently…
Given Town’s propensity to concede late goals after controlling proceedings, it was no surprise that nerves became frayed in the last 15 minutes, plus six added on, when the Bluebirds, second best for long periods half, had a go but couldn’t find a way through.
“It may sound like a broken record but we really should make life easier for ourselves,” said Gavin Macpherson after we moved up to 17th with all the teams below us having lost or drawn.
“But the boys were magnificent today, running hard and creating chances. The only thing is, you always run the risk of what has been happening before. It’s quite obvious where we have to do better at this level because you can’t expect to keep clean sheets every week.”
Town
Forster; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins; Leonard, Bullas, Gallimore, Brown (Parcell 64), Adom-Malaki; Youngs (Wood, 46), Reynolds (Lodovica 83)