Enfield Town 0 Cockfosters 2
Report by Andrew Warshaw
It was very much a case of déjà vu on Tuesday as for the second year running we bowed out of the London Senior Cup at the first hurdle to Step 5 opposition.
Whilst there were mitigating circumstances in terms of blooding several academy players, we should on paper have been able to overcome near-neighbours Cockfosters especially with six first-teamers in the starting line-up.
But just like Newham Athletic last year, a patched-up side lacked ideas, fluency and imagination and were second best for large periods of the game against a team who appeared to have more desire.
The Cockfosters side included three ex-Towners including George Beattie and Junior Mubiayi but it was their leftback Junior Moses – who apparently once had a trial with AC Milan (!) – who caught the eye.
A largely forgettable first half saw Cockfosters edge proceedings with their direct approach. Indeed, we had to wait until the 38th minute for Town’s only moment of quality, Eli Ackason flicking the ball over the bar from Ollie Knight’s first-time centre after excellent work from Alex Osei.
H-T 0-0
It was no surprise when our visitors broke the deadlock on 56 minutes through Luca Gordon’s side-foot finish and soon it was 2-0 as Moses teased Avan Jones before skimming past him and firing low across the box for Lanre Balogun to tap in.
Town almost pulled a goal back, only for two goalbound shots in quick succession to be blocked on the line but the Fosters ran out worthy winners on the night.
Town of course have bigger fish on Saturday in the FA Cup against Quorn who incidentally won again last night and Gavin Macpherson was reasonably sanguine despite the disappointment of exiting the lesser of the cup competitions at the first hurdle in front of 232 hardy fans.
“These games are extremely valuable and for me it’s all about the bigger picture,” said Gav. “Some people may agree, some may disagree. The main thing for me was to see where our academy players are and whether there are any individuals that are close to the first team.”
“It’s the only chance really that I get to look at them against stronger opposition than they normally play against. We got out of it what we wanted – bar the result.”
On the positive front, Ethan Cann and – not for the first time – Jay Lambert showed they could be useful first-team defensive reinforcements if ever needed but knocks to Ruaridh Donaldson and Tommy Wood do not augur well for Saturday. Fingers crossed…
Town
Connolly; Cann (Douglas, 80), Donaldson, Lambert; Jones, Parcell (Furrera 78), Brown (Opoku, 46), Knight, Osei; Ackason, Wood (Bolibehga, 67)