Chesham United 4 Enfield Town 1
All teams are entitled to the odd bad day at the office, and Enfield Town certainly had one at The Meadow, home of Chesham United. True, there were a number of mitigating factors; the absence of two key players, the injured Adam Thompson and Lamar Reynolds and the forced retirement from the game of Billy Leonard in the first half, but the Town’s performance, particularly in the second half, fell way short of expectations.
With Town having the advantage of the high wind blowing almost end-to-end, they got off to a flying start; Reynolds’ replacement Tommy Wood, got on the end of Leonard’s low cross in the 12th minute. After that excellent start, the game degenerated into an untidy mishmash of overhit passes Town) and inaccurate crosses (Chesham). Decent shots on goal were at a premium, and the half-time whistle arrived with the nagging feeling that Town had not taken sufficient advantage of the wind.
They hadn’t. Within two minutes of the restart Chesham were level, Alfie Williams drew the home side level when his cross from the right was deflected past Rhys Forster by an unlucky Wood. It soon became clear that the home side were taking much better advantage of the wind, with every cross and every long throw by winger Josh Addae causing chaos in the Town goalmouth. Although Wood and Nino Adom-Malaki both had chances for Town, the majority of action was taking place at the other end.
The game tipped irrevocably in the home side’s favour after 62 minutes. Town’s attempts to clear a corner resulted in a high tackle by Mickey Parcell, a bout of handbags on the edge of the box, and a red card for Town’s skipper. The double whammy was delivered moments later when Alex Babos’ free kick found its way past Forster aided by a deflection off the end of the wall. Further home goals were added by Matt McClure (72) and Nathan Minhas (81) and the game concluded with the travelling support relieved to hear the final whistle.
Of course, one bad day does not define a season, but Town now have to pick themselves up for next week’s FA Cup tie at Slough. And hope that all the injuries clear up in time.
Team: Forster, Benjamin, Hawkins, Donaldson, Leonard, Parcell, Gallimore, Bullas, Adom-Malaki, Youngs, Wood
Subs: Jones (for Leonard 42), Brown (for Wood 64), Knight (for Bullas 75), Bates (for Youngs 75), Lodovica (for Donaldson 75). Not used: Lambert, Connolly