Enfield Town 3 Ebbsfleet United 1
Town put the pain of recent defeats firmly behind them with a display full of running and intent. Bayley Brown and Billy Leonard returned to the starting eleven in midfield. It was the visitors who came out of the traps quickest with a couple of early chances that went begging, but then Town settled into their stride and took the lead after five minutes. Tosh Gallimore picked the ball up from a Lamar Reynolds pass in the inside left channel and, with Fleet defenders retreating, hit a piledriver from just outside the box high into the top corner to keeper Gio Bellagambi’s left.
With the tonic of an early goal to settle any nerves, the hosts began to enjoy some spells of possession, with Nino Adom-Malaki prominent down the left. Following a crisp move on the opposite flank, Hayden Bullas’s dangerous low cross was cleared by an increasingly harassed Fleet back line. But the hosts didn’t have it all their own way, and Mustapha Olangunju fired narrowly over on the quarter of an hour mark. A minute later, the visitors were forced to make an early change through injury with Maxx Manktelow replacing Tom Dallison.
Rhys Forster made a good low stop to deny Toby Edser but, in the 24th minute, a short corner routine between Adom-Malaki and Leonard paid dividends. Nino’s cross from the right was headed back into the danger zone by Adam Thompson for Reynolds to steer the ball home from close range.
Stung into action, Ebbsfleet skipper Kwesi Appiah tested Forster with a low drive from a Charlie Seaman pass and, shortly afterwards, Josh Coley somehow missed the target from close range following a cross from the right. Between those moments, Adom-Malaki opted to shoot when a pass to the unmarked Leonard may have been a better option – the Fleet keeper saving with relative ease.
Sam Youngs was denied by a block by Bellagambi’s legs and Bullas as off target from distance as Town ended the first half fully deserving their two-goal cushion.
Half-time: Enfield Town 2 Ebbsfleet United 0
To the delight of the home support, Town went further ahead within a minute of the restart. Adom Malaki, who had a fine game, lofted the ball in from the left, it was flicked on by Youngs to Reynolds, who made no mistake to put Town in dreamland.
Forster was called into action again to get down at his near post to deny Appiah again, while substitute Manktelow headed wide from a promising position. Appiah then had the ball in the Enfield net but the flag had been raised for a clear offside.
There followed a remarkable passage of play approaching the hour mark when Town hit the woodwork twice in essentially the same scramble, while Youngs and Henry Hawkins both went close. Town hit the frame of the goal twice more during the second half, albeit one of those occasions coinciding with the raising of the linesman’s offside flag to deny Youngs, making a record equalling 351st appearance in a Town shirt.
With the clock showing 90 minutes, sub Dom Samuel netted a consolation for Fleet – prompting a Groundhog Day feeling among the Town faithful – but on this occasion there were no further alarms and Enfield were able to enjoy a well-merited victory against full-time opponents, rising to 18th in the table.
Team: Forster; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins, Adom-Malaki; Leonard (Jones), Bullas, Brown, Gallimore; Youngs (Donaldson), Reynolds (Wood). Unused subs: Jones, Knight, Connolly, Bates, Lodovica.