Enfield Town 1 Torquay United 2
Report by Andrew Warshaw
As the old cliché goes, football is a cruel game…especially when you’re near the bottom.
For the second Saturday running, Enfield Town fell victims to the officiating as much as the opponent, slipping ominously to a fourth defeat in five games against title-chasing Torquay.
After controlling all but the first 10 minutes of the opening half, when any neutral observer might have concluded that we were the full-time professional team, Town were pushed back after the break but ultimately went down to a highly controversial penalty.
With two new signings, forward Corie Andrews and midfielder Yacou Traore, having joined just before kickoff, both made the bench while Gavin Macpherson brought Bailey Brown and Hayden Bullas into the starting line-up with Ruaridh Donaldson serving the first of a two-match suspension and T’Sharne Gallimore injured.
It looked a forbidding task to begin with as Joe Wright twice came to the rescue, most notably managing to scramble away a Sam Dreyer header from a freekick.
But Town soon settled down and broke through on 19 minutes when Sam Youngs took a touch before magnificently rifling the ball low across goal and into the far corner (pictured celebrating).
It was just the tonic Town needed and we so nearly doubled the lead when Nino Adom-Malaki’s sublime cross found the head of Bailey Brown, only for James Hamon to pull off a world-class save and for his defence to clear the rebound off the line.
A couple of last-ditch blocks by the Gulls rearguard ensued as Town ended the half very much in the ascendency.
H-T 1-0
Without the suspended pair of Louis Dennis and Jordan Young – 26 goals between them — Torquay had struggled up top but with all their resources had plenty of back-up forward options and came out firing after the break, no doubt having been given a rocket.
Within three minutes they made Town pay for those missed chances, though with an element of good fortune as Dylan Morgan’s shot deflected off Joe Wright and spun in the corner of the net when it looked like going wide.
Town were now on the back foot without the same intensity but still showed commendable resilience and spirit against their lofty opponents, albeit enjoying something off a let-off when the crossbar denied Exeter loanee Kieran Wilson who was left free at the back post.
Torquay had the bit between their teeth but as we continued to stand strong, Bullas drilled a shot narrowly wide on a rare counter.
Town were then relieved to see Jay Foulston’s close-range effort narrowly ruled out for offside before the highly contentious moment that saw the Gulls fly off with all three points – much to the delight of their travelling army who swelled the crowd to 1,114.
On 88 minutes, Bailey Brown’s hand was somehow adjudged to have been in an unnatural position when struck by Wilson’s powerful effort. Penalty was the ruling though there was some conjecture whether it was made by the referee or linesman. Whoever it was, Wilson duly sent Wright the wrong way, a gut-wrenching finale after all the effort and commitment.
Like many in the stadium, Gavin was enraged by the decision but couched his words in moderation. “I’ve looked back at it and it’s extremely harsh, one that we see every single week,” he said. “We were in a very similar place last week at Maidenhead but I can’t control the officials. Having said, we should have been three up at halftime and that we can control. We expected to spend periods without the ball but we’re very disappointed with their first goal. We need results and we’re not getting them and that is starting to hang heavy.”
Too right. Given our current plight seven points from safety, Dorking on Tuesday now becomes even more vital followed by two mega six-pointers at Eastbourne on Saturday, then at home to Hampton and Richmond.
Town
Wright, Adom-Malaki, Hawkins, Thompson, Benjamin; Bullas, Brown; Knight (jones 88) , Youngs, Leonard (Ackerson, 90+3′); Reynolds (Andrews, 70)