Lewes 0 Enfield Town 4
Report by Andrew Warshaw
Image by James Boyes
On one of their notorious bogey grounds, Enfield Town got their new Step 3 season off to a riproaring start as they banged in the goals in the Sussex sunshine.
Billy Holland could not have wished for a more impressive beginning to his management reign as Town cruised into a three-goal lead by halftime and completed the rout late on, much to the delight of the noisy travelling support.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer and we’ll find out a lot more about our capabilities when we host St. Albans – 3-1 winners over fully pro Chatham – on Tuesday.
But without a recognised centerforward, just like in pre-season Town showed they could find the net from several different positions as their dynamic interplay and quick thinking paid dividends across the pitch.
Before kickoff, Town completed the loan signing of Swindon defender Sonny Hart who hardly put a foot wrong. The same could be said of Adam Thompson alongside him and man-of-match Ayo Tanimowo at rightback but it was the forward players, in the first half at least, who caught the eye.
All the damage was done in the opening 35 minutes as Town burst out of the traps and left the Rooks shellshocked.
We were ahead after just three minutes with what looked like a training ground routine. A short corner was played to Amrit Bansal-McNulty who swiftly laid the ball into the path of the onrushing Tanimowo. His fierce strike from the edge of the box would have beaten any keeper as he brilliantly smashed home.
Lewes’ most dangerous player, Noel Fisher, almost made us pay for being caught in possession, only for his low shot to be pushed to safety by Dylan Thompson.
You could argue Dylan had more to do than the home keeper but it’s all about putting the ball in the net and Town were ruthlessly clinical.
On 21 minutes Bansal-McNulty threaded the ball through the heart of the Lewes defence and Tommy Avgoustidis couldn’t miss from two yards, albeit courtesy of a fortuitous ricochet.
As Lewes came again, Josh Spinks glanced a header narrowly wide and when the hosts sprang the offside trap, Dylan made another vital stop before Billy Leonard was the saviour by coming from nowhere to tuck the ball behind for a corner.
But Town were the team with the superior goal threat, producing a series of dangerous turnovers and winning the ball high up the pitch.
It was from one such movement that we scored our third as Luke Deslandes drilled home after great vision by Avgoustidies whose link-up play with Bansul-McNulty down our left looks like being an invaluable partnership.
H-T 3-0
After a mesmerising first half from Town, it was perhaps understandable that the pace would drop and that Lewes would have a spell.
But before they did, Bansal-McNulty showed great awareness as he saw the goalie off his line and his shot whistle just wide.
A couple of rasping Lewes drives, combined with two or three careless moments from Town, threatened to reduce the deficit. But substitute Declan Ridings restored some energy in midfield and any hope of Rocks comeback was extinguished after 82 minutes with a lightning counter-attack, Deslandes squaring to Shiloh Remy for a simple-tap in.
Attention now turns to Tuesday and that tasty encounter with big-spending St. Albans at the Dave Bryant followed by the visit of Ramsgate the following Saturday and then a tough-looking trip to Brentwood. Only then, perhaps, will we get a more realistic picture of how competitive we are. But the dressing room as strong and as opening fixtures go, this will do everyone’s confidence the world of good.
(see Billy Holland’s post-match interview on Town’s YouTube channel and elsewhere on social media)
Town: Thompson D; Domi, Hart, Thompson A, Tanimowo (Parcell 55); Leonard (Mensah 73), Akubuine, Bansal-McNaulty (Rydings, 63); Deslandes, Youngs (May-Parrott, 73) Avgoustidis (Remy 67).