Enfield Town 3 Dulwich Hamlet 0
Report by Andrew Warshaw
(photo: Tom Scott)
Enfield Town swept back to the top of the table on goal difference as they downed a Dulwich side who had their moments but were ultimately well beaten.
Whilst Billy Holland admitted in his post-match interview that we were not at our fluent best, we still did easily enough to take the points – the sign of a confident team.
And crucially, we have a game in hand on our rivals and the chance on Monday at Carshalton to stretch our lead at the top.
With their first and second choice keepers injured, Dulwich had to draft in Ronnie Sandford on a short-term loan from Millwall and he made his mark with a couple of smart saves in what was generally a stop-start opening as our visitors battled to close us down.
On 12 minutes, Sandford got down well to palm away Amrit Bansal McNulty’s low effort across goal, then produced a superb reaction stop to keep out Amrit’s toe-poke after he robbed Samir Carruthers and went for goal.
Despite being the more threatening side, Town had to wait until the 34th minute to break through. Sonny Hart’s header from Tommy Avgoustidis’ delivery came came back off the woodwork and Adam Thompson was first on hand to lash home the rebound (pictured)
Rather than galvanise Town, the goal if anything woke up Dulwich who suddenly grabbed the initiative for the remainder of the half.
Dangerman Ogo Obi saw his close-range effort chalked off for offside as he slid in to convert a freekick. It looked marginal, only for Obi to thump the ball against the upright in Dulwich’s next foray forward.
They were two big let-offs for Town though Avgoustidis, who to be fair did not have one of his most productive days on his 21st birthday, might have extended our lead just before the break but opted to shoot instead of square to a teammate and saw his weak effort charged down.
H-T 1-0
When Town re-emerged, they found Dulwich ominously continuing to win most of the midfield duels.
Cue a couple of inspired substitutions by Billy which effectively changed the game. Who’d have thought taking off arguably our two star players would improve our fortunes but so it proved as Nana Kyei and Billy Leonard replaced Amrit and Tommy.
Before the subs could influence proceedings, Obi was denied again, this time by a superb tackle from Sean Tarima who, it should be mentioned, is showing commendable composure with every game in the fullback position.
But as they re-established control, so Town regained the lead with 20 minutes left. In what was a nightmare moment for a hesitant Dulwich No. 4, Jordan Wynter, Kyei picked his pocket and ran on to fire home.
It completely took the wind out of Hamlet’s sails and six minutes later it was game over with what was surely an early contender for goal of the season.
Jez Davies, who before kickoff collected the latest Vanderpump and Sykes player of the month award, picked up the ball in central midfield, dribbled past three players, exchanged passes with Leonard, and finished magnificently from an acute angle.
Cue another trademark Jez double somersault similar to the one after scoring the winner at Stanway in midweek.
Six minutes of stoppage time were played out comfortably and Sam Youngs might have added to Town’s tally with a late curler that didn’t quite have enough legs.
The only worry for Town with so many games in such a short space of time was seeing Luke May-Parrott hobble off after a late and completely unnecessary challenge.
It remains to be seen how long Luke, who has had little luck with injuries, will be out for. But with players returning over the coming weeks, the treatment table does not look unduly overloaded as the fixtures come thick and fast.
Town:
Thompson; Tarima (Velasquez 80), Hart, Thompson, Tanimowo; Al Sadi (May-Parrott 74), Rydings, Davies, Avgoustidis (Leonard 60); Bansal-McNulty (Kyei 60), Youngs