Enfield Town 5 Hanworth Villa 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

(photo: Tom Scott)

Enfield Town powered their way into the second round of the FA Trophy with a second-half masterclass despite the atrocious conditions.

Both teams may be riding high in their respective Step 3 divisions but Hanworth were without a string of regulars — either injured or rested – and paid the price as we booked our place in Monday’s draw with a ruthless late goal spree.

With a virtually fully fit squad at his disposal and others back in training, Billy Holland could afford to bench  likes of Adam Thompson and Declan Rydings with a huge game against Chatham to come on Tuesday yet still fielded a strong side which on the day was far too potent for our Southern League Premier Division South opponents who had to field their third-choice keeper.

The driving rain kept the crowd down to 373 but those who braved the conditions saw Town handsomely run away with the tie despite  conceding first.

We had the ball in the net after just six minutes but Tommy Avgoustidis was adjudged to have been ahead of the last defender. A shame as it came at the end of a classic Town three-man attack.

Huge credit must go to the ground staff who worked tirelessly to get an increasingly rain-lashed pitch playable ahead of kickoff but it was Hanworth who struck first with one of their few efforts on target. Jack Timberlake had already got within inches of converting a dangerous low cross when Elliott Bolton struck a fierce half-volley from the edge of the box.

Town were briefly wobbled but soon regrouped and saw a second goal disallowed. This time the linesman ruled the ball had already gone out for corner.

As we continued to push Hanworth back, a Sam Youngs shot and swivel just lacked enough power to trouble the keeper. Then Jez Davies had an effort cleared off the line as did Tariq Al-Sadi whose delicious chip over the keeper was miraculously diverted by Joe Addo-Peters.

But as halftime approached the pressure finally told. Youngs charged down a Hanworth pass to find Avgoustidis who drove towards goal before unselfishly laying the ball off for Al-Sadi to unleash a cracking strike. And there was still time for Town to see a third effort cleared off the line, this time from Mickey Parcell.

H-T 1-1

On chances created, we should have been comfortably ahead but two minutes after the restart we deservedly hit the front. Once again it was that man Al-Sadi with a thunderbolt out of nothing that gave Villains keeper Jonny Williams no chance.

Weight of pass was becoming increasingly tricky to judge on an energy-sapping surface and for a 10-minute period, the pace slowed. But as Hanworth showed little sign of coming again, so Town found the gaps with three quickfire late goals.

On-loan Cambridge United forward Dan Efobi, off the bench, couldn’t quite sort his feet out as he shot wide with virtually his first touch. His next, however, produced Town’s third goal as he forced a defensive error before breaking away to score, albeit with a scuffed effort that squeeked over the line with the keeper already committed.

In the horrible conditions, the beleaguered Villains keeper then allowed a speculative Nana Kyei effort to slip through his fingers for 4-1 . Nana then turned provider for 17-year-old Efobi to complete a highly encouraging debut with his second goal to wrap a thoroughly rewarding victory three minutes from time (pictured).

The only downside to an otherwise excellent collective display was the sight of the influential Jez Davies limping off with what looked like a thigh or leg  injury which hopefully won’t mean a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Town

Thompson; Parcell, Mensah, Hart, Townsend-West; Avgoustidis, Leonard (Rydings 60), Davies (Thompson A 82), Al-Sadi (Kyei 66); Youngs (Tanimowo 60), Bansal-McNulty (Efobi 60)