Enfield Town 4 Hornchurch 2
Report by Martin Bentley
Image: Bob Sharman
Pre-season continues to supply unexpected and pleasant surprises for the Town faithful. For the second time in a week, Enfield Town went toe-to-toe with National League opposition, and on this occasion, managed four well-taken goals to come out on top.
The game burst into life in the 13th minute when Nana Kyei surged down the left wing before playing in Amrit Bansal-McNulty for his first goal in Town colours. An unfortunate injury to Ayo Tanimowo after 21 minutes saw the eagerly awaited introduction of leftback Junior Moses for his first minutes in a Town shirt following his return from a trial at Peterborough United.
Although Hornchurch’s superior fitness saw them retain possession for long periods, they failed to trouble Town’s trialist goalkeeper until the 44th minute, and by then, we were two up. Another galloping run from Kyei saw him find another trialist on the right, and he cut inside to beat visiting keeper Rhys Byrne with a low effort to his right.
The game really woke up after half-time though as Hornchurch used their superior fitness and physicality to push Town back for long periods. Mr Trialist in Town’s goal was forced into three decent saves before the visitors pulled a goal back after 50 minutes. A foul on Jesse Akubuine in midfield went unpunished, and the ball was worked into the box for sub Bobby Kelman to score.
By now, the visitors’ tactics were treading the fine line between physicality and intimidation, with a series of late tackles and cheap shots going unpunished.
To their credit, Town’s response tended to be to take a quick free kick and crack on, but a horrible late hack by Kelman on a Town trialist provoked a minor bout of handbags and some strong words from the referee, after which the game calmed down a little.
Back to the football. Hornchurch drew level after 67 minutes when a left-wing corner dropped to former Town loanee Joe Kizzi, who netted from close range. Within four minutes, however, Town were back in front when Moses scored from five yards from a Luke Deslandes cross.
There was time for sub keeper Matt Setters to make an excellent save from a Hornchurch header from a corner before Tom Avgoustidis put the game beyond doubt in the final minute, galloping onto a ball over the top, rounding Byrne and running the ball into an empty net. A lovely end to a satisfying evening. Next up Bishop’s Stortford away on Friday which, don’t forget, is now a 6.45 kickoff.
Team: Trialist, Tanimowo, Mensah, Trialist, Triallist, Trialist, Akubuine, Corrigan, Kyei, Youngs, Bansal-McNulty
Subs: Moses, Setters, Parcell, Leonard, Deslandes, Watson, Avgoustidis, Efobi, plus 3 Trialists