Billericay 1 Enfield Town 3

Report by Andrew Warshaw (photo by Michael Michalia)

Wow, wow, wow! Shorn of six first-team players –make that seven according to Billy Holland – Enfield Town came from behind to stun Step 2 Billericay 3-1 and reach the third qualifying round of the FA Cup as well as banking a tidy £3,375 in prize money.

Despite missing a string of regulars, Town put on a scintillating display that was up there with some of their most memorable cup exploits of recent years, sending the travelling fans home proud as punch and putting us in the hat for Monday’s eagerly anticipated draw.

The management team have often talked about squad depth but this was one occasion where we were so stretched that the bench included two academy players and a newly acquired free agent in defender Sean Tarima.

A free hit then perhaps, but few could have predicted the extent to which we took the game to promoted Billericay and their established dangermen even if a couple of them were rested.  In fact, for large periods of the game, it was Town who looked more like the team from a higher division.

Even when we tired in the last 15 minutes, a rearguard action marshalled superbly by the impenetrable Junior Velasquez, making his first full start for club, kept our National League South opponents out.

 Playing without fear and with confidence in each other’s contribution, Town were anything but overawed by the occasion, relying on their trademark interplay and creating the best of the early opportunities, two of them falling to Amrit Bansal-McNulty – relishing the No. 10 role on the day — and one to Ayo Tanimowo.

Joe Wright in the home goal was by far the busier of the two keepers though Dylan Thompson produced arguably the save of the half, sticking out a strong left hand while falling backwards to keep out deflected Ricay attack.

That came on 25 minutes but moments later, Town were almost rewarded for their enterprise when the ball was pulled back to Bansal-McNulty who rattled the crossbar.

An away goal then would have been fully merited so it was all the more irksome when Billericay grabbed the lead in the last minute of first-half normal time, Jon Benton given too much space to rifle the ball home.

A halftime deficit appeared on the cards but no. Three minutes into stoppage time the home defence didn’t deal with Mickey Parcell’s cross and Tommy Avgoustidis was on hand to equalise.

H-T 1-1

A different halftime team talk? Who knows but Tommy’s tally quickly became a brace. Within three minutes of the restart he took advantage of a hesitant defence by reacting quickest to a chip into the box to put us in front.

Ricay’s response was to throw on their big guns – three of them – but it was starter Callum Watts who almost made us pay for a misplaced corner by running almost the full length of the pitch, only to shoot narrowly wide.

The next goal was always going to be crucial and it went Town’s way on 63 minutes as substitute Nana Kyei, who had replaced the limping Shiloh Remy, finished off a typical Town move of flicks and tricks by expertly shooting beyond Wright and into the corner. Cue pandemonium in the away end.

Town now had daylight between them and a place in the next round and the gap should have got wider as an Avgoustidis thunderbolt – worth of any hat-trick goal – crashed against the woodwork.

True we got lucky when Parcell, in trying to clear the ball with a Ricay forward breathing down his neck for a tap-in, only succeeded in hooking it against his own bar. The home fans protested it had crossed the line but referee deemed otherwise.

It could have been a turning point but Town breathed again and for all Billericay’s forward probing in the latter stages, we held firm.

Good value for the win? Just a bit – exemplified by the celebrations on the field and among the Town fans at the final whistle. Now let’s hope for that home draw for the third qualifying round on Oct 3 when the scheduled Chatham league game will be moved.

Town

Thompson; Parcell, Hart, Valasquez (Tarima 93), Tanimowo; Leonard,Davies, Remy; May-Parrott (Ackeson 82), Bansal-McNulty (Corrigan 71), Avgoustidis (Domi 85)