Enfield Town FC

Report

 Enfield Town 1-2 Billericay Town

Winning Formula Again Absent
Report by Andrew Warshaw

Not the result we wanted, of course, and arguably beaten by the better side.

But we have now played two of the division’s heavyweight pace-setters in the space of four days. The important thing is that we snap our loss of form and momentum as quickly as possible, restore confidence and keep our play-off hopes on track.

To be fair there were a couple of mitigating circumstances against Billericay. Ollie Knight received a three-match ban just a few hours before kickoff (more on that later) while traffic snarl-ups meant Mickey Parcell had to be replaced at the last minute in the starting line-up by Dylan Adjei-Hersey, with Lewis Taaffe moving to fullback.

Not great for planning and there was nothing we could do either by yet another inexplicable penalty award against us that left just about everyone scratching their heads.

In front of a post-500 crowd boosted by children from a local school, Billericay showed us very quickly why they are where they are squad-wise as they started strongly.

Alfie Cerulli pulled the trigger just two minutes in,  forcing Rhys Forster into a brilliant save with his wrong hand.

As the early pressure mounted, Richard Asamoah raced past three players and unleashed a 20-yard shot that Rhys managed to scramble to safety.

But against the run of play and after weathering the storm, Town went in front on 15 minutes with a delightful goal from Marcus Wyllie as he brought down Sam Youngs’ header into the box and netted with a controlled finish (pictured).

Ricay failed to capitalise on an unfortunate James Richmond slip but were soon back on level terms, albeit in the most fortunate of circumstances.

Jimbo was deemed to have handled as he cut out Frankie Merrified’s cross even though his arm was not raised, and Bradley Stevenson equalised from the spot.

It was tough on Town and Parcell received a booking for dissent from the bench. But we responded well and might have gone in ahead at halftime.

Marcus’ left-foot drive came back off the post while Sam uncharacteristically spurned a great chance following excellent vision by Manny Harvest, who caught eye throughout in central midfield.

H-T 1-1

Those chances bode well for the second half but for some reason we got bogged down and created little more to shout about.

Ricay skipper and former Towner Matt Johnson, who put in a typically commanding display, missed a golden chance as his team regained control but on 56 minutes they regained the lead.

Another defensive mix-up, all too apparent in recent fixtures, allowed Cerulli to break with pace down the left and with an extra player in the box, Stevenson moved the ball on to Asamoah who fired home.

Stevenson could have made it 3-1 when he cut inside but whacked the ball over the bar and despite eight minutes of stoppage time following treatment to blood-splattered Ricay keeper Daniel Wilks, we couldn’t find a way back – much like Hornchurch on Saturday.

After five points from a possible 21, it’s not rocket science to acknowledge we are lacking in confidence.

But we remain in the playoff positions and it’s certainly not a crisis, especially when you consider the two-year plan Gavin Macpherson and his team took on when they arrived. And when you consider we lost Jake Cass early doors. And, perhaps most significantly of all, that we are doing much better than some of those with far deeper pockets.

We also need luck which isn’t running for us. Take the last two penalties against us, for example. But there were no excuses from the manager.

“There was a moment tonight, just as on Saturday, when we contributed to our own downfall,” said a frustrated Gavin. “But they defended better than us and the reality is we’ve played two of the top sides in the league and we’re not quite there. Having said that, I expect better, especially in the previous games.”

“Mickey’s issue with getting here was a total shock and we had to reshuffle but I’m not bemoaning our bad luck. I have to sit down and see whether things are working because I can’t coach mistakes.”

On Ollie Knight’s suspension – as a result of an incident at Kingstonian involving one of their players when he was sent off – Gavin was unequivocal. Having already had a three-match ban at the time, Ollie now serves another several months after the game in question.

“It came out of the blue and I’m disappointed at the time the FA took,” said Gavin. “At first they couldn’t even get the league we were playing in right! Ollie knows he let himself down even though I don’t think he did it deliberately.”

Town: Forster; Parcell, McKenzie, Richmond, Payne; Adjei-Hersey (Alves 85), Thomas (Hipployte 76), Harvest, Youngs; Wyllie, Beckles-Richards