Enfield Town FC

Report

Enfield Town 2-1 Chelmsford City

Last-Gasp Winner Lifts Spirits
Report by Andrew Warshaw

A game of few clear-cut chances burst into life late on as Enfield Town moved off the bottom of the table with a desperately needed first win in five.

Not since early October have we triumphed at home in the league but a Sam Youngs brace got us over the line after the Clarets threatened to spoil the party  by cancelling out his first in a nerve-shredding finale.

With two changes from the New Year’s Day defeat at St Albans – Adam Thompson returning and Jake Hutchinson preferred up front — Town tore out of the blocks and could have been two up inside the first 15 minutes.

Hutchinson had the ball taken off his feet just as he was about to pull the trigger, then saw his close-range effort come back off the post when it seemed easier to score.

As the one-way traffic continued, Bayley Brown also missed an excellent chance but when Town didn’t make their domination count, Chelmsford settled into the contest with some neat build-up play though without much cutting edge having seen 12-goal Osman Foyo return to Ipswich following his loan spell.

The visitors were fortunate when a Lennon Peake cross deflected off Harry Barbrook and bobbled into the  arms off his own keeper but the latter stages of the half were somewhat scrappy, Chelmsford forced into a switch just before the break when Charlie Ruff hobbled off.

H-T 0-0

The second half began in the same vein with neither side being able to string three passes together. But on 63 minutes, having a spilled a  long-range shot from Ruaridh Donaldson, Rhys Forster redeemed himself with a brilliant stop from substitute Finley Wilkinson’s follow-up.

Rhys was on hand again to palm away Glenn McConnell’s  powerful effort but after a Chelmsford spell Town came on strong again, in part due to the timely introduction  of  our new teenage on-loan striker Amaru Kaunda, an adventurous replacement off the bench for defender Xavier Benjamin who had taken a knock.

What an impact Amara made, using his pace and control to immediate effect as he turned inside the box and forced City goalkeeper Ted Collins into a smart save.

As the game sprung into life, Hutchinson’s chip into the box narrowly evaded two teammates  while Peake stung the hands of Collins after a fabulous run in which he beat three opponents.

After a yellow card was brandished towards the Town dugout supposedly for dissent, we finally made our pressure count in the 82nd minute. Billy Leonard took advantage of a poor clearance and  drove the ball across goal for Youngs to convert at the back post.

Now it was a case of game management but hearts seemed to have been broken six minutes later when a Clarets corner was steered home by Cameron James courtesy of an unfortunate lapse of judgement from Forster.

How it would have hurt to come away with just a point after all our hard work.

Yet five minutes into seven added on, Peake’s peach of a free kick, awarded for a foul on Alfie Tuck and the best delivery of the afternoon, was met by an evergreen Youngs to head home the winner in a thrilling climax.

“It’s been coming and the key now is to build on it,” said a relieved Gavin Macpherson.

“I was absolutely livid with the equaliser when Rhys missed the ball but in fairness he made a couple of excellent saves before.”

“We probably played as well in previous games but today we put the ball in the net. When we do that and are mean at the back, then we have a chance of beating sides.”

“Amaru is a different type of forward with what he possesses. When we’ve made subs recently, they haven’t always made a difference.”

Tactically spot on against Chelmsford, Gavin admits it hasn’t always been easy. “I’m now managing against managers and coaches who are full-time and it’s been difficult sometimes to make up the gap. I’ve given both the players and myself a few hard truths. We as a collective have had to be better and I believe we have been in recent games.”

The one downside of the afternoon is that Alfie Tuck now returns to his parent club, much to the disappointment of fans behind the goal who chanted “we want you to stay” at the end.

“It’s his decision and he’s made a massive contribution since he’s been here,” said Gav.

Town: Forster; Benjamin (Kaunda 63), Thompson, Hawkins; Peake, Parcell, Tuck, Brown, Leonard; Youngs, Hutchinson (Chukwu 83)