Enfield Town FC

Report

Enfield Town 0-5 Eastbourne Borough

Reality Check as Town Crushed
Report by Andrew Warshaw

Get back on the horse, reset and go again.

That has to be the approach after we suffered a thumping defeat at the hands of Eastbourne Borough on Tuesday in what was effectively our game in hand, ending our six-match unbeaten run in the process.

Another bumper midweek crowd of 781 turned up for we hoped would be another important step towards Step 2 survival but which instead became a chastening evening against full-time opponents who were slicker and sharper all over the pitch.

Without the unavailable Sam Youngs, Jack Smith was handed a rare start while Jake Hutchinson was preferred up front to Anointed Chukwu with the games coming thick and fast.

It took Eastbourne just seven minutes to get their noses in front, Michael Klass using his pace down the right before crossing for George Alexander to head home for his 13^th of the season.

Town hit straight back with successive Jack Bates corners and thought they had equalised from the second, Henry Hawkins’ downward header appearing to cross the line, only to be cleared to safety.

A goal then might have changed the pattern of the game. Instead, we struggled to create much thereafter and on 28 minutes conceded a second. Billy Leonard accidentally headed the ball back into his own area and although Mickey Parcell cleared the danger, Camron Gbadebo swung out a leg from the resultant corner to score through a crowded box.

 Town weren’t offering enough in attack and, for the first time in several weeks, were being constantly exposed at the back by Eastbourne’s darting runs.

Courtney Clarke was denied by Rhys Forster before Alexander broke the offside trap but fired wide after being challenged by Hawkins.

We needed to get into the dressing room and re-adjust but on the stroke of halftime saw any chance of a recovery well and truly snatched away.

Clarke was too strong for Charlie Stallard and picked out Alexander who headed home at the far post despite Forster’s efforts to keep it out.

H-T 0-3

Town were now effectively playing for pride but commendably looked a far better unit after the interval as we gave as good as we got, helped by a triple substitution on 58 minutes.

Two strong blocks kept us out while Bailey Brown lashed a shot over (pictured). The problem was, we didn’t test the keeper enough for all our front-foot approach and were always vulnerable to the counter-attack.

So it was on 86 minutes when a long ball through the middle saw Alexander complete his hattrick as he burst clear and fired past Forster.

And to add to our misery, Yahaya Bamba netted a penalty with the last kick of the game after a clear trip by Brown as Eastbourne moved up to second.

Salisbury’s last-gasp point at Chesham didn’t help our cause either but the positions at the bottom haven’t changed and it’s still in our hands with a massive home fixture on Saturday against Tonbridge Angels.

 “We were playing against a full-time team who competed better than us, spun the ball and went after it but I didn’t expect to lose in that manner,” said Gavin Macpherson.

“It was our worst performance for a long time. We didn’t really carry a threat or get a foothold. I’m sad that after such a good run, we produced that in front of our own fans. I’ve said to the players we move on to the next one but we mustn’t let that kind of thing creep in again.”

Town: Forster; Parcell, Thompson, Hawkins; Stallard (Knight 58), Bates (Benjamin 77), Smith (Oyenuga, 58), Brown, Leonard; Hutchinson (Chukwu, 58), Kasimu (Whittaker 83)