Enfield Town FC

Report

St Albans City 2-1 Enfield Town

Saints Send Town Bottom
Report by Andrew Warshaw

It’s beginning to sound like a broken record but another painful defeat which could easily have been avoided sent Town back to the bottom of the table on New Year’s Day, still nine points from safety.

Mistakes at one end and not enough belief or quality – or both – to convert chances at the other made for a frustrating and disappointing start to 2025 in a proverbial six-pointer watched by a huge crowd of just under 2,000, including a sizeable Town contingent, the majority behind the goal (pictured).

Back-to-back losses over the holiday period – making it three in a row — have only intensified the task of arresting a worrying slump, notwithstanding the commitment the players continue to show in spades.

The phrase “our luck has to change sometime” is becoming somewhat worn. You make your own luck but we have been competitive in all of the last three games without managing to squeeze out any points.

It’s often down to small margins. Our victory at Tonbridge and point at Weston-Super-Mare showed what can be done but lack of confidence in front of goal is costing us dearly.

So it was at St Albans where we were unchanged with Dan Cox making his final appearance before returning to Derby.

Both sides had early chances, Lennon Peake – once again our most effective player on the day – shooting into the side netting and Rhys Forster saving from close range from Shaun Jeffers.

But it was the hosts who struck on 10 minutes,  David Longe-King lashing home a right-wing cross that followed a needlessly conceded free kick.

We immediately responded but with the goal at his mercy and the home keeper flat-footed, Alfie Tuck somehow missed a sitter after a fine run and pull-back from Sam Youngs. An equaliser then and who knows what might have unfolded.

Yellow cards for Peake and Henry Hawkins for challenges on Jack James were questionable, especially Peake’s, but we continued to pose a threat without enough cutting edge .

Youngs forced Michael Johnson into a smothering stop whilst Anointed Chukwu got his feet in a  muddle when a tap-in would have converted a superb Mickey Parcell centre.

H-T 0-1

Too many of Town’s passes had been intercepted, resulting in too many moves breaking down, and the same pattern frustratingly continued after the break.

St Albans now looked the more threatening side and when we did manage to threaten the Saints goal, which was rare, Youngs showed great skill from a tight angle, only to see the ball drop agonisingly the wrong side of the net.

You sensed the next goal would prove crucial and with their extra pace, St. Albans – no great shakes on the day if truth be told – got it.

Forster had already saved smartly from Jeffers when we didn’t track the run of the dangerous James who collected a misplaced pass from substitute Jack Smith and doubled his team’s lead after his first effort was blocked.

A Youngs header halved the deficit late into six minutes of stoppage time, prompting ironic chants of “We’ve scored a goal” from the Town faithful, but it was too little, too late and at the final whistle the reaction of the home fans and players said much about the importance — and no doubt relief — of getting over the line.

“We’ve lost a game we shouldn’t have by not picking up the second phase — again,” said a hugely frustrated Gavin Macpherson who now has to rally the troops for Saturday’s home fixture with Chelmsford. “It’s another one we deserved more from and I’m fed up with saying that. We worked religiously in training on getting in the box in respect of being more potent so I was really disappointed. We had more than enough chances and we haven’t hit the target.”

“I’m sick of the opposition saying we were the better side and I gave virtually the same after-match team talk as I’ve been giving for weeks. We need more of a ruthless streak but I’m not a psychologist.

“I want to say a personal thanks to the fans who once again were nothing but supportive whereas they might well have given me stick. I might come out one day and say we deserved to lose but have got three points. I’d much prefer that to where I am at the moment.”

Town: Forster; Cox, Benjamin, Hawkins; Peake, Parcell (Smith 77), Tuck, Brown, Leonard; Youngs; Chukwu (Hutchinson 73)