Enfield Town FC

Report

Truro City 3-1 Enfield Town

Tinners Prove Too Sharp
Report by Andrew Warshaw

Gavin Macpherson made no excuses after keeping the players in the dressing room for 30 minutes with some “home truths” following this latest setback which only emphasised yet again the need for defensive reinforcements.

The fact it took the team over nine hours on Friday to get to Cornwall, in the process having to do away with the scheduled training session en route, should not detract from another frustrating collapse after we led at halftime courtesy of a peach of a strike from Michael Folivi, replacing the injured Hisham Kasimu.

It was particularly disappointing given that after weathering an early Truro storm in front of a 1,500-plus crowd at their new stadium, we grew into the game, quietened the crowd and were just starting to force the hosts into mistakes when we were picked off early in the second half and never recovered.

It didn’t help that a swirling wind made conditions exceptionally difficult in terms of ball control but it was the same for both sides and Truro coped better over the 90 minutes though Scott Thomas, by far our most accomplished performer on the day, led by example.

Lining up in a 4-1-4-1 formation to give us more width to make way for new signing lennon peake, signed from Hornchurch, we struggled initially to cope as Truro came firing out of the blocks. Twice Rhys Forster came to our rescue while Jaze Kabia outstripped our entire defence yet inexplicably fired wide.

Yet when Truro couldn’t make their early dominance count, it became a far more even contest as we gave as good as we got. Having already had a goal disallowed for a foul on the Tinners’ keeper, on 39 minutes we took the lead as Sam Youngs pounced on hesitancy in the final third and fed Folivi who unleashed a sublime right-foot curler that gave the keeper no chance (celebrations pictured).

H-T 0-1

It seemed to be the perfect response to Tuesday’s debacle against Slough but once again everything we had worked for was lost in the blink of an eye as Truro turned the game on its head in a quick-fire spell.

On 51 minutes, we failed to cut out three passes and when the ball landed at the feet of Seidou Sanogo, he produced an audacious back-heel that nestled in the corner.

Before we could recover we were undone by an even worse goal from a defensive standpoint as skipper Tyler Harvey – very much Truro’s main man who had already struck the bar in the first half – wasn’t picked up and headed home a freekick.

Suddenly, Truro had options all over the pitch and Gavin responded by switching formation and making a flurry of subs, the most encouraging being the introduction of Alex Solomon.

But even that couldn’t alter the scoreline in our favour. Instead Truro increased their lead as talisman Harvey swept the ball in at the near post with 15 minutes left as we failed to deal with a long throw.

“We were actually alright for long periods but if you can’t defend your box, this league will find you out,” said Gavin who was as candid as he’s ever been. “We saw it on Tuesday and we saw it again. I’m accountable because I put this team together but they are not doing the things they’ve been asked to do.”

“I can’t blame the conditions or the journey down because we were ahead at halftime. There was no freak goal that blew back in the net, just bad defending. Their second goal in particular is beyond a joke, the kind of thing  you see on a Sunday morning.

“We keep trying to put certain measures in place but the players – not all of them — keep making the same errors.  It’s now become a theme and my only conclusion is that I need to change but I have to go again on Monday with what I have.”

After painful back-to-back defeats, the boys need all the support they can get from our home game with Hemel Hempstead on Monday (kickoff 3pm) that becomes even more crucial to get us back on track.

“Perhaps this level is leaving a few of them behind,” added Gavin following our most arduous away trip of the calendar. “The fact is there’s no hiding place but some of them are starting to shrink when things don’t go well. I only have a few hours to think about Monday but we’ve got to stop handing teams goals on a plate.”

Town: Forster; Oyenuga, Nembhard, Tanner (Solomon, 67), Payne, Youngs (Leshabela, 67), Tanner, Thomas (Krasniqi, 89), Peake (Beckles-Richards, 67), Knight (Adjei-Hersey 89), Folivi.