Weston-super-mare 1 Enfield Town 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

It was all too familiar territory and the same old story for Enfield Town on the Somerset coast yesterday – switching off at a crucial time after defending manfully coupled with an disappointing lack of quality at the other end.

Gavin Macpherson had called on his players to finish the campaign with pride but the fact we hardly created a worthwhile chance speak volumes about the paucity of attacking otions though perhaps on this occasion there were mitigating circumstances, with Lamar Reynolds injured, Jake Cass having departed and Eli Ackeson still away on trial.

Add in the fact that not one but two academy players were on the bench – one of whom had never been in the squad – and you get some idea of the resources at our disposal. It didn’t augur well and so it proved, the match ending with Sam Youngs virtually up front on his own.

Playoff-chasing Weston were desperate for points yet for large parts of the game were frustrated by a Town backline featuring the returning Adam Thompson who replaced the suspended Henry Hawkins.

With precious little fire power to call on, Town pushed Nino Adom-Malaki into a more advanced left-sided role but we rarely managed to hurt the Seagulls who invariably controlled the play.

They almost took the lead inside 60 seconds only for Louis Britton’s shot from six yards to be luckily fired straight into the gloves of Joe Wright.

As Town settled down, Weston’s crosses from wide areas were frequently overhit though a huge home penalty shout went unheeded when Don Bernard appeared to be impeded.

Joe got down well to push Michael Smith’s attempt round the post after he latched on to a neat backheel. But just when the Seagulls’ rushed approach seemed to be playing into Town’s hands, the hosts took the lead seconds before the interval.

One again it was a set-piece that did for us when a corner was flicked on into the six-yard area and Sam Avery nodded home, undermining all the solid defending that had gone before.

H-T

Joe was soon called into action to save again from Britton and Ollie Dewsbury, between which Luke Spokes curled an attempt over the bar. Scot Bennett then carved his way through but couldn’t beat Joe.

Town’s punchless predicament intensified when Billy Leonard, having been earlier hacked down with no help from the referee, had to limp off.

Corie Andrews, who worked hard but was largely ineffective, also suffered a knock and had already been subbed himself. As we tried to chase the game, young Kaobi Efobi came off the bench for his senior debut to add his weight — or rather lack of it – to the attack as we pushed for a late equaliser without success.

Chippenham being relegated with us after a decade at Step 2, and long-time participants Bath on the verge of the same fate, shows what a tough league this is,  however scant consolation that might be.

“We were lacking considerably in forward options and didn’t have much to shout about,” said Gavin. “Having said that I expected a bit more from one of two of them. I understand relegation has just happened  and that human nature kicks in to try and see the season out. But the fans applauding the players off the pitch today should give the players and the management team plenty of desire to want to win the last two games.”

Wright; Appiah, Benjamin, Thompson, Donaldson; Leonard (Efobi 84), Parcell, Bullas(Brown 75) , Adon-Malaki; Youngs, Andrews (Traore 58)