Hemel Hempstead 1 Enfield Town 1
Report by Martin Bentley
Enfield Town’s clash with Hemel Hempstead fizzled out into a disappointing 1-1 draw at a warm sunny Vauxhall Road on Saturday but survival is still very much in our hands.
Gavin Macpherson may have rued his side conceding an equaliser but the outcome was actually not too bad a result, as a draw for St Albans and defeat for Salisbury saw Town hold on to 20th position with a three-point cushion and just four games left to play.
Gavin made several changes, starting with a new strike force of Anointed Chukwu and on-loan Cian Dillon, his first start.
Indeed, Dillon announced himself with a high-speed gallop down the left in the opening seconds as Town started the game very much on the front foot.
Sam Youngs had already had a header saved by home keeper Jameson Horlick before Town took a fourth-minute lead. Bayley Brown ploughed through the middle before feeding Billy Leonard on the right wing and Leonard’s cross was nodded in at the far post by Lennon Peake.
Town might have doubled their lead in the 16th minute when Chukwu’s effort was blocked by Horlick, the rebound finding its way to Leonard on the edge of the box, only for his shot to be hacked off the line by Mazeed Ogungbo.
Youngs then headed Peake’s corner wide as Town continued to ask questions but Hemel were slowly gaining a greater share of possession.
The dangerous Ollie Lynch had an effort ruled out for offside and a shot blocked within the space of four minutes as the Tudors finished the half on top.
H-T 0-1
The interval saw Hemel substitute a presumably injured Lynch, much to Town’s relief, but apart from a Leonard shot that was saved comfortably by Horlick, there was very little to excite the spectators in the opening 20 minutes of the half.
On 66 minutes, however, Hemel found an equaliser with their first meaningful shot. Ajayi’s flick-on found an unmarked Joe White, who beat the advancing Joe Wright comfortably.
The game seemed to fizzle out at this point, probably due to the unseasonably high temperatures; the final half hour was a frustrating series of mishit passes and wayward crossing.
However the Tudors might have nicked all three points when Ogungbo sent a free header inexplicably wide of Wright’s left-hand post.
Three straight draws now for Town and suddenly that St Albans game on Good Friday looks more and more crucial.
Town
Wright, Benjamin, Hawkins, Stallard, Leonard (Oyenuga 88), Parcell, Brown, Peake (Knight 80), Youngs, Chukwu (Bates 64), Dillon (Kasimu 90)