Lewes 1 Enfield Town 0
Report by Martin Bentley
A lifeless Enfield Town performance at the Dripping Pan saw them slip to defeat at the hands of Lewes, with a 41st minute strike from Deon Moore sufficient to secure the three points.
With all of the teams around them, Bishops Stortford excepted, managing to win, Town dropped to fifth place in the table and further into the chasing pack aiming for a play-off place.
Town lined up with Johnville Renee playing against his old team (pictured) and recalled Chez Isaac and Andre Coker to the starting line-up. Reverting to a 4-3-3 formation they began slowly, with the home side’s slick passing game a marked contrast to Town’s more direct approach.
Lewes, however, had only a couple of blocked and off-target efforts to show for their endeavours, and Town slowly grew into the game.
Coker was off target with a 13th minute effort, but clear chances were at a premium until the 40th minute. A Scott Thomas corner was cleared by the home defence to the industrious Moore near the halfway line. With Town short-handed at the back, the Lewes striker was able to run through and beat Nathan McDonald from the edge of the box.
H-T 1-0
No-one, however, suspected that this would prove to be the last meaningful effort on goal in the entire game.
The second half saw the home side control possession for long periods without troubling McDonald further, and Town had to wait until the 85th minute for their only shot on target, Lyle Della Verde’s freekick looping off the defensive wall to be flipped over the bar by home keeper Lewis Carey.
Apart from Lyle’s effort, the final ten minutes of the game were truly bizarre, with Lewes content to retain possession in their own half, and Town seemingly content to watch them do so. Definitely a game to file under ‘must do better’!
Town: McDonald, Renee, Payne, Thomas (Kamara 74), Knight, Richmond, Isaac, Youngs, Cunnington, Wyllie (Della Verde 57), Coker (Taaffe 79).