We are delighted to announce that striker Cian Dillon has rejoined the club on a 28-day loan from Queens Park Rangers.

The 19-year-old Republic of Ireland U19 and U21 international had an important spell with us late last season, helping us preserve our Step 2 status by scoring twice in six appearances.

Now he is ready to make his mark again in a Towners shirt.

“Happy to have Cian back with us,” said Gavin Macpherson. “Although we tried desperately to get him over the line for Dorking last night he will add some much-needed resilience to a squad already lacking through injury.”

Dorking Wanderers 2 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Amid a worrying injury crisis, Enfield Town suffered a fourth league defeat in five games on Tuesday as a battling performance once again yielded no reward.

Town remain just above the relegation on goal difference courtesy of other results going in our favour but arresting the slump is not lost on the management team and has become a crucial priority.

No-one, least all Gavin Macpherson is making any excuses for the current malaise but it doesn’t help when a small-ish squad compared with most other sides in the division is shorn of a stack of players.

Already without the likes of Sam Youngs, Jack Bates and Ruaridh Donaldson, Town were able to name only six subs when Nino Adom-Malaki pulled out shortly before the game with a knee issue.

The fact that neither Bailey Brown nor Mickey Parcell were fit enough to play a part because of individual knocks despite being named on the bench and you get some idea of how stretched we were – and may still be for a few games yet with Tosh Gallimore ruled out of the FA Trophy at Harborough because of international duty.

Yet no-one can fault us for energy and application even if we were again lacking in the final third. Despite a disastrous start, Town were certainly not overawed (only once in truth have we been all season) and had we shown the same attacking intent over the 90 minutes as we did in the last 10 after pulling a goal back with Ollie Davis’ sumptuous freekick, we might well have come away with a point.

Tommy Wood found the going tough after being given a rare start in the absence of Sam but at the other end the hosts were in front inside a minute when two of Town’s back three inexplicably stepped out, allowing on-loan Forest Green Rovers forward Jose Marquez to give Dorking a quickfire start. Rhys Forster produced a strong hand but only proceeded to push the ball further into the net and will perhaps be disappointed he couldn’t keep it out.

Despite the setback we settled down but you have to take whatever chances you get, especially away from home and what a glorious one we had to equalise. Hayden Bullas – arguably Town’s best player on the night – went on a surging run before finding Ollie Knight whose shot stung the hands of the Dorking keeper. The rebound only needed a tap-in but Evan Jones blasted over.

For the rest of the half,  with 38-year-old Luke Moore pulling the strings in front of the Dorking defence and Dennon Lewis a constant threat, we couldn’t create much else going forward but at least managed to keep Dorking away from our own goal, including one superb tackle from Adam Thompson on Alfie Rutherford who was injured in the process and had to be subbed.

H-T 0-1

Dorking continued to press, however, producing a flurry of threatening inswinging corners and crosses. Jimmy Muitt flashed a header wide and Rhys pulled off a fine tip-over save.

Eventually one of the crosses seemed likely to pay off  and so it proved.  On 71 minutes, Muitt got the better of two Town players and when no defender got a foot in to clear the cross, Lewis rifled home at the back post.

Cue the introduction of both Davis and Eli Ackason, both of whom made an immediate impact which augurs well for the future.

Eli showed commendable quick feet but it was Davis who stole the show from a Town standpoint, showing exactly why he’s such a potentially exciting asset by wrapping a sublime freekick round the wall with 10 remaining on the clock.

Now we pinned Dorking back but  for all our endeavour, it was too little, too late.  Jones, leaning back, thrashed the ball over but as we poured men forward, Dorking came within a whisker of adding a third through a Lewis breakaway.

“I think we were playing against the best team in the league,” Gavin declared. “We were literally trying to throw a team together and the boys worked desperately hard. We didn’t create too many clearcut chances if I’m honest but we went toe to toe with a very good side even if at times we had to hang in. But at the end of the day we’ve no points, again, and it has to stop.”

Hopefully starting at Dover on Saturday.

Town

Forster; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins; Leonard (Ackeson 81), Gallimore, Bullas, Knight, Jones; Wood, Reynolds (Davis 73).

Dorking Wanderers is a tough enough away fixture with a full squad to choose from let alone having to deal with a number of walking wounded.

Having lost three of our last four league games, though there is an argument to suggest we  deserved better in two of those losses, Town go into Tuesday night’s fixture without Sam Youngs, who has been skippering the side of late, as well as potentially a few other forced absentees.

In all likelihood, Sam will be out for a minimum 10 days having had a number of staples inserted in a 3-cm gash to the head suffered during  Saturday’s defeat to Eastbourne.  

With Jack Bates and Ruaridh Donaldson again likely to be on the sidelines and Gavin facing the prospect of at least two other first-team absentees, the squad could be stretched to its limit for what is bound to be a massively  awkward tie against one of the strongest sides in the division that have put together three straight league wins and are especially formidable at home.

Town fans will be hoping we can at least repeat last season’s hard-fought draw as we bid to move clear of the drop zone.

“The task is not lost on any of us,” said Gavin. “I have huge belief in our squad but it’s got to the point where we would all take a poor performance but sneak a scrappy 1-0 win in the last minute. I’m working dreadfully hard to get this team to where it should be. We all know how strong Dorking are but we have to get something either tomorrow or at Dover on Saturday, preferably both.”

AW

Enfield Town 1 Eastbourne Borough 2

Report By Andrew warshaw

It all started so positively. A player of the month award for Hayden Bullas and a guard of honour for Sam Youngs for having broken the club’s appearance record (pictured)

But by the end, Enfield Town were ruing yet another league defeat and have now ominously collected just three points out of a possible 12 to remain just above the relegation zone.

Town were a shadow of the side that comfortably beat Ebbsfleet in their last home encounter and, as Gavin Macpherson had predicted, faced an Eastbourne side who belied their bottom-four position.

Unlike previous recent defeats, we couldn’t really argue that we created enough to take something from the game, at least in the second half when we failed to hurt The Sports going forward.

Conversely, Eastbourne’s leading scorer Pemi Aderoju was always a threat and he was his double that earned the visitors only their second league win of the season.

After Eastbourne had shaded the opening exchanges, Town put together a sustained period of pressure and made it count on 29 minutes when Henry Hawkins, up from the back, stole in the back post to convert a crisp set-piece.

Ryan Sandford had already come to his side’s  rescue by brilliantly clawing away a Sam Youngs header.  

Sam had earlier been forced to leave the field and change his shirt — for the first of no fewer than four times during the afternoon — having been the victim of an over-zealous challenge by Camron Gbadebo which led to a blood-splattered head wound.

But no sooner had Enfield got on the scoresheet than the visitors responded in style two minutes later with a magnificent bullet header from Aderoju from the edge of the box.

Minutes later, Town were forced into a change when Bailey Brown  limped off with a groin issue to be replaced by Ollie Knight

H-T 1-1

If the parity was just about right at halftime, one might have expected Town to push on after the break.

Instead, six minutes into the second half, it was the visitors who came from behind to lead. Nino Adom-Malaki looked to have been fouled near the byline but nothing was given and the resultant cross was by swept home by Aderohu.

Lamar Reynolds was next to leave the field because of a hamstring tweak, paving the way for Olly Davis to make his Town debut off the bench.

 But if anything, it was Eastbourne who came closest to adding to the scoreline. Aderoju, who had already showed how vital a proven goalscorer can be, slipped just as he was about to complete his hattrick whilst a flicked header from a teammate came back off the woodwork.

As Town rallied in the latter stages, Davis miscued an effort while Sandford clawed away a corner from just under his crossbar.

To complete Sam Youngs’ misery, he was hospitalised after the game to have a nasty 3-cm gash, which is likely to take several days to heal, stitched up.

“We felt confident coming into the game and we had a really good 30 minutes when we scored,” said Gavin afterwards. “Credit to the lad for the equaliser but then we make a mistake for their second. They kept spinning it behind us and in truth we never got into our rhythm and didn’t create much in the second half. Eastbourne won’t stay in that position but this is a really poor result and I’m bitterly disappointed cos we’ve thrown points away and let ourselves down which I haven’t said many times. The reality is that it’s a results business and now we have to try to get something at Dorking and Dover.”

Forster; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins; Adom-Malaki (Jones 88), Brown (Knight 37), Bullas, Gallimore Parcell 88), Leonard; Youngs, Reynolds (Davis 60)

Some exciting news ahead of our crucial fixture with Eastbourne Borough this afternoon.

We are delighted to announce the signing of two new players:  Olly Davis, a 19-year-old forward/winger from Braintree, and Eli Ackason from our academy.

Olly, who was originally with Ipswich’s academy where he progressed through the  youth ranks from the age of seven, was on loan last season at St Albans before moving to Step 1 Braintree.

Eli, meanwhile,  was the standout performer in our Middlesex senior cup defeat to Uxbridge in midweek.  Both are available for selection today.

“Olly Davis is a versatile player who will add pace, creativity and hopefully goals to the team,” said Gavin Macpherson. “I’ve known and liked Ollie for a while and feel now is the time to add to the squad. My intention is not to stop there but as we know recruitment often takes time, I’m sure we’ll all fully welcome Olly to the club and hope he enjoys his time with us.”

“In terms of Eli, I think after his performance against Uxbridge we can see the benefit of the academy players training regularly with the first team and being given the opportunity to play first-team football. I think the time now is right for Eli to be on senior forms and we will look at all options as we look closely at his development.”

Welcome Olly and Eli

Gavin Macpherson is under no illusions about the importance of tomorrow’s basement battle against Eastbourne Borough, another full-time team but one he believes is in a false position.

The Sports finished one point off the automatic promotion places last season, only to slip up in the playoffs – an indication of the threat they can potentially pose.

Although they have only one league win so far this season and are one place off the bottom, victory away at Maidenhead and a draw at Ebbsfleet in their last four games illustrates their threat on the road, particularly now that Tommy Widdrington is back in their dugout.

But with a fair wind behind us, literally and figuratively, the points are there to be won.

“I don’t know why Eastbourne are in the position they are but I’m not reading much into it when you look at the players they’ve got. They are well resourced and clearly under achieving at the moment,” said Gavin.

“I wouldn’t call it a six-pointer at this stage of the season but it’s obviously an important game. But we’ve been playing well. We’ve been the better team for most of the last three performances even though we only got the one win against Ebbsfleet. In fact I’d go as far as to say that only against Chesham have we been outplayed.”

Converting a sufficient number of our chances and conceding last-ditch goals, as everyone knows, have been ongoing concerns. “When I said I was angry after Horsham it wasn’t directed at the boys but from a results perspective, they deserve to be doing better,” said Gavin.

“Like so many sides in this division, Eastbourne are another full-time team who have more time to prepare, plan and train but I know the side we’ve put together is competitive. Give me that sort of time with this group and we’d be infinitely higher but it is what it is.”

 Meanwhile the hunt is on to boost the forward positions. With Harry Lodovica and Matty Macarthur now departed, the management team are working hard to bring in at least one proven replacement. Watch this space …

AW

Enfield Town 1 Uxbridge 1 (Uxbridge win 9-8 on penalties)

Southern Premier South Uxbridge, with only two competitive defeats so far this season, sent a strong squad to the Dave Bryant Stadium and were ultimately rewarded with a shootout success in the Middlesex Senior Cup second round and a home tie against North Greenford United in the quarter finals. 

Town’s starting XI included just two from Saturday’s trip to Horsham – Bayley Brown and Billy Leonard — and just like  in the London Senior Cup, albeit with a different finale, Gavin Macpherson’s makeshift side couldn’t get beyond the first hurdle against lower-league opposition.

A crowd of 169 witnessed a competitive game, which was both entertaining and scrappy in equal measure in different patches.  The stand-out performer on the night was Town Academy youngster Eli Ackason – in at the last minute for Avan Jones (toe injury) – who covered nearly every blade of grass and was deservedly named Town’s man of the match.

Club captain Mickey Parcell returned to the side following his suspension and on this occasion was used primarily in the middle of a back four alongside Ruaridh Donaldson. Tommy Wood played as a lone striker for the majority of the game while Uxbridge’s central defenders were also familiar to the home fans – former Towners Bernie Tanner and Kyle Bailey.

After a number of chances at both ends, around the half hour mark the visitors’ on-loan keeper Laurie Shala came rushing out of his area to bring down Wood, but the referee only issued a yellow card as there were covering defenders.  

Uxbridge took the lead with a fine goal in the 34^th minute. A sweeping move down the Town right ended with Ada Okorogheye playing in George Moore, who finished impressively past Adi Connolly. 

Three minutes later, an eye-catching run from Ackason ended with a foul on him in the box by Bailey. Wood stepped up and was relieved to see his penalty creep over the line via Shala and the crossbar.

Half-time: Enfield Town 1 Uxbridge 1

The second period was disrupted by regular substitutions from both sides. Uxbridge probably had more chances, including Cole Brown hitting the bar, but Shala produced the save of the night to deny Jack Bates who had unleashed a powerful drive in the closing stages.

After 90 minutes of endeavour the game went straight to penalties. What turned out to be the winning penalty was netted by keeper Shala past his opposite number Connolly.

While Town are now out of three cup competitions, with a huge FA Trophy fixture to come at Harborough on Nov 15, Gavin said after last night’s game that was pleased with the overall performance given the line-up.

“We had seven or eight academy boys in the squad and they all massively played their part especially when several more senior players had to come off,” he said

Town: Connolly; Lambert (Opuku), Parcell, Donaldson (Hawkins), Cann; Leonard (Oliveira), Ackerson,  Brown, Bates, Knight; Wood (Bullas).

Penalties scored:  Hawkins, Bates, Opuku, Bullas, Brown, Knight, Cann, Ackason, Missed: Parcell, Oliveira.

KB

Winger Matty Macarthur has departed the club, and has signed for Isthmian Premier side Chatham Town.

Former Gillingham youngster Matty signed for Town from Farnborough after impressing during pre-season, and went on to make seven competitive appearances for the club.

We wish Matty well for the future.

The draw for the Second Round Proper of the FA Trophy was made this afternoon.

The Towners will embark on a trip to Leicestershire having been handed a tough draw against Step 3 Harborough Town. The tie will take place on the weekend of Saturday 15th November. 2025.

The Bees are currently unbeaten in the Southern Premier Division Central – the same division as Quorn, our previous FA Cup opponents – with seven wins and four draws. Having demolished Rushden & Diamonds in the previous round, and with their only defeat this season having been in an FA Cup replay against Altrincham, Gavin Macpherson and his side will know they must be at their best if they are to progress any further in this season’s Trophy.

Harborough are a side very much in the ascendancy on and off the pitch. They were granted planning permission to overhaul their stadium last season, including the installation of a 4G pitch as well as an increase in capacity; while on the pitch, their FA Cup exploits saw them go toe-to-toe with Football League side Reading last season. Former Spurs and QPR midfielder Sandro was part of their squad. They were only beaten on penalties in last season’s Southern Premier play-off semi-finals, and will be looking to go one better this season by guaranteeing promotion to the National League for the first time.

Horsham 1-0 Enfield Town

An exasperated Gavin Macpherson was left to rue his side’s wastefulness as they spurned several chances in a narrow defeat to Horsham at Hop Oast.

An unchanged eleven were rewarded with starts following Town’s midweek win over Ebbsfleet, and it ought to have paid dividends as the visitors fashioned the vast majority of opportunities in the first half, but proved unable to convert them. It was hosts Horsham who saw most of the ball in the opening exchanges; Greg Luer’s long-range drive was well held by Forster in the second minute, while goalkeeper Lewis Carey spent lengthy periods on the ball assessing the options in front of him, only to find a disciplined Town rear guard, much to the frustration of the 1500-strong home crowd.

Beyond the ten-minute mark, the Towners began to threaten with increasing intensity. Hayden Bullas – a positive presence throughout – crossed for Lamar Reynolds, whose glancing near-post header was watched well wide. Five minutes later and Reynolds was gifted a far more presentable chance as a ricocheted clearance fell kindly to him six yards out, but his effort was well repelled at point-blank range by Carey.

Still the chances continued as Town upped the pressure, but ultimately to no avail. Bullas slipped a neat pass down the right-hand channel into Billy Leonard, whose side-footed drive was beaten away by the Hornets’ keeper. The clearest chance of the half followed soon after as Bullas again sought to tee up an opener, releasing Bayley Brown in the centre of the box, though his eventual shot was low and too close to Carey, who would ultimately be named man-of-the-match.

Between both chances there was very nearly a carbon-copy of the debacle at Slough, as Henry Hawkins was shunted to the floor in his own box, and with play inexplicably allowed to continue, Town required an excellent last-ditch tackle from Adam Thompson to prevent an almost certain tap-in. Before the interval, both Thompson and Sam Youngs tried their luck from the edge of the area as Town ended the half strongly, but deadlocked at 0-0.

Half Time: Horsham 0-0 Enfield Town

The second period began in the same vein as the first; Rhys Forster’s gloves stung by a long range effort, as he gathered Harvey Sparks’ shot. Town responded in kind with a flowing counter attack that ended with Xavier Benjamin galloping out from defence to cross for Sam Youngs, who volleyed narrowly wide.

Horsham had re-shuffled at the break, introducing striker Rhys Murphy to the fray, and after curling just wide from distance, he somehow miscued an effort from close range moments later as the Hornets looked to find a foothold. Again Town hit back; a quick goal kick from Forster picked out Leonard, whose teasing cross was inches away from finding a grey shirt in the centre. Town’s number one was then called into action shortly afterwards, producing a terrific double save to thwart both Murphy and Luer in quick succession.

Yet there was nothing he could do to prevent what proved to be the winner on 67 minutes; Charlie Hester-Cook afforded too much space to advance from midfield and pick out the top corner with a superb swerving effort from 20 yards.

In truth, Town offered too little following their setback as Horsham retreated into shape and looked to pounce in transition. Ollie Knight was introduced in the immediate aftermath of the goal, and the nearest the away side were to finding an equaliser came late on as he wriggled free on the edge of the penalty area, but his cross was a whisker away from connecting with Reynolds’ boot in the middle.

Despite the frustration of another defeat, there were certainly positives to take from Town’s build-up play, as well as a significant piece of Enfield Town FC history, as Sam Youngs played his 352nd game for the Towners, in the process becoming the club’s all-time record appearance maker.

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Town: Forster; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins; Leonard, Bullas (Bates 86’), Brown (Knight 69’), Gallimore, Adom-Malaki; Youngs, Reynolds (Wood 88’).

Unused subs: Connolly, Donaldson, Jones, Cann.

Attendance: 1550