Enfield Town 1 Farnborough 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Sam Youngs’ first-half penalty earned a depleted Town a battling win over an out-of-sorts Farnborough side and gave our survival hopes a much-needed boost.

Gavin Macpherson, already without the suspended Xavier Benjamin, had to re-organise a second time an hour before kickoff when Adam Thompson pulled out because of urgent family business.

But the makeshift line-up, including the returning John Oyenuga in an unfamiliar back three role and debutant Charlie Stallard as wingback, did their team proud.

Stallard, who has been training with the club for a number of weeks, was originally due be among the subs but was promoted to the starting eleven when Adam had to withdraw, leaving us with only four on the bench.

Not for the first time, we had to rely on Sam and not for the first time from the penalty spot.  But while we again lacked fluency up front and had to hang on at the other end in the latter stages,  we could in fact have been out of sight after just 15 minutes.

Anointed Chukwu, restored to the starting eleven with Amaru Kaunda having returned to Cambridge, caught Farnborough off guard, only to see his shot saved by the legs of Jack Turner.

The Yellows, playing all in black, are bottom of the division’s form table and Turner again came to their rescue with a brilliant stop from Billy Leonard. As the ball spun into the air, Bayley Brown’s ferocious drive was cleared off the line.

It seemed poetic justice when Brown, who gave away that penalty in the final seconds a week ago at Weymouth, atoned for his error.

On 14 minutes he forced into way into the box and was chopped down by Olly Pendlebury. Up stepped Youngs to celebrate winning his January player of the month award by sending Turner the wrong way.

Minutes later, the visitors had a mighty let-off when Henry Hawkins’ header from a corner came back off the post and somehow rebounded to safety.

Farnborough didn’t threaten until late in the half through Aaron Kuhl, who collected a freekick, found space for himself and thrashed  a shot inches wide. Reggie Young also went close but Town fully deserved their halftime lead.

H-T 1-0

After a dominant first 45 minutes, we found the going tougher but not before Youngs, with twinkle toes precision, forced a corner from which he arrived at the near post but couldn’t quite find the target.

From then on we had to dig in to maintain our advantage as Farnborough played through the lines. Richard Chin shot over after a rash attempted challenge by the otherwise impeccable Hawkins, then Chin stung the hands of Forster.

Yet for all their forward forays and umpteen long throws by skipper Ollie Robinson into our box, Farnborough didn’t test Rhys enough.

In fact, we had the chance to wrap things up twice through Chukwu. First the goal opened up for him, only for the ball to be smuggled clear. Then he chased down a clearance but didn’t have the pace to go on and finish and ran out of legs (pictured).

We almost paid the price right at the death. In a hearts in mouth moment, man of the match Oyenuga – who excelled on his return – dived full length with a goal-saving header four yards out to make sure that this time we held on to the points, Town fans breathing a collective sigh of relief.

The sight of Bailey Brown clutching his shoulder at the finish didn’t augur well given our absentees but Gav was understandably proud of his troops while, conversely, a section of the Farnborough fans called for their manager’s head after eight winless games.

“We had to show battling qualities with a completely makeshift back three,” Gav said. “We had to shuffle the pack twice and the boys were brilliant to be as resilient as they were. I’ve got to take my hat off to John Oyenuga coming in and playing out of position.”

“Having said that, we should have been out of sight at halftime on chances and in the second half, they spun the ball better than us. Overall we should have got nine points from the last three games and haven’t but it’s shown me we’re not far off.”

Town

Forster; Oyenuga, Hawkins, Payne; Stallard, Parcell, Youngs, Brown (Smith, 90), Leonard; Chukwu, Hutchinson (Whittaker, 90)

They may be winless in seven league games and have failed to triumph away since mid-October but Gavin Macpherson remembers only well the danger Farnborough Town, our opponents on Saturday, posed in the corresponding game earlier in the season.

Farnborough beat us comfortably 4-1 and while they have tailed off somewhat in recent weeks, Gavin is under no illusions about what could lie in store – especially given our absentees.

Town go into the game still without Dylan Adjei-Hersey while Lennon Peake remains on the sidelines, Xavier Benjamin starts the first of a three-game ban and Amaru Kaunda has returned to Cambridge United. Not ideal but as ever, that gives an opportunity to others to stake a claim.

For their part Farnborough have just brought in 19-year-old AFC Bournemouth youth striker Jonny Stuttle, who played at Aldershot for the last eight weeks, while Hisham Kasimu, a familiar face to Town fans, has left the Yellows despite the club wanting him to stay. The visitors also have Fionn Mooney who at one stage in November seemed about to play for us, only to choose Farnborough instead.

The postponement of the Eastbourne game in midweek allowed us to have an extra training session to, as Gav put it, “implement some more strategy” for the visit of Farnborough.

“For me, when we played them before, even now they remain one of the best teams we have played all season,” said Gav. “Lots of clubs lose form but it will be a temporary blip for them. For us, no game is easy. Losing Xav tomorrow means losing a player who goes into the trenches for you but there are others in the same bracket.”

 Following back-to-back draws — both games we should have won — it’s getting to the point where we cannot afford to be cast further adrift.

 “Failing to win when you should do definitely hurts. Sure as time goes on the credibility factor (of getting out of this) comes into play,” said Gav.  “But I’m not one to give up and the supporters last Saturday at Weymouth were yet again superb, clapping us off even though they must have been gutted.”

To such an extent that Gavin had to pull a crestfallen Bailey Brown out of the dressing room to join the rest of the team in the usual end-of-match show of thanks.

“Bailey was upset over his mistake and to his credit his mood showed how much he cares. But at the same time there were people on the terraces who had paid good money.”

“Let’s not detract from the difficulty we find ourselves in. We are going to have to put together an incredible run of form but there is no element of throwing in the towel, not on my watch.

“We spoke about the fans in training on Thursday. I realise this hasn’t been the season they would have wanted but the majority have a balanced view about how tough this was going to be for a club of our structure. However difficult this has been, we need them to find that extra piece of resilience in the remaining games especially at home. It gives us all a lift and we’ll do our best on the pitch to fuel their enthusiasm.”

AW

We have agreed a new date with the National League and Eastbourne Borough for our home game against the Sports, which was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch earlier this week.

Eastbourne will now visit us on Tuesday 18th February (kick-off 7:45pm).

Weymouth 1 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

The sickening frustration continues, this time with literally seconds to spare courtesy of another needless error which cost us dearly.

Having lost Lennon Peake to a worrying first-half knee injury and Xavier Benjamin to a straight red card – both potentially pivotal blows — Town were nevertheless on the verge of three crucial points, only to throw two away with virtually the last kick of stoppage time to remain stranded in the drop zone with Step 2 survival becoming ever more precarious.

Just like Bath City a week ago, Weymouth – who like us desperately needed the points —  were there for the taking. In truth they hardly laid a glove on us. In fact their manager said it was the worst performance since he took over yet still we couldn’t get over the line in a low-quality encounter.

Town were unchanged from the Bath game and dominated possession for most of the match as well enjoying the better cearcut chances, few of them though there were.

From the off we curled crosses and corners into the Terras box but without being able to apply the finishing touch. Jake Hutchinson should have put us ahead early doors while Weymouth’s Jordon Thompson cleared off the line.

Much of our good work was down to Peake so it certainly didn’t help our cause when Rio Davidson-Phipps left him writhing in pain, ending his day and most likely ruling him out for several more to leave  him thoroughly distraught as he left the pitch being consoled by teammates.

Lennon’s replacement Joe Payne was quickly into the action by rifling a long-range effort narrowly wide while Mickey Parcell did likewise.

H-T 0-0

The same pattern continued after the break with Town forcing three quick corners, the second of which was tipped over the bar by Will Buse.

Billy Leonard then drove into the keeper’s arms before Amaru Kaunda  raced into the area, only to see his slashed shot rebound off the head of Youngs and spin just over.

As the game opened up, Youngs was presented with another effort, this time getting it wrong by firing high and over while at the other end Ibrahim Meite stung the hands of Rhys Forster who had enjoyed a relatively quiet afternoon but then had to make a flying stop from Ben Greenwood.

Cue an unexpected frantic finale. On 80 minutes Benjamin received a straight red for lashing out at Brandon Goodship before it was 10 apiece as home skipper Tom Bearwish picked up his second yellow.

Five minutes later Town thought they’d won it as Youngs converted a penalty, awarded for handball (pictured). Buse got a strong hand to it but couldn’t keep it out and all we had to do now was manage the last few minutes of regulation time and four more added on to secure a valuable victory.

But with virtually the final kick, Bailey Brown, instead of either lashing the ball out of the ground or passing it back to Forster who had called, allowed substitute  Harrison Day to nip in front of him and was penalised for a senseless barge.

Softly awarded maybe but Jake McCarthy made no mistake by smashing the ball down the middle of the goal to give Weymouth a lifeline they scarcely deserved. There was hardly time to restart before the final whistle,  leaving Brown inconsolable and the whole Town team devastated at having got so close.

“What Bailey did was at the stupidest thing I’ve seen in a long time because the game was done,” said a crestfallen Gavin Macpherson. “Lennon’s knee doesn’t look good and being without Xav for three games (after Eastbourne on Tuesday) is going to be tough but equally I can look at the top end of the pitch.”

“I said the same thing last week about the forwards. They show what they can do in training in terms of getting on the end of things but then go out and do something different on the pitch. Today was a killer, not in terms of the season but in terms of not getting the three points.”

Forster, Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins, Leonard, Brown, Parcell, Youngs, Peake (Payne 29), Hutchinson (Whittaker 70), Kaunda (Beckles-Richards 74).

Both managers insist it’s a must win game but something has to give.

Having let Bath City off the hook last Saturday, Enfield Town go to Weymouth on Saturday for a crunch clash that has all the makings of a classic six-pointer.

Town are two places and four points ahead of the bottom-placed Terras who have still not won at home in the league and for whom results have not really picked up but who have nevertheless proved a tough nut to crack since the arrival of Warren Feeney as manager.

Gavin Macpherson is not one to focus on bad luck or bemoan lost opportunities but having set out to get a minimum four points from Bath and Weymouth, Saturday’s clash somehow takes on extra spice  between two sides who have struggled to score goals.

“That’s why we’re both down there,” conceded Gavin. “If you can’t score goals, you have to keep clean sheets which is unrealistic at this level. They’ve made some signings this week which suggest they are trying to put that right.

“It’s a tough league. You have to have the right structure. I understand because of the position of both teams why  people are building this game up but it’s no different to other weeks in terms of our preparation.”

On the injury front, Dylan Adjei-Hersey is the latest victim to be ruled out but barring any late unforeseen developments, Gavin is hopeful the rest of the squad will be fit to start against a team that ran high-flying Maidstone and Worthing close in their last two outings and will be out to make life as uncomfortable as possible for us.

But vice-versa too, with both clubs in danger of being cast further adrift if either lose. “We are going to there to win the game, simple as that,” said Gavin. It should make for an intriguing afternoon.

AW

We are thrilled to announce the return of the award-winning and unmissable Cinelli Brothers playing an acoustic set on Thursday, Feb 20th, at  Butler’s Bar, Enfield Town FC.

Winners of the 2024 UK Blues Band of the Year, the Cinellis, who have toured all over the world, are known for their electrifying live shows, earning a loyal fanbase and international acclaim.

As aficiandos will know, they have performed at our club several times before and have agreed to play a similar acoustic fund-raising gig to their last appearance back in August which went down a storm, featuring three members of the regular four-piece band.

 We are delighted they can fit us in to their busy schedule and thanks go to Christine Hamilton for arranging their eagerly awaited return.

Doors open at 7.30 and tickets priced £15 can be purchased  online at https://enfieldtownfc.ktckts.com/event/concert3/the-cinelli-brothers-live-……. .

Any remaining tickets on the night will be strictly subject to availability and capacity

Enfield Town 1 Bath City 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Sam Youngs, not for the first time this season, rescued a point for Town but the players will rue not collecting all three against below-par opposition on a frustrating afternoon.

With the other teams in the drop zone all facing tough games against top six sides, this was a golden opportunity for us to climb the table and move closer to safety.

But we found ourselves chasing the game at halftime  and despite a dominant second-half display couldn’t make our superiority count.

Bath had won three out of four under new manager Darren Way but hadn’t played for two weeks and looked rusty.

 They almost fell behind in bizarre circumstances early doors when a clearance was charged down by Mickey Parcell 40 yards from goal and the ball ricocheted forward and bounced off the woodwork.

With Jake Hutchinson playing up front alongside Amaru Kaunda and Youngs in just behind, Gavin Macpherson went for an attacking formation — on paper at least.

But after that freak early chance, further opportunities were few and far between though Town could not be faulted for their approach play with Lennon Peake and Billy Leonard giving Bath plenty to thinking about on the flanks.

For all our promise, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock three minutes before halftime despite having posed little threat.  Henry Hawkins was penalised trying to cut out a fine diagonal switch from Scott Wilson and Jordan Alves buried the freekick beyond Rhys Forster who, for some reason, had positioned himself behind the wall leaving the other side of his goal gaping.

The last action of the half saw a melee in the Bath area following a corner, the ball ultimately trickling into the keeper’s arms.

H-T 0-1

Town came storming out for the second half and Leonard’s cross-shot grazed the bar while Peake’s deliveries were a constant threat, yet another finding a jungle of legs in the Bath area but not converted into an equaliser.

For all our dominance, we very nearly conceded again. Just before the hour mark, Town  fans breathed a collective sigh of relief when Romans danger man Wilson made space for himself but narrowly missed the target when it looked for all the world like he had doubled his team’s lead.

Finally, just when it looked like it might be a barren afternoon, the pressure told on 76 minutes.

A sweeping Parcell pass found Leonard who fizzed the ball across goal for Youngs, by now pushed further forward, to finish in trademark style at the back post.

It was the least Town deserved but for all their strong running and desire, the same old problem of lack of quality in the final third meant we ended up with one point instead of three, something that surely has to change for us to secure survival. The reality is that we cannot afford to draw games we should win and lose games we should draw in the weeks ahead.

“There’s a realism we didn’t win the game. I wish Henry hadn’t made the challenge but Rhys should have kept it out and he knows that,” said Gav. “Conversely I’m not sure their keeper had many shots to save. Yes they were on the rack at times but for all our entries into their box, we weren’t good enough  where it matters most and it’s a massive frustration.”

Next up the small matter of a visit to Weymouth next Saturday. “We set out to get four points minimum from these two games. Now we have to go and win there,” added Gav.

Town

Forster; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins; Peake, Brown, Youngs, Parcell, Leonard; Hutchinson (Whittaker, 70), Kaunda (Chukwu, 82)

Another Saturday, another challenge and the chance to achieve a rare double when Bath City are the visitors to the Dave Bryant stadium.

Our smash-and-grab 1-0 win back in September seems a long way off and now of course Bath have a new manager in place, with Darren Way appointed just before Christmas

The effect has been immediate with Bath winning three of their last four games during which time they have conceded just once – at Dorking last time out.

With Weymouth to come next weekend and four of the next six games against sides in the bottom half of the table, you get the feeling that this is a pivotal period in terms of picking up points.

“I’m not just saying this but the boys are upbeat with smiles on their faces” said Gavin Macpherson despite last Saturday’s chastening setback in Kent. “Everyone believes we can get a result. We sat in Maidstone’s dressing room till gone 7 o’clock last week but it was not in self-pity.  We got straight back on the horse and went to work. That’s the only way I know.”

Gavin concedes that the upcoming fixture list will put the squeeze on a lot of teams in terms of grinding out results.

“When you look at our next few games, the majority are teams that in the bottom half or mid-table and I get that. On paper maybe they are more achievable than, say, Maidstone away. But the flipside is that the league is tough throughout. Bath, for instance, are in good form with a new manager and are pushing teams very hard.”

“But I’ll tell you this. If I didn’t think the boys were 100 percent with me, I’d call it a day for both personal and professional reasons. But we’re going to give this a right crack, trust me. Not just tomorrow but going forward.”

AW

Two supporters of Enfield Town FC who launched their own independent film company are celebrating the success of their debut feature film.

Producers Ismail Ismail and Jake Jacovides, along with several financial backers from Enfield Town, premiered The Spin last autumn at the Belfast Film Festival. The film quickly garnered acclaim, winning the award for Best Irish Feature Film at the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival.

The Spin is a heart-warming comedy that features a talented cast, including Tara Lynne O’Neill (Derry Girls), Owen Colgan (Hardy Bucks), Brenock O’Connor (Game of Thrones), and Leah O’Rourke (Derry Girls), alongside Kimberly Wyatt from the Grammy-nominated girl group The Pussycat Dolls and TV presenter, model, and social media star Maura Higgins.

Isi and Jake have been friends since they met at Winchmore School’s sixth form over 45 years ago. The Ismail family have been involved with the Towners for many years. Isi’s brother Ram, is a director at Enfield Town FC, while Kem Ismail served as strength and conditioning coach before moving on to West Ham United and currently Birmingham City.  Many of you will also recognise club members Serap, Muzzy and Arin; all of whom have backed the production to reach the big screen.

Looking ahead, 2025 promises to be an exciting year as The Spin continues to gain momentum, securing spots in international film festivals including Chicago, Rome, and Bremen.

Isi shared his excitement, adding: “It’s a thrill to be involved in a creative project like The Spin with Jake. The film is primarily about friendship, so we can easily relate to the characters’ experiences. In our case, Jake is probably the sensible one! We are delighted that it is receiving such acclaim; it seems like a wild dream compared to when we were just fooling around in Mr. Brown’s maths class at Winchmore School”

Watch the trailer here:

You may be aware that our bid to the Football Foundation to secure funding for our ground improvement was approved in December. Our new stand has been ordered and we are now awaiting confirmation from Enfield Council that planning consent for the works has been granted. This should hopefully be received this month, and we will then be in a position to arrange for the work to be commenced as soon as possible in order that we can comply with league deadlines.

Many supporters have named seats in the Granite stand and we can now confirm the way forward for those seats:

• New name plaques will need to be produced for the seats in the new stand. If you purchased a named seat in the Granite stand within the last 5 years, we will arrange for these to be produced and installed free of charge.

• If you purchased a plaque in the Granite stand over 5 years ago and wish to have a plaque in the new stand there will be a fee of £25 per seat to cover both the production and installation costs as we are unable to remove the plaques from the existing seats.

Can you please advise us by January 28th via email to membership@etfc.london whether you wish your named seat plaque to be transferred to a seat in the new stand. We would also appreciate responses for anonymous donations of over £150 to our recent crowdfunding campaign, or for any requests for certain names on plaques for these larger donations. If your existing plaque is more than 5 years old, we will also need your confirmation that you are in agreement to meet the charge of £25 per seat.

We can move 25 seats from the current Granite stand to provide a 4th row of seats in the main stand. If you would like your named seat to be transferred to the main stand, please let us know if you wish to take up this option. There will be no charge for this but as we can only accommodate 25 seats these requests will be met on a first come first served basis.