Enfield Town 2 Chelmsford City 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

A game of few clearcut chances burst into life late on as Enfield Town moved off the bottom of the table with a desperately needed first win in five.

Not since early October have we triumphed at home in the league but a Sam Youngs brace got us over the line after the Clarets threatened to spoil the party  by cancelling out his first in a nerve-shredding finale.

With two changes from the New Year’s Day defeat at St Albans – Adam Thompson returning and Jake Hutchinson preferred up front — Town tore out of the blocks and could have been two up inside the first 15 minutes.

Hutchinson had the ball taken off his feet just as he was about to pull the trigger, then saw his close-range effort come back off the post when it seemed easier to score.

As the one-way traffic continued, Bayley Brown also missed an excellent chance but when Town didn’t make their domination count, Chelmsford settled into the contest with some neat build-up play though without much cutting edge having seen 12-goal Osman Foyo return to Ipswich following his loan spell.

The visitors were fortunate when a Lennon Peake cross deflected off Harry Barbrook and bobbled into the  arms off his own keeper but the latter stages of the half were somewhat scrappy, Chelmsford forced into a switch just before the break when Charlie Ruff hobbled off.

H-T 0-0

The second half began in the same vein with neither side being able to string three passes together. But on 63 minutes, having a spilled a  long-range shot from Ruaridh Donaldson, Rhys Forster redeemed himself with a brilliant stop from substitute Finley Wilkinson’s follow-up.

Rhys was on hand again to palm away Glenn McConnell’s  powerful effort but after a Chelmsford spell Town came on strong again, in part due to the timely introduction  of  our new teenage on-loan striker Amaru Kaunda, an adventurous replacement off the bench for defender Xavier Benjamin who had taken a knock.

What an impact Amara made, using his pace and control to immediate effect as he turned inside the box and forced City goalkeeper Ted Collins into a smart save.

As the game sprung into life, Hutchinson’s chip into the box narrowly evaded two teammates  while Peake stung the hands of Collins after a fabulous run in which he beat three opponents.

After a yellow card was brandished towards the Town dugout supposedly for dissent, we finally made our pressure count in the 82nd minute. Billy Leonard took advantage of a poor clearance and  drove the ball across goal for Youngs to convert at the back post.

Now it was a case of game management but hearts seemed to have been broken six minutes later when a Clarets corner was steered home by Cameron James courtesy of an unfortunate lapse of judgement from Forster.

How it would have hurt to come away with just a point after all our hard work.

Yet five minutes into seven added on, Peake’s peach of a freekick, awarded for a foul on Alfie Tuck and the best delivery of the afternoon, was met by an evergreen Youngs to head home the winner in a thrilling climax.

“It’s been coming and the key now is to build on it,” said a relieved Gavin Macpherson.

“I was absolutely livid with the equaliser when Rhys missed the ball but in fairness he made a couple of excellent saves before.”

“We probably played as well in previous games but today we put the ball in the net. When we do that and are mean at the back, then we have a chance of beating sides.”

“Amaru is a different type of forward with what he possesses. When we’ve made subs recently, they haven’t always made a difference.”

Tactically spot on against Chelmsford, Gavin admits it hasn’t always been easy. “I’m now managing against managers and coaches who are full-time and it’s been difficult sometimes to make up the gap. I’ve given both the players and myself a few hard truths. We as a collective have had to be better and I believe we have been in recent games.”

The one downside of the afternoon is that Alfie Tuck now returns to his parent club, much to the disappointment of fans behind the goal who chanted “we want you to stay” at the end.

“It’s his decision and he’s made a massive contribution since he’s been here,” said Gav.

Enfield Town 3-5-2

Forster; Benjamin (Kaunda 63), Thompson, Hawkins; Peake, Parcell, Tuck, Brown, Leonard; Youngs, Hutchinson (Chukwu, 83)

Ahead of this weekend’s match with Chelmsford, we are pleased to welcome athletic striker Amaru Kaunda to the club, on an initial month’s loan from Cambridge United.

Amaru, 18, penned pro terms at the Abbey Stadium in the summer and has made four senior appearances for the U’s this campaign, scoring against Chelsea U21s in the EFL Trophy. Having spent last season on loan at Biggleswade FC, scoring 9 times in 13 appearances, he gained further senior experience with St Ives Town earlier this season.

“It’s not just about adding a forward, it’s all about the type of forward, one that we haven’t had maybe since Hish,” said Gavin Macpherson. “Something a bit different to what we’ve already got.”

“He’s a young lad learning his trade and is local from Hendon. Cambridge think very highly of him and he was one of two given a pro contract there at the start of the season. They feel a 28-day loan will be beneficial and we were quick enough to fend off another Step 2 side.”

Welcome, Amaru!

Enfield Town are at home for the first time in 2025 on Saturday (weather permitting) aiming to end a run of three straight defeats and in the process narrow the gap to safety.

While we slumped to the bottom of the league over the holiday period, tomorrow’s visitors Chelmsford City, by contrast, pulled off  back-to-back victories on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, pushing the Clarets up to 13^th place.

Whilst much has been made of us having the worst defensive record in the league, that ironically is the one area of the pitch where we have looked more solid in recent outings and whilst Dan Cox has returned to Derby, we could be boosted by the return of the highly influential Adam Thompson whilst Chelmsford represents Alfie Tuck’s last game – if selected – before his loan spell also ends.

It’s in front of goal where everyone knows we have struggled but we have a great chance to put that right in front of our own fans.

It should be noted that three Chelmsford loan players – goalkeeper Woody Williamson, 12-goal Osman Foyo (his last two being match winners) and Alfie Bendle — have all returned to their parent clubs.

Whether that gives us a lift remains to be seen but Gavin Macpherson admits it’s time we turned decent performances into much-needed wins.

“No-one felt the defeat at St Albans harder than me,” said Gav. “I realise how disappointed people were and Chelmsford gives us another chance.”

“For us at the moment there are some positive signs in respect of how we are playing but ultimately it’s all about results and we are not getting them anywhere near often enough. We need to try and put a string of form together which we haven’t managed to do so far.”

AW

St Albans 2 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

It’s beginning to sound like a broken record but another painful defeat which could easily have been avoided sent Town back to the bottom of the table on New Year’s Day, still nine points from safety.

Mistakes at one end and not enough belief or quality – or both – to convert chances at the other made for a frustrating and disappointing start to 2025 in a proverbial six-pointer watched by a huge crowd of just under 2,000, including a sizeable Town contingent, the majority behind the goal (pictured).

Back-to-back losses over the holiday period – making it three in a row — have only intensified the task of arresting a worrying slump, notwithstanding the commitment the players continue to show in spades.

The phrase “our luck has to change sometime” is becoming somewhat worn. You make your own luck but we have been competitive in all of the last three games without managing to squeeze out any points.

It’s often down to small margins. Our victory at Tonbridge and point at Weston-Super-Mare showed what can be done but lack of confidence in front of goal is costing us dearly.

So it was at St Albans where we were unchanged with Dan Cox making his final appearance before returning to Derby.

Both sides had early chances, Lennon Peake – once again our most effective player on the day – shooting into the side netting and Rhys Forster saving from close range from Shaun Jeffers.

But it was the hosts who struck on 10 minutes,  David Longe-King lashing home a right-wing cross that followed a needlessly conceded freekick.

We immediately responded but with the goal at his mercy and the home keeper flat-footed, Alfie Tuck somehow missed a sitter after a fine run and pull-back from Sam Youngs. An equaliser then and who knows what might have unfolded.

Yellow cards for Peake and Henry Hawkins for challenges on Jack James were questionable, especially Peake’s, but we continued to pose a threat without enough cutting edge .

Youngs forced Michael Johnson into a smothering stop whilst Anointed Chukwu got his feet in a  muddle when a tap-in would have converted a superb Mickey Parcell centre.

H-T 0-1

Too many of Town’s passes had been intercepted, resulting in too many moves breaking down, and the same pattern frustratingly continued after the break.

St Albans now looked the more threatening side and when we did manage to threaten the Saints goal, which was rare, Youngs showed great skill from a tight angle, only to see the ball drop agonisingly the wrong side of the net.

You sensed the next goal would prove crucial and with their extra pace, St. Albans – no great shakes on the day if truth be told – got it.

Forster had already saved smartly from Jeffers when we didn’t track the run of the dangerous James who collected a misplaced pass from substitute Jack Smith and doubled his team’s lead after his first effort was blocked.

A Youngs header halved the deficit late into six minutes of stoppage time, prompting ironic chants of “We’ve scored a goal” from the Town faithful, but it was too little, too late and at the final whistle the reaction of the home fans and players said much about the importance — and no doubt relief — of getting over the line.

“We’ve lost a game we shouldn’t have by not picking up the second phase — again,” said a hugely frustrated Gavin Macpherson who now has to rally the troops for Saturday’s home fixture with Chelmsford. “It’s another one we deserved more from and I’m fed up with saying that. We worked religiously in training on getting in the box in respect of being more potent so I was really disappointed. We had more than enough chances and we haven’t hit the target.”

“I’m sick of the opposition saying we were the better side and I gave virtually the same after-match team talk as I’ve been giving for weeks. We need more of a ruthless streak but I’m not a psychologist.

“I want to say a personal thanks to the fans who once again were nothing but supportive whereas they might well have given me stick. I might come out one day and say we deserved to lose but have got three points. I’d much prefer that to where I am at the moment.”

Forster; Cox, Benjamin, Hawkins; Peake, Parcell (Smith 77), Tuck, Brown, Leonard; Youngs;, Chukwu (Hutchinson 73)

We are delighted to inform Town fans that our regular home match commentator, Michael Lacquiere, will also be commentating at St. Albans on New Year’s Day.

His commentary can be found on the following link

https://mjl99.mixlr.com

What better way to start off 2025 than to pick up three points on New Year’s Day in our eagerly awaited derby at St. Albans (ko 3pm).

With both clubs marooned in the relegation places, the stakes could hardly be higher as we aim to kick off the New Year on a high.

But suggest to Gavin Macpherson  that this is the mother of all six pointers and you get a typically pragmatic response.

“It would be a help to win the game of course but it’s no more or less important than the last game or the next one,” said Gav. “People talk about six-pointers and of course I get that. But at the end of the day it’s worth three points. Regardless of who it’s against, we’re in a fight.”

Under new management, St Albans have also just reinforced their defence by re-signing towering defender Deon Woodman for a second spell on loan from Wealdstone.

“I’m massively surprised they are where they are in the table,” said Gavin. “They clearly have some very good players but our form has been good. We’ve just fallen the wrong side of a couple of results – against some of the top sides in the division.”

“Worthing went to Dorking and won. Boreham Wood could potentially win this league and we put them on the back foot for long periods.

“The problem is we’re not putting chances away. Maybe the players don’t have the belief but I need that to change and quickly. That was my message at training on Monday.”

On the injury front, Bayley Brown, who has shown considerable ability in midfield since joining us, is a doubt with a toe issue but Adam Thompson is hoping to be fit after missing the last three games.

AW

Enfield Town 0 Boreham Wood 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

An in-form Boreham Wood showed just why they are one of the promotion favourites but there were plenty of positives to take despite another frustrating defeat in front of a 1000-plus Boxing Day crowd.

No-one would deny that our full-time visitors, accomplished on the ball and technically superior, had an assured look about them, hitting us with a first-half brace through top scorer Kwesi Appiah , then stifling any chance we had of getting back in the game.

Yet despite being the part-time side, we came on strong in the last 20 minutes without creating enough moments of danger to get back in the game.

After an initial period of shadow boxing, Lennon Peake had Town’s first chance on 14 minutes, shooting down the throat of Nathan Ashmore before Boreham Wood began to stamp their mark on proceedings in terms of possession.

It took a last-ditch tackle form Henry Hawkins to deny them and the same player came to Town’s rescue again after fine work by Wood’s eye-catching No. 26, Jayden Richardson.

Wood’s pressure told on 24 minutes when Femi Ilesanmi picked out Appiah with a sublime pass but he wouldn’t have been in possession of the football at all but for a poor clearance upfield from Rhys Forster whose handling was otherwise solid throughout.

Tom Whelan stung the hands of Forster and while they were monopolising possession, Appiah, in a rich vein of form, doubled his and Wood’s lead by heading home John Benton’s cross just before the break.

With the last action of the half, Anointed Chukwu, making his home debut, fluffed a golden chance to reduce the deficit from three yards when the ball arrived at his feet too quickly.

H-T 0-2

A home goal then would have set up the second half nicely. Instead Wood almost grabbed a third when a looping ball was cleared off the line just as Appiah looked like he was about to complete his hat-trick.

Suddenly, however, Town got some momentum going as Wood appeared to take their foot off the gas.  Hawkins  directed a header into the arms of Ashmore and a dangerous Billy Leonard cross was swept across goal with no-one on hand to convert.

Off-balance substitute Reece Beckles-Richards ballooned over before two defensive blocks in the Boreham Wood area and an Alfie Tuck drive that flashed wide completed a vastly improved second-half display.

But sadly not enough to sufficiently trouble a Boreham Wood side that, in truth, hardly moved out of second gear and whose unhurried approach and excellent reading of the game proved too big a hurdle to overcome.

While we are now a  concerning nine points behind fifth-from-bottom Welling, Gavin Macpherson – in his only  post -match interview on the day – was typically defiant ahead of the mother of all six pointers at St. Albans on New Year’s Day.

“Both goals were avoidable and once again we got punished,” said Gav. “I’m sick of losing in the same way but I have to draw on the fact that again the players have been immense in respect of application and desire.”

“Both teams had a couple of key moments but they put the ball in the net. That’s why the respective teams are where they are. I’m not going down the road of them being full-time team but they certainly didn’t have it all their own way.”

Gavin still fervently believes we have it in us to make up the ground.

“Of course it’s difficult but it’s certainly do-able. If I didn’t think I could get us out of this, I’d walk away because I’d think I was doing a disservice to this magnificent football club.”

Town: Forster, Parcell, Benjamin, Hawkins, Cox, Peake, Tuck, Leonard, Brown (Hutchinson 62), Youngs (Smith 72), Chukwu (Beckles-Richards 72).

No sooner are the Christmas festivities over than football returns to the Dave Bryant stadium with the mouthwatering Boxing Day derby against Boreham Wood

Following three successive away league games that yielded four points, we are finally back on home soil for a 3pm kickoff that promises to be another huge test for our improving squad.

Our illustrious  big-name visitors havn’t lost in the league since Nov 9 since when they have been on a remarkable run of form with six wins and two draws that have taken them to third in the league, only behind Torquay and Truro

Only three seasons ago, Wood were playing Everton in the fifth round of the FA Cup and are one of major challengers for promotion back to Step One.

“This is arguably the toughest game we’ve had so far,” said Gavin Macpherson. “They’re a club playing beneath the level they should be and the two of us are streets apart in one way. But morale is good, training on Monday went well and we will  have a real go.”

Adam Thompson is likely to miss out for a third time while John Oyenuga  is still not fit but otherwise the rest of the first-team squad look set to be available.

With a large Bank Holiday crowd expected, you are advised to arrive as early as possible as we cheer the boys on to hopefully a strong result ahead of the New Year’s Day six-pointer at St. Albans   

AW

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone associated with Enfield Town Football Cub very happy Christmas.

2024 has been a historic year for the club, but it wouldn’t have been possible without you – the supporters – and the people that work tirelessly for our football club. The past year has certainly highlighted the euphoria and challenges associated with football, I especially wanted to thank everyone that has supported me through what has been a difficult year personally.

Once again on behalf of the staff and players, Merry Christmas and let’s look forward to a challenging but successful 2025.

Gav

Worthing 1 Enfield Town 0

Report By Andrew warshaw

It wasn’t the Christmas present any of us wanted but in a game of tight margins, we didn’t quite manage to do enough in front of a bumper 1,500-plus crowd.

Despite keeping Worthing largely at bay and showing commendable application, we paid the penalty for not creating enough in the final third, invariably straying offside when we went forward or overhitting passes on the plastic pitch.

While it was a pleasure to renew acquintances with a smiling Mo Faal, the fact that Mo was hauled off on the hour said much about how our defence coped with Worthing’s front three  for most of the afternoon.

In fact that goal that won the game, frustratingly in first-half stoppage time, was the only shot on target from either team in an uneventful opening 45 minutes.

Having had a penalty appeal waved away by the referee, who was right in line with Bayley Brown’s bruising challenge on Joel Colbran, the Worthing skipper was to soon break the deadlock.

The best cross of the half was supplied by Nicky Wheeler and we didn’t track the run of Colbran who fired home.

H-T 0-1

Anointed Chukwu, making his first Towners start, certainly provided the physical presence up front we have been lacking, chasing down balls and imposing himself on the home defence who at times had to whack the ball to safety.

Sam Youngs played just behind him but there wasn’t enough midfield fluidity to carve out enough clearcut opportunities.

To be fair Worthing, for all their possession, didn’t create much either on their familiar surface though they perhaps should have doubled their lead when Jack Spong brought a one-handed save from Rhys Forster, only for Temilolu Babalola to somehow blast the rebound over.

As the wind receded, Town looked to repeat the previous Saturday’s late, late show at Weston-super-Mare, making a couple of subs by introducing Jake Hutchinson against his old club and Joe Payne, with Lennon Peake moved into a central position.

Brown went close as he forced Chris Haigh into an awkward stop from a tight angle but in truth we didn’t test the home keeper enough and this time we couldn’t fashion an equaliser or turn half-chances into genuine opportunities as the game reached its denouement.

Having taken four points from three away games, now come the holiday fixtures at home to Boreham Wood on Boxing Day and away at St. Albans on New Year’s Day, the latter the mother of all six-pointers.

“We had the better of the second half but didn’t carry enough of a threat,” said Gavin Macpherson. “They’re a side that keeps the football but didn’t trouble us at all apart from taking the one chance when it came.”

“We’re bitterly disappointed because we’re coming to places like this and we’re in the game throughout which maybe wasn’t the case three or four weeks ago. Today was not easy to stomach. We’re moving in the right direction but we need points on the board. We all understand that.”

Town:

Forster; Cox, Benjamin, Hawkins; Parcell, Tuck, Youngs, Brown (payne, 75), Leonard; Youngs; Chukwu (Hutchinson 70)