Hanwell Town 1 Enfield Town 0

Report by Martin Bentley

First the good news: Enfield Town have conceded only three goals in three knockout matches this season.

The bad news: they have scored three fewer.

A lack of strike power, together with some inspired goalkeeping, were the primary reasons for yet another disappointing cup defeat, this at the hands of Step 3 opposition, as Town crashed out of the Middlesex Senior Cup at the first time of asking.

A debut was handed to newly-signed goalkeeper James Hillson and starts given to Academy players Michael Adu and Jay Lambert.

Hillson had a relatively quiet night, unlike his opposite number Sam Beasant, while Adu and Lambert were outstanding at the back, with the latter being named as Man of the Match.

A flurry of Town attacks in the opening ten minutes could have seen then three goals up with efforts by Reece Beckles-Richards (offside and disallowed), Sam Youngs (header brilliantly tipped onto the bar by Beasant) and Tarelle Whittaker (shot saved, fumbled and recovered).

The game then settled down a bit, with Town producing some nice approach play without any meaningful end product.

The home side’s first effort on goal didn’t arrive until the 35^th minute, when Ryan Case’s free kick was comfortably dealt with by Hillson.

Three minutes later however, Hanwell found themselves in front when they were awarded a penalty following Dylan Adjei-Hersey’s push on Harry Seabrook. Ezekiel Coker drove the spot kick low to Hillson’s right, and once again Town found themselves chasing the game.

Things almost got worse just before half time when home centre back Dwayne Duncan galloped clear on a breakaway, only to be denied by a thunderous recovery tackle by John Oyenuga.

H-T 0-1

Early chances also came Town’s way in the second half. Whittaker had two efforts saved by Beasant and Oyenuga had one blocked, but Town’s attacking efforts were becoming noticeably fewer and less effective.

Nat Boakye really should have doubled the lead after 74 minutes but shot wide when through on goal. Four minutes later though, Town came close to levelling the tie. Adjei-Hersey cut in from the right wing and hit a left-footed curler that was tipped round the post by an airborne Beasant with the travelling fans already celebrating.

The game then fizzled out with the home side taking control in the final ten minutes; Town made a flurry of late substitutions – five in the last 11 minutes! – but to no significant effect.

  Final mention must go to the 20 or so Town fans who made it to the game on a cold Tuesday night and negotiating 15 miles of congested North Circular to get there. Well done!

Team: Hillson, Adu, Payne, Lambert, Adjei-Hersey (Peake 79), Smith, Youngs (Scott 81), Oyenuga (Thompson 90+1), Beckles-Richards (Leonard 89), Whittaker (Hutchinson 81), Onyeagwara

Ahead of this evening’s Middlesex Cup tie at Hanwell Town, we are pleased to welcome goalkeeper James Hillson to the club.

A former academy player with Reading and Arsenal, where he spent several years and was part of their Premier League 2 and EFL Trophy squads, James was most recently with fellow National League South side Salisbury, and has also had experience with Southend United.

With number one Rhys Forster suffering a groin strain during Saturday’s draw with Salisbury, and Adi Connolly sidelined with a longer-term meniscus injury, James joins to strengthen our goalkeeping team and is available for tonight’s fixture.

Welcome to Town, James!

Enfield Town 1 Salisbury 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

At some point Lady Luck surely has to smile on Town.

After a two-week league break for some much-needed reinvigoration, this was a totally improved performance.

Solid at the back, tigerish in midfield, good possession of the ball, decent link-up play across the pitch – despite missing three of our most experienced players in Sam Youngs (suspended), Mickey Parcell and Harry Ottaway (both injured)

All that was lacking,  though no-one denies it’s a crucial concern, was some desperately required quality in the final third.

At yet for the first time this season we slumped to the bottom of the league by conceding yet another agonising last-gasp goal for our first draw of the season.

This time it was virtually with the last kick of the game, in the seventh minute of stoppage time (how on earth did the referee find that much to add on?) after we had fully deserved to go in front two minutes from end of the 90 through Adam Thompson.

Cruel, on this occasion, is an understatement.

With on-loan Christian Scott putting in a fine debut in central midfield, Thompson again showing what an asset he will be and Lennon Peake having arguably his best game in a Towners shirt, we looked a far more organised team than of late even if chances were few and far between.

Our best in the first half came on 18 minutes when a superb break saw John Oneyuga’s pinpoint pass met by Billy Leonard whose close-range effort produced a world-class instinctive save from Dan Lincoln, once on Town’s books.

For the visitors Noah Coppin, given too much space, should have done better than shoot straight at Rhys Forster while Owen Dore’s rocket flew just over.

H-T 1-0

For all our neat approach play, it was left to defenders to produce our next two efforts, Xavier Benjamin catching hold of an up-and-under to sweep the ball over, then Dan Cox seeing his goal-bound effort blocked. At the other end, while dangerman Josh Hedges was largely kept quiet, Callum Watts’ strike forced Rhys Forster into a smart stop.

 Penalty shouts at both ends were rightly ignored before Town sub Reece-Beckles Richards flicked on Peake’s cross, only for Lincoln to avert the danger.

A stalemate looked inevitable until the most dramatic of finales.

On 88 minutes, a Town corner was only half-cleared and when the ball was played back in, Thompson got the last touch by lashing it into the far corner (pictured, celebrating)

Just when it seemed that a late winner was at last coming our way, hearts were broken once again. On the verge of celebrating a massive three points, we switched off at the worst possible time, allowing Watts to round Forster and snatch an equaliser with the last action of the game.

“We have to view it as two points dropped as we were much the better side,” said a crestfallen Gavin Macpherson. “There was passion, fight and application. We made one mistake and it cost us and we’ll have to see how that affects things at the end of the season.”

“We didn’t put our chances away and I am trying to bring in a forward but that’s the hardest thing to do. But there are massive positives from today. This is a team that I am building. I’ve had to rip it up because our running power was not good enough for this division. Hopefully you’re now seeing the building blocks of a new side. We just hope it’s not too late.”

“The boys are bitterly disappointed because they deserved their victory. The fact we’ve gone bottom is immaterial. The aim is the same, we just now have one game less to do it.”

Enfield Town (3-5-2)

Forster;, Cox. Thompson, Benjamin; Oyenuga (Adjei-Hersey 60), Leonard (Beckles-Richards 77), Tuck, Scott, Payne; Hutchinson (Whittaker 70), Peake (Smith 89)

After a two-week league break, Enfield Town go into tomorrow’s vitally important home clash with Salisbury re-invigorated as we try to claw our way up the table.

Lady luck continues to frown on us, however, with arguably our three most experienced players likely to miss out. Sam Youngs serves a one-match suspension, Harry Ottaway remains injured and skipper Micky Parcell hurt his back in an accident at work.

Nevertheless, Gavin Macpherson is bullish about our prospects of a strong result against a side who have lost their last three and are on a run of five without a win.

With Town having lost their last four, both teams are desperate for points and Salisbury cannot be under-estimated having only succumbed to a late penalty against Torquay in midweek.

“We’ve no choice but to roll with it,” said Gavin of the forced absentees. “On the plus side, the available players have come back in with renewed vigour.”

“One thing I will say about this group is they never stop running for me. The dressing room is good and the boys are trying hard to put the work in. Those I thought were falling a bit short have left the club.”

On the positive front, Town have a new midfielder in  loan signing Christian Scott from Wealdstone, an exciting addition to the squad.

“Christian started Wealdstone’s FA Cup game on Saturday when they went and won at Grimsby,” said Gavin. “He’s someone who will brings legs and energy, complementing the likes of what we have already and giving us a different dimension. Plus of course he has experience at Step 1.”

Town also bring in teenage defender Jay Lambert from the academy having been arguably our best player in the recent London Senior Cup defeat by Athletic Newham after which John Nurse sung his praises.

Thankfully, results in midweek involving the teams around us meant Town didn’t lose too much more ground and have avoided going into the Salisbury game rock bottom.

“I realise psychologically why some are focussing on us not being bottom but in all honesty it doesn’t make that much difference because it’s still very tight,” said Gavin. “The simple fact is we have to win enough football matches over the season. It’s all about where we finish.

“I have to hold my nerve and be true to myself. Of course as a manager you have doubts when things consistently don’t go right and you hear voices in your head. But we’re all human beings and I have to always do what I think is right.

“The squad is far from finalised but movement depends on player availability. That’s been the biggest issue for us. The Slough manager said this week he had never seen this league so tough in 11 years. That gives you an idea of what we are up against but you can’t pick and choose when you get promoted.”

AW

Prior to this weekend’s match, we are very pleased to welcome two new recruits to the Town squad.

The first is Christian Scott, who joins us on a three-month loan deal from Wealdstone. A London-born South African midfielder, he started his footballing career in Portugal with the academy teams of top-flight sides Portimonense and Farense. The 19-year-old has featured on eleven occasions for the Stones so far this season, and started in last weekend’s FA Cup victory away at Grimsby Town.

The second is local lad Jay Lambert, who makes the jump from our academy to the first team. A former West Ham United trainee, centre-half Jay defied his age to put in a composed performance in last week’s London Senior Cup tie with Athletic Newham.

Welcome, lads!

A collection will take place at Saturday’s game against Salisbury conducted by the North London schools team from the Pinnacle group.

The group looks after local schools and is passionate about helping and doing their part to support the local community and charities.

“We are raising money for children in need to support all children across the UK to help make a difference and to have a positive impact on as many children’s lives as possible,” the group say.

“We are very passionate about this charity as we work in an environment where we work with Children on a daily basis and we believe that all children should have the best possible opportunities and support.”

“Not only do we support the Children in need but we also support the shoe box appeal for which donations start next week and also the toy appeal over Christmas. All the support we can get for these amazing causes is very much appreciated.”

Please give generously on Saturday to this highly worthwhile cause.

To a handful of ETFC members, supporters and local residents for their debut film and premiere tonight at The Belfast Festival.

The Spin is a light-hearted comedy filmed in Ireland and supported by great original Irish music and scenery.The film has already been shortlisted for The Best Northern Ireland Independent Film at this year’s Festival.

Coming soon to a Cinema near you. Trailer below

We have allowed Ollie Knight to move to Step 3 Chertsey on a dual registration basis to gain more regular competitive football.

Chertsey play in the Southern League Premier Division south and are currently mid-table.

Ollie played a key role in our promotion campaign and we wish him well as he builds up his fitness levels

“Ollie has not played a lot of football recently after injury and needs to get some games in,” said Gavin Macpherson. “We wish him all the best at Chertsey and will be monitoring his progress very closely.”

On-loan left wing-back Harley Mills has been recalled by parent club Peterborough United.

During his loan spell with us, Harley, 18, made eight appearances, keeping two clean sheets and registering an assist in our win over Weymouth.

“Thanks to the manager, staff, players and supporters for making me feel welcome”, added Harley. “I wish everyone all the best for the season.”

We thank Harley for his efforts with us and wish him all the best for the future.

Enfield Town 0 Athletic Newham 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Enfield Town reached arguably the low point of a challenging season when we were knocked out of the London Senior Cup at the first hurdle by Step 5 Athletic Newham.

Town may have made numerous changes but almost all the starting line-up were first-team squad members yet still went down to a side three divisions lower.

Well organised going forward and defending in numbers when they needed too, Newham’s victory was no fluke and served only to highlight how much work is still needed to turn our season round.

It may not have been the FA Cup or FA Trophy in terms of importance but it was a competition we aspired to win and the truth is that those hoping to send a message to Gavin Macpherson that they should be in the regular starting eleven came up woefully short.

To add to salt to our wounds, Newham’s winner was scored by on-loan Town academy prospect Abdul Khamis whilst their leading scorer this season was not even included in their squad.

Town survived a couple of early let-offs when Jack Smith had to clear off the line and Alex Kozak gobbled up a poor back header and rattled the underside of our bar.

Although we started to gain a modicum of composure, Newham continued to look comfortable. Until, that is, Lewis Taaffe – making a rare appearance following his loan move – rifled a 30-yard freekick against the bar just after halftime.

It prompted a couple of Town near-misses, including from Ollie Knight (pictured) but without us ever taking control. And on 74 minutes our visitors  delivered the killer blow as Kozak found himself free in the box and fired home.

Right at the death, we came agonisingly close to taking the game to penalties, only for the woodwork to come to Newham’s rescue a second time, substitute Lennon Peake’s curling left-foot drive deserving better.  All in all, however, we were well off the pace, a chastening evening for those involved.

 With Gavin seating himself in the stands as a trial run for his forthcoming likely ban, John Nurse took over the chief role in the dugout.

“Credit to the opposition but from our perspective it wasn’t good enough from those wearing the Enfield shirt to put in that type of performance,” said John.

“Gavin’s had lots of choices to make this season and now he has some more. It was a great opportunity for many of them to show him what they could do.”

The one positive, perhaps, was an eye-catching display from academy defender Jay Lambert.

 “Jay should be proud of the way he conducted himself but generally the team performance was unacceptable, especially for the fans,” added John.

Town

Forster: Oyenuga (Oliveria, 87), Parcell, Lambert, Payne; Adjei-Hersey, Leonard, Smith, Taaffe (Opuku, 65), Knight; Beckles-Richards (Peake, 87)