Despite a plethora of lower-league teams still in the competition, we will have to face Step 2 opposition when we enter this season’s FA Cup in the second qualifying round.

Our opponents on Saturday, Sept 14, are Peterborough Sports from National League north but at least we are at home which gives us more than a fighting chance in what could be an extremely tight game.

The Turbines have won two, drawn one and lost three of their first six games of the season and are currently in 18^th place.

The fixture sets us up to try and gain revenge for that dramatic defeat in the competition four years ago when we drew 2-2 at Sports in the first qualifying round, only to agonisingly lose on penalties.

Due to popular demand, the club will now run a coach to Eastbourne Borough for Tuesday’s National League South game.

You can book online via the link below or text the club’s hotline on 07493 425359 to reserve a seat. PLEASE NOTE-Coach will depart from the Stadium at 2.15pm and NOT 4pm

https://enfieldtownfc.ktckts.com/brand/match-tickets

Chippenham 3 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

 For 25 minutes in the first half yesterday and a good chunk of the second, Enfield Town played perhaps our best football of the season to date.

No wonder, at the final whistle, Gavin Macpherson once again cut a frustrated figure.

For the third time in six games, we led a lead slip – in this case not once but twice – after going in front. And for the second match in a row, we were beaten with virtually the last kick of the game.

Did we deserve more? Without a doubt but that will be of scant consolation  players, management and fans after our fifth loss in six games.

All in yellow, it all started so brightly for Town on a grey, humid Wiltshire day, backed by a noisy thong of away fans who outsung the home supporters all afternoon.

After Chippenham’s Tom Owen-Evans was correctly denied a first minute penalty following minimal contact, we took the game to the Bluebirds.

Hisham Kasimu, back from injury and enjoying his best game so far in an Enfield shirt, rattled the crossbar after intercepting a terrible backpass, then Billy Leonard hit the side netting from a tight angle.

And on 17 minutes our early promise yielded dividends. Hisham, a physical presence all game, won the ball in a dangerous position and picked out Ollie Knight who raced down the wing before delivering a sublime cross for Billy Leonard to slide in at the far post (pictured).

It was just what we deserved at the time but as so often in this campaign, we couldn’t hold on to the advantage. Just before the half hour, Matt McClure found a pocket of space just outside the area and rifled a fierce drive into the top corner despite Rhys Forster getting a hand to the ball.

It was Chippenham’s first moment of real danger but they immediatly built on it and started to stretch us. Owen-Evans had another penalty appeal turned down, this one more plausible, while Forster held on to a Joe Andrews low drive and Dawes had another effort blocked on the line.

H-T 1-1

Chippenham started the second half as they had finished the first with Dawes pulling the strings and shooting over after some fine interplay.

But we, too, looked a threat going forward and Kasimu had the ball in the net again after a wonderful move through the middle of the pitch, only to be ruled offside.

Now it was end to end stuff. McClure scuffed his shot in front of goal after Dawes had skimmed past three Town players, then Owen-Evans drew  an excellent save from Forster.

But on 70 minutes we were back in front  with Kasimu’s first goal for the club, pouncing on  a defensive howler to shoot past Will Henry.

Hisham so nearly extended our lead as could only find the side netting from Ollie Knight’s pass but then came the denouement we had all hoped to avoid.

With 11 minutes to go, Bernie Tanner’s attempted clearance went straight to the opposition and after the ball was recycled, Owen-Evans fired home an angled shot.

Now it was all about trying to see the game out for a point but it was not to be as we struggled to keep possession. Two Chippenham chances came and went before, in the third minute of stoppage time, substitute Aaron Amadi-Holloway took advantage of another defensive slip and crashed home the winner through the hands of Forster who didn’t even see it.

“To be honest I’ve never been more angry after a game,” declared Gavin. “When you see so much effort, both from management and players, and when you see a strategy that is largely working and then you chuck away a game with two very basic errors, these are things that you will get exploited for at this level.”

Falling too deep in the pitch after scoring is becoming a pattern. “Maybe it’s because getting in amongst the opposition is unsustainable if we don’t have enough legs in the side,” said Gavin. “But if you can’t secure the ball, you can’t get up if you smash the ball up the pitch and it comes straight back. When you’re playing against better teams you can’t avoid to do that. Unlike, perhaps, last season.”

“Whether it’s a mindset thing, it has to be addressed. For 20 minutes or so we got strung out between the units. We were much better in the second half but we have fallen short again and it’s for me to decide whether we coach our way out of this or make changes.”

Gavin rejected the idea that our subs may have been made too late. “If there was a valid argument  that the lack of subs contributed to the defeat, I would accept it. But that’s not what happened. It’s absolutely not why we lost the game.”

Next up another away trip, to Eastbourne on Tuesday, an even tougher game on paper. But no-one can fault us — as Gavin pointed out — for effort and intention.

Town: Forster, Soloman (Parcell 86), Payne, Joash Nembhard, Tanner, Adjei-Hersey, Youngs (Leshabela 83), Leonard,  Thomas, Knight, Kasimu (Beckles-Richards 86)

Huge thanks to the Cinelli Brothers for another fantastic performance at a fund-raising gig at Butler’s Bar last Tuesday which went down a storm in front of many Town members, friends and loyal fans.

Marco Cinelli and Alessandro Cinelli played a part-acoustic, part-electric set at extremely short notice, joined by guest guitarist Joe Anderson, recently a member of the Connor Selby band.

Such is  the status of these fantastic multi-instrumentalists that they recently won the 2024 UK Blues Band of the Year award. They are now in the  middle of  a European tour (Belgium last Sunday and Norway today, Friday)  followed by a widespread tour of the United States.

We are extremely grateful to them for continuing to raise the profile of our club and helping us with fundraising in what is an extremely busy schedule.

Christine Hamilton

After a disappointing run of results, we visit improving Chippenham on Saturday – another long trip — hoping to end the month with some renewed vigour to push us up the table.

After a couple of early defeats, the Bluebirds have picked up form and now have five points from as many games – two more than Town. Last time out, they were seven minutes away from defeating Chelmsford City on the road before drawing 1-1.

 With another tough away game to come at Eastbourne on Tuesday, the fixtures are not getting any easier as we continue to learn the hard way about the gulf between steps 2 and 3.

Last season Chippenham finished a creditable 12^th in the league, exactly halfway, but we are perhaps due a result – as well as a little luck — after last Saturday’s heartbreaking finale against Hemel Hempstead.

 Jack Smith, conspicuous by his absence in midfield, has started light training again which is great news though he’s not yet ready to be selected. Meanwhile the quest for a new central defender is intensifying daily along with enquiries about an additional forward.

“If we think that Chippenham are a side who we can tick off as a possible for us, well no teams are in this division,” said Gavin Macpherson. “They like to pass the ball more than some teams and have an excellent centreforward. I was encouraged despite the result about Monday’s display against Hemel but we will have to have the same level of application to give us a chance.”

AW

Enfield Town 0 Hemel Hempstead Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Football is a cruel game, never better illustrated than seeing a crucial point snatched away in the 95^th minute on Monday.

When you’re near the bottom, things tend not to go your way and so it was as Hemel delivered a devastating sucker punch in front of a 975-strong Bank Holiday crowd.

No-one can gloss over the fact that four straight defeats, in the process sending Town into the bottom four, doesn’t make for encouraging reading.

On the positive front, we have got our two furthest away trips out of the way already and the games we’ve lost have been to the top four sides in the division.

That, of course, will do little to alleviate the gut-wrenching disappointment of this latest setback, our endeavour and spirit having deserved to yield a different outcome especially after having to travel further than any other side in the division over the Bank Holiday weekend.

With Mickey Parcell and John  Oyenuga both nursing injuries, Alex Solomon was drafted in as an emegency rightback and looked impressive until having to come off with breathing problems while Dylan Adjei-Hersey was also given a starting role as Gavin rotated a stretched squad, making four changes from the defeat at Truro and giving one or two a much-needed rest.

Unbeaten Hemel were without leading marksman Ricardo German, who scored 33 goals for Chesham last term, but still posed a considerable threat with the likes of Alfie Cerulli up front and midfield ace George Williams, a full Welsh senior international who was in their 2016 Euro squad.

But it was at the back where they had the player of the match in skipper Kyle Ajayi, their reigning player of the year who gobbled up the vast majority of Town’s forward forays.

After a strong start from the visitors, who missed a couple of decent chances, just like at Truro we began to grow into the game and Nana Owusu, brought back from Walton and Hersham where he is on a dual registration, almost gave us the lead after great work from Khanya Leshabela.

Whilst we could have done with more clear-cut openings in our attacking third, Michael Folivi getting little change out of his previous club’s backline and visiting keeper Craig King having little to do, at the other end we defended far better than in the two previous games. Joash Nembhard was deservedly named our man of the match.

Having said that, we got lucky when Akei Woolard-Innocent rattled the woodwork with a Hemel freekick while the 6-foot-6 Sydney Ibie planted a free header over.

H-T 0-0

The second half followed a similar pattern with Hemel fast out of the blocks.

 Rhys Forster scrambled the ball clear from halftime substitute Kyran Wiltshire (pictured) while we somehow managed to keep out a flurry of quick-fire goalbound efforts. But again we responded well after absorbing pressure, Joe Payne firing a freekick into the side netting. 

In general this season the officials have been of a far higher standard than at Step 3 but we were on the wrong end of some highly questionable decisions against Hemel including a booking for Gavin for nothing more than throwing his arms in the air when a clear push in the back on Owusu wasn’t given.

As both teams tired, it seemed for the world as if the match would remain scoreless, only for Ollie Knight to miss the target on 80 minutes as he headed a right-sided cross agonisingly past the post.

It may well have won the game for Town. Instead, five minutes into six added on, Hemel caught us out down their left and when the ball was pulled back across the area, sub Trae Cook-Appiah applied a shanked finish.

“The boys worked their socks today and I can’t fault them for that,” said a crestfallen Gavin. “We definitely deserved more but it’s a results business and I can’t accept this run of form if we want to stay in this league.”

Gavin reserved particular praise for the fans.

“Not only am I accountable to the board, I’m accountable to the supporters. I understand how this club is set up and the way they are still supporting me and the boys is truly humbling. I’m going to work as hard as I can to turn this round.”

Town

Forster; Solomon (Knight, 58), Nembhard, Tanner, Payne; Thomas (Krasniqi, 95); Adjei-Hersey, Leonard (Youngs, 73), Leshabela, Owusu (Peake, 78); Folivi (Beckles-Richards, 66)

Truro City 3 Enfield Town 1

Report By Andrew Warshaw

Gavin Macpherson made no excuses after keeping the players in the dressing room for 30 minutes with some “home truths” following this latest setback which only emphasised yet again the need for defensive reinforcements.

The fact it took the team over nine hours on Friday to get to Cornwall, in the process having to do away with the scheduled training session en route, should not detract from another frustrating collapse after we led at halftime courtesy of a peach of a strike from Michael Folivi, replacing the injured Hisham Kasimu.

It was particularly disappointing given that after weathering an early Truro storm in front of a 1,500-plus crowd at their new stadium, we grew into the game, quietened the crowd and were just starting to force the hosts into mistakes when we were picked off early in the second half and never recovered.

It didn’t help that a swirling wind made conditions exceptionally difficult in terms of ball control but it was the same for both sides and Truro coped better over the 90 minutes though Scott Thomas, by far our most accomplished performer on the day, led by example.

Lining up in a 4-1-4-1 formation to give us more width to make way for new signing lennon peake, signed from Hornchurch, we struggled initially to cope as Truro came firing out of the blocks. Twice Rhys Forster came to our rescue while Jaze Kabia outstripped our entire defence yet inexplicably fired wide.

Yet when Truro couldn’t make their early dominance count, it became a far more even contest as we gave as good as we got. Having already had a goal disallowed for a foul on the Tinners’ keeper, on 39 minutes we took the lead as Sam Youngs pounced on hesitancy in the final third and fed Folivi who unleashed a sublime right-foot curler that gave the keeper no chance (celebrations pictured).

H-T 0-1

It seemed to be the perfect response to Tuesday’s debacle against Slough but once again everything we had worked for was lost in the blink of an eye as Truro turned the game on its head in a quick-fire spell.

On 51 minutes, we failed to cut out three passes and when the ball landed at the feet of Seidou Sanogo, he produced an audacious back-heel that nestled in the corner.

Before we could recover we were undone by an even worse goal from a defensive standpoint as skipper Tyler Harvey – very much Truro’s main man who had already struck the bar in the first half – wasn’t picked up and headed home a freekick.

Suddenly, Truro had options all over the pitch and Gavin responded by switching formation and making a flurry of subs, the most encouraging being the introduction of Alex Solomon.

But even that couldn’t alter the scoreline in our favour. Instead Truro increased their lead as talisman Harvey swept the ball in at the near post with 15 minutes left as we failed to deal with a long throw.

 “We were actually allright for long periods but if you can’t defend your box, this league will find you out,” said Gavin who was as candid as he’s ever been. “We saw it on Tuesday and we saw it again. I’m accountable because I put this team together but they are not doing the things they’ve been asked to do.”

“I can’t blame the conditions or the journey down because we were ahead at halftime. There was no freak goal that blew back in the net, just bad defending. Their second goal in particular is beyond a joke, the kind of thing  you see on a Sunday morning.  

“We keep trying to put certain measures in place but the players – not all of them — keep making the same errors.  It’s now become a theme and my only conclusion is that I need to change but I have to go again on Monday with what I have.”

After painful back-to-back defeats, the boys need all the support they can get from our home game with Hemel Hempstead on Monday (kickoff 3pm) that becomes even more crucial to get us back on track.

“Perhaps this level is leaving a few of them behind,” added Gavin following our most arduous away trip of the calendar. “The fact is there’s no hiding place but some of them are starting to shrink when things don’t go well. I only have a few hours to think about Monday but we’ve got to stop handing teams goals on a plate.”

Town: Forster; Oyenuga, Nembhard, Tanner (Solomon, 67), Payne, Youngs (Leshabela, 67), Tanner, Thomas (Krasniqi, 89), Peake (Beckles-Richards, 67), Knight (Adjei-Hersey 89), Folivi.

We are thrilled to announce a last-minute and hugely exciting acoustic Cinelli Brothers gig next Tuesday, Aug 27, at Butler’s Bar.

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

The Cinellis, who have played at our club several times before, have now agreed to return to play an acoustic fund-raising set featuring two or three members of the band.

In January, 2023, the Cinellis succeeded in coming 2^nd out of 150 bands representing the UK in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. The same month, their album “No Country For Bluesmen” was nominated for the UK Blues Awards as “Blues Album Of the Year”.

We are delighted they can fit us in to their busy schedule ahead of a full-scale European and US tour.

Doors open at 7.30 pm and tickets priced £10 can either be purchased on the night or in advance by calling Christine Hamilton on 07949 071587. There will also be a bar and raffle.

Enfield Town 1 Slough Town 6

Report By Andrew Warshaw

After two highly encouraging outings, Enfield Town were brought down to earth with a crash on Tuesday night as we were comprehensively dismantled  by ruthless opponents who were quicker, classier and more skilful.

It was a chastening night for the boys across all areas the pitch, especially in defence. In truth it could have been even worse but while there were few if any positives, the fact remains that we have three points from as many games which isn’t too bad a return and can’t be said for the six clubs below us.

It should also be noted that the crowd of 822, superb for a midweek game and including over 100 from Slough, made for a great atmosphere and it is a credit to the Town majority that they remained behind the team throughout, clearly understanding the level we are now playing at.

Let’s not forget too that until the 43^rd minute we were on level terms, only to be undone by a series of clinical quick-fire finishes that showed there’s no hiding place at step 2 and exposed some clear deficiencies which the management team will surely address.

Town made just the one change from win over Weston-super-mare, resting Scott Thomas and bringing in Ernaldo Krasniqi but  Slough Town’s intent was clear from start and they were ahead after just three minutes  courtesy of dangerman Kweku Lucan, whose electric pace troubled Town all evening. Slavi Spasov sped down the left and when his cross came back off the post, Lucan tapped home though we should have got tighter to both of them.

It immediately put us on the back foot and only a smart stop by Rhys Forster prevented Spasov from doubling Slough’s lead.

When Hisham Kasimu whipped a left-footer just over the bar, things started to look brighter and on 25 minutes we were back on level terms as, out of nowhere, Bernie Tanner unleashed a 28-yard thunderbolt.

That should have given Town the belief to push on. Instead we were rocked back on our heels in the last few minutes of the half as Slough picked up the tempo once again and hit us thrice more before the break in a matter of minutes.

First, a lightning move down Slough’s right  beat us for pace and Spasov fired home. Before we could catch our breath we conceded again as Joash Nembhard was basically outmuscled by Lucan who slotted the ball past Forster who will want to forget this particular encounter against his old club.

And there was worse to come. In first-half stoppage, we didn’t pick up Spasov’s dummy and John Gilbert pounced on the loose ball.

H-T 1-4

Now it was all about damage limitation as we switched to 4-4-2 but Slough maintained their control and gave us nothing to feed off.

Within two minutes of the restart, Henry Ochieng’s volley rattled the bar and it was little surprise when the Rebels added a fifth, Dan Roth nutmegging Khanya Neshabela before feeding Spasov who finished from close range.

We just couldn’t cope with Slough’s attacking interplay as they constantly played balls in behind and the onslaught was complete in second half stoppage time.

The Rebels had already twice gone close to number six against a now weary backline and delivered the final blow with virtually the last kick of the game, John Ufuah finding academy prospect Jack Timberlake who smashed it home.

Gavin didn’t mince his words afterwards.

“I’m probably at my lowest point as a manager,” he conceded. “I’ve never had a result like this. Clearly as a collective group, and that includes me and the management team, it’s not been good enough and that’s an understatement. Slough spun the ball very well but some of the goals were simply calamitous.”

 “I can’t put it down to just one of those days because we’re all accountable. We haven’t been too bad in the first two games but I’m appalled by tonight and if I have to change things I will.”

Town

Forster, Tanner, Nembhard, Payne, Parcell (c) (Oyenuga 68), Krasniqi (Folivi HT), Leshabela, Youngs, Knight, Leonard, Kasimu (Beckles-Richards 65).