Potters Bar Town 2-1 Enfield Town

Enfield Town’s fourth pre-season runout will have left Gavin Macpherson with plenty to ponder after failing to take advantage of their chances in a 2-1 defeat at neighbours Potters Bar Town.

The hosts, opening a new 3G pitch at their Lantern Stadium, were set upon early on as Towners debutant Lamar Reynolds glanced a header narrowly off target, while Henry Hawkins and Billy Leonard also both went close. Trialist A wearing 7 for Town was the next to threaten, taking Billy Leonard’s cross and shimmying round a defender before forcing a smart stop from the legs of goalie Jack Berman.

However, it was Potters Bar who eventually broke the deadlock inside 20 minutes when a lofted cross evaded the Town defence and fell to teenager Harry Brant, whose back-post header beat Adi Connolly and nestled into the roof of the net. The Scholars were unfortunate not to double their lead shortly afterwards as again Town’s backline switched off, but Brant blazed over when presented with another cross.

Bayley Brown thought he had levelled after sweeping home from a free kick, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag, but Town did ultimately find an equaliser just shy of the break when Tommy Wood powered home Leonard’s inswinging ball for his third pre-season goal in as many games.

Four new faces were introduced at the break but they were powerless to stop Town from falling behind again just minutes after the restart. A cheap free kick on the edge of the box was ruthlessly punished, flying inside the near post and providing an unwelcome sense of déjà vu from Tuesday evening.

The rest of the match was a story of Town providing plenty of effort, but not enough cutting edge. Some fine interplay between Trialist C (wearing 16) and Sam Youngs allowed Town’s midfielder space for a clean half-volley which was excellently saved, before the same Trialist himself twice had efforts from close range but found Berman in inspired form to deny him.

“It’s a game we should win, but don’t win because we concede two really poor goals and contrive to miss quite a few chances, though we have to pay tribute to their keeper”, said boss Gavin Macpherson.

“I think we’re where we want to be with the conditioning side of things, but probably not with our tactical side – albeit we should probably win the game quite comfortably. There’s work to do, and that’s what pre-season is for … we’ve got three weeks and a few games left to get us up to speed.”

First half: Connolly; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins, Payne; Leonard, Parcell, Youngs, Trialist A; Wood, Reynolds

Second half: Connolly (Trialist G, 60′); Jones, Benjamin, Hawkins, Payne (Lambert, 60′); Leonard (Trialist E, 60′), Brown (Trialist D, 60′), Youngs, Trialist C; Wood (Trialist F, 60′), Trialist B

As we approach the halfway stage in our pre-season programme, Town make the short visit to Potters Bar tomorrow with the added incentive of free entry to all supporters.

The game celebrates the Scholars’65th anniversary and is being played for the Potters Bar Charity Cup.

Just as importantly for the hosts, it is being treated as the official opening of their new-look ground following the completion of 3G works.

No tickets are being sold online and instead of an entry fee, supporters are encouraged to donate money for the Potters Bar Charity Cup Benevolent Fund, which will be distributed to a number of local charities.

With our opening fixture at Torquay three weeks away, the management staff are stepping up their scrutiny of the playing staff in terms of recruitment and fitness.

“I’ve talked already about the pitch at Walthamstow. The game had very little quality but you have to recognise it for what it was,” said Gavin Macpherson. “Did we get out of it what we wanted? Not really but hopefully we’ll get more out of Saturday.”

“The strategy going forward now is to improve on the things we need to. That’s what pre-season is about. I’ve seen teams lose every pre-season game and get off to an absolute flier, and vice-versa. I’m comfortable where we are and where we have to improve. Not having any injuries is key.”

One huge boost for the club is that Lamar Reynolds’ international registration has now come through after weeks of bureaucratic snafus.

“Lamar for us is expected to be a big player,” said Gavin.  “He’s pacey and will hurt defences with what he does. When you have a player like that who you can’t use, it’s really frustrating. It’s really difficult to plan. If we think what Lemar is going to be for us, then he’s pivotal.

“We’ve had to go along with triallists at the top end of the pitch until such time as Lamar is available. Now we can start to plan ahead. I can’t say at the moment whether he will play at Potters Bar because I need to see where he’s at. I don’t want to push him too hard too quickly. And that goes actually for the rest of the boys.”

With Tommy Wood showing signs of good form already, things appear to be shaping up in an area of the pitch that is notoriously difficult to fill.

“I said when Tommy came in, there’s a hell of a player there who will rattle defences,” said Gavin. “So far the signs are good but he has to keep that up and can’t allow himself a lull and get too comfortable.”

With five more friendlies, the intention is to strengthen squad still further to make sure we have enough on board to be competitive.  

“I think we probably need at least another three before the season starts including one in the middle of the park,” said Gav.

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Walthamstow FC 1 Enfield Town 0

Despite a performance lacking cohesion and fluidity, this was — let’s face it — another building block on the road to the start of the season with a number of first-team players again missing for various reasons.

On the plus side, Ruaridh Donaldson made his Town debut at left-back and looked assured on the ball if a little rusty.

And once again Tommy Wood, clearly growing in confidence, looked like he will prove a more than useful asset up front.

The game was officially for the Kaylen Dennis Memorial trophy in honour of  the 17-year-old who was a member of Walthamstow’s under-23 team and tragically collapsed and died during a game last December.

Understandably perhaps, therefore, the hosts were somewhat more motivated but for Town, it was mainly all about trying to get another 90 minutes under their collective belts and coming away injury-free.

In the first half, Town’s best chances were a bullet header from Wood who connected with a Donaldson freekick and was narrowly off target; and a close-range Sam Youngs effort that brought a magnificent reflex stop by the Stow keeper.

But the hosts certainly gave as good as they got, producing a couple of decent chances and showing commendable pace.

Rather than change the entire team at halftime, Gavin Macpherson this time gave the starting eleven until the hour mark before making nine switches.

But it was the hosts who ended up victors, winning  the game on 55 minutes with a spectacular curling freekick from Te Wihongi after what in truth looked a somewhat innocuous foul.

Whilst it was hard to pick out any particular Town individuals for praise, that wasn’t really the point of the exercise though defender Jay Lambert, as he did on a couple of appearances last term, looked a promising prospect in the second half.

Conspicuous by his absence again was Lamar Reynolds as we await his international clearance to come through. Whilst he is eligible to play friendlies, it makes total sense not to risk him getting injured but it’s also hugely frustrating for the management team in terms of their inability to plan properly.

One might imagine Gavin may have been a trifle miffed given the opposition were Step 4 but far from it.

“I asked them to go out on an unbelievably difficult pitch and to look after themselves and go and get a workout,” said Gav. “I don’t mean that with any disrespect to Walthamstow. But it was always going to be devoid of quality. Potters Bar on Saturday will hopefully produce more on the pitch.”

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Canvey Island 0 Enfield Town 1

A Sam Youngs strike proved the difference as we carved out a narrow victory in our second pre-season fixture after kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes because of a traffic accident.

On a bobbly pitch that didn’t make for much quality and 30-degree heat, the management team once again played two different sides for each 45 minutes, with three triallists in the first half and eight in the second.

After nine minutes a fine cross from Avan Jones was headed goalwards by Triallist B and saved low down by the Canvey keeper.

With a number of players unavailable, including some of the new signings, there was little further incident until Sam’s 36^th-minute strike after good work by two trialists.

For the rest of the encounter, Town were defensively strong with all the triallists again trying to impress, one of them lifting a shot well over the bar when clean through.

Commenting on a solid if underwhelming performance, in which Xavier Benjamin partnered Adam Thompson at the back in the first half with Henry Hawkins playing alongside a triallist in the second, Gavin Macpherson said: “There were plusses and also things that we need to work on. The pitch was very difficult but we never looked like conceding. Once again thankfully there were no injuries  but I believe we still have a couple of players to sign.”

Next stop Walthamstow on Tuesday night.

Enfield Town 2 AFC Wimbledon 4

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Not much should be read into this scoreline.  There were loads of positives to take from our first pre-season outing of the season, not least the fact that with our strongest available side we took a 2-0 lead against League One opposition before the management team sent out a heap of young trialists for the entire second half.

The visiting Dons squad, promoted in last season’s playoffs, was packed with first-team members but in that opening half you wouldn’t have guessed they were three divisions above us.

Even with the likes of Bailey Brown and a couple of new signings unavailable (Lamar Reynolds was watching from the stands), Town’s first-half  performance was highly encouraging, notably a back four that included promising new recruit Evan Jones. We wait to see whether that will be Gavin Macpherson’s preferred formation when the season proper gets under way.

 Before kickoff, the mayor of Enfield, Cllr Margaret Greer, officially opened our new stand by cutting the proverbial ribbon (pictured with ETFC chairman and vice-chairman Paul Reed and Paul Millington), a landmark occasion.

Then it was down to the action on the pitch which was in superb condition thanks to the hard work of Neil, Jack and their team.

The Wimbledon starting eleven included a familiar face in Harry Sidwell who had such an impressive loan spell with us marked by that scorcher against Truro. The Dons also fielded  Matty Stevens, their 21-goal marksman last season.

But Town started like a train and so nearly grabbed the lead on five minutes when Ollie Knight was sent clear by Sam Youngs, only to see his superb left-foot strike bettered by a terrific one-handed stop from Joe Mcdonnal.

But it wasn’t long before we broke the deadlock  courtesy of Tommy Wood, our new striker who quickly endeared himself to Town fans with two quickfire goals. First his movement in the box created space for him to head home Billy Leonard’s corner and within a minute he struck again, starting and finishing an excellent move  by converting Ollie’s fizzed-in cross.

Stevens duly halved the deficit and should have levelled just before the interval when he put a free header wide but we were good value for our lead.

H-T 2-1

Both teams changed their lineups for the second period, the difference being that our visitors still paraded first-team squad members whereas Gavin threw on a heap of untried trialists.

It was perhaps inevitable therefore that Wimbledon – who had left three on the pitch —  took the game away from us given the gap in quality and the fact we were now fielding an entire relatively inexperienced line-up who had never played together.

Now it was the Dons’ turn to hit two in a minute after 73 and 74 minutes through an Alistair Smith side-foot and an Osman Foyo strike that beat Adi Connolly at his near post. Foyo then doubled his tally as he smashed in a fourth off the underside of the bar.

“In the first half we played a relatively familiar team though with a few still missing but even in the second half really pleased with the effort even though I kind of expected it may go that way,” said Gavin.

“Obviously their fitness levels were going to be miles better but the important thing is we got out of it what we wanted. For our first pre-season it was as much as I could have asked for. There may have been a few doubters about Tommy but I’ve got great faith in him. If he’s fit and focussed and has found a home, all of a sudden you’re getting a very good player.”

Next up Canvey Island on Saturday and a likely similar scenario of two different elevens. “It’ll be 45s again,” said Gavin. “It’s about avoiding injuries and building towards that first game of the season. Which we know is going to be extremely tough!”

Town’s first half line-up:

Forster; Jones, Hawkins, Thompson, Benjamin; Leonard Youngs, Parcell, Knight; trialist, Wood

You simply couldn’t make it up. A year after starting our National League South adventure with a daunting trip to Torquay, the 2025-6 fixture list has thrown up exactly the same scenario. What are the chances of that?

So on Aug 9, Town make the long trip to Devon to take on the side that were widely expected to have gained promotion in April but lost in the playoffs and will now be odds-on favourites to challenge for the title once again.

Many Town fans might have one eye on a long weekend by the so-called English Riviera but on the pitch it’s a tall order for Gavin Macpherson’s boys who were beaten  2-1 in last season’s corresponding fixture after taking a shock early lead on their Step 2 debut.

Whatever the result, the fixtures don’t come any easier. A week later, we face Maidenhead United – one of the teams who dropped down from the National League and will be desperate to get straight back up.

Hornchurch follows at home, followed by a trip to Worthing to complete our first four fixtures. August Bank Holiday Monday sees us hosting promoted Totton while the August programme is wrapped up with a visit to Slough.

View all our fixtures here:

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=122134044248830833&id=61574925016092&rdid=GZZQGAduc6ncuPFZ#

They can also be viewed by clicking on the following website link and scrolling down:

https://www.thenationalleague.org.uk

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Enfield Town’s pre-season fixtures kick off tomorrow (Wednesday) with the hosting of AFC Wimbledon  and the chance to mix established first-teamers with trialists trying to catch the eye of the management team.

The game marks the Dons’ first fixture back on English soil following their Marbella tour in Spain and for us the opportunity for players to stake an early claim with the season kicking off in a month’s time.

Indeed, by the time Wednesday’s game gets under way we will know who we’re facing when as the league fixtures are due to be released a few hours earlier at lunchtime.

In the meantime, as we face another fan-owned team, the game is a special occasion in more ways than one with the mayor of Enfield due to officially open our new 400-seater stand around 6-6.15pm, with kickoff scheduled for 7pm.

The stand was used for the first time at the back end of last season but tonight’s game has been designated as its formal inauguration and we are honoured to have invited several local dignatories.

No-one is more proud than Town vice-chairman Paul Millington who drove the project and you can read our interview with Paul in the match programme.

Enfield Town’s newly appointed No. 2 says the call to join the club came as something of a surprise but that he can’t wait to get started as an important part of Gavin Macpherson’s management team.

Assistant manager Jon “Unders” Underwood, former joint manager at Slough before taking over the reins at Beaconsfield and Bracknell, believes his management skills will ideally complement those of Gavin as we embark on our first pre-season friendly at home to AFC Wimbledon on Wednesday.

“I received an out of the blue call from Gav a few weeks back asking if I’d be interested. I’ve always got on well with Gav and the big attraction for me was getting back into this league after a couple of years,” Jon explained in his first interview since joining.

Also paramount to his decision was the way the club is structured.

“Everything I’ve heard has been really positive, obviously the way it’s run and the supporters. It’s never easy to go from Step 3 into Step 2.  There’s a lot to be excited about and lot of reasons to be here. I’m also a big Tottenham fan which of course is just around the corner!”

Town’s special fan-based ethos was a particular attraction. “I wanted to be at a club where everyone was pulling in the same direction, that’s the most important thing,” said Jon, known affectionately as ‘Unders’.

“From everything I hear, even in some of the tough times last season, everyone was behind Gav and the team. For me that’s massive because at a lot of clubs it’s not like that and the fans get on your back.”

At some clubs as well, said Jon, volunteers don’t always come forward willingly.  “My understanding at this place is that the fans want to get involved. I’m all for that. I’m an open, sociable person and am looking forward to meeting supporters in the bar!”

Unders believes his management skills will be put to good use in the dugout. It’s unlikely, for instance. you will see him charging up and down the touchline gesticulating!

“I know this league…I know the level and I’d to think I’m quite a calm person on the sidelines. Someone who can see things, spot things and come to Gavin with ideas and solutions. It can be a lonely place as a manager.”

“I won’t be a yes man but we’ve had a good discussion. Although we haven’t worked together before, I think it will work really well.”

Jon, who spent nine years at Slough, says he knew quite a few of the Town players before he arrived, having worked with one or two personally and come up against some others in matches. “So when I turned up for training for the first time, they knew me and I knew them. I’m  looking forward to putting everything into the role and continuing the good form from the end of last season.”

Similarities between Town and Slough in terms of part-time status could also work in Jon’s favour.

“They both do things right off the pitch.”

And on it? “Both of us and a few others are trying to compete against some big full-time sides. We shouldn’t be scared of that, we’ve got good players here and an experienced management team.  it’s going to be difficult but I can’t wait to get going.”

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Listen to the full interview on ETFC’s social media platforms

By Andrew Warshaw

At a packed pre-season members’ meeting on Thursday, chairman Paul Reed and manager Gavin Macpherson laid out plans for the coming season on and off the pitch as we build towards our second campaign in National League South.

During a wide-ranging discussion, which included a question and answer session, Paul gave an update on the club’s finances and board restructuring while Gavin discussed recent player ins and outs.

At the start the meeting, Gavin and the management team received a well-deserved round of applause for the achievements last season  before Paul began by revealing the club was slightly ahead of budget at the end of the season due in large part to increased attendances.

Paul disclosed that matchday income was up last season by 40 percent on the preceding one and that there would be a modest budget increase for the coming campaign without endangering club finances.

Total cost of the ground improvements was £146,131 – paid for by grants, crowdfunding and club funds.

Because of greater crowds, next season is going to require more stewarding while the three-year vision for the future is to create a football and social centre for the entire community.

The plan is for revenue to increase by 25 percent by the end of 27/28 by which time it hoped average attendances can top 1,000. A new bar facility is also being planned while external investment will also be sought to grow the club.

After Paul had outlined the club’s mission, it was over to Gavin to give an appraisal of last season and a reading of the coming one. But not before members were informed that there will be a new food franchise next season following the expiry of the Cooking Champions contract.

Gavin made a point of thanking the fans for their support and helping to get the club through “some dark moments” before our mid-season resurgence.

The away trouncing at Hampton and Richmond in late September was “about as low as it got” in the dressing room, said Gavin. “It caused me and my team to have a massive rethink. If I needed a punch on the nose, that was it. We had to make some drastic changes.”

“Seven months later, while I was highly displeased with the Worthing result, we achieved what we needed to in the end.”

Admitting with trademark honesty that he had “gambled and probably lost” vis-à-vis Joe Wright, Gavin explained that both Joe and Rhys Forster deserved a chance to impress but that he couldn’t give either one a cast-iron guarantee.

Gavin, who will be assisted next season by a new No. 2 in John Underwood, believes National League South will be harder than ever.

 “It’s gone up several notches with the likes of Dagenham and Redbridge now in the division but I’m looking to embrace the magnitude of the task ahead. I believe we’ve made some really good signings and we’re aiming to make a few more including hopefully another forward but I’ve said it before, we’re battling against full-time teams.”

“Having said that I’m very pleased with who we’ve got so far. If you google Lemar Reynolds, you will doubtless get his goal for Maidstone against Ipswich in the FA Cup. That’s generally what he is — quick, direct and strong.”

Gavin revealed he was planning to play Lemar down the middle rather than on the wing where he had been playing with Greenock Morton. That, remember, is precisely what Gav did positionally with Marcus Wyllie – and we all know the outcome. So let’s hope for another masterstroke.

“We made the biggest step this club ever has last season by staying up and success for us now is improve on that,” said Gavin. “I liken it a bit to Premier League and Championship. More often than not the team that gets promoted goes down but we didn’t. We’re in a good place and have a nucleus of players now who understand how hard they have to work and the quality they have to bring.”

On the eve of our annual pre-season members’ meeting, Gavin Macpherson has provided some valuable insight into the various arrivals and departures ahead of the new season.

Gavin has already expressed his views both on the club website and social media on the recruitment of new forwards Lamar Reynolds and Tommy Wood and the respective qualities both offer, as well as defenders Avan Jones and Ruaridh Donaldson.

Several of last season’s squad, as we know, have departed, most notably Lennon Peake who has opted for full-time football at Ebbsfleet and Joe Wright who has dropped down a division to sign for Aveley.

Gavin admits the situation regarding Joe was not ideal.

“I would like to thank Joe for everything he’s done, not only last season but in previous years,” said Gav. “Joe came in at a difficult time when we really needed a keeper and like Rhys (Forster) was a massive part in helping maintain our status at step two and I’m thankful for that. For this coming season I had tried to keep the goalkeeping situation at the club in a strong position. I realise now with the lack of guarantees that this was an ambitious challenge and I totally realise why Joe has made the decision to sign elsewhere.”

At the other end of the pitch, to put the difficulty of signing quality strikers into perspective, the management team have spoken to over 40 forward players since the end of last season.

“It’s very simple, we don’t have the pulling power of some clubs but I’m very pleased with what we’ve got,” said Gav. “The sorts of figures I have met with is way out of our comfort zone but I believe we’re in a good place with  those we’ve recruited.”

While we are saying goodbye to the likes of Lennon, Joe, Hisham Kasimu, Jack Smith, Anointed Chukwa and John Oyenuga, we are certainly in a better place than this time last year, a raft of players having re-signed for the new campaign including Sam Youngs, Mickey Parcell and the whole of last season’s back three who played such a huge part in our survival.

“It’s so important to have retained the defensive backbone since they were largely responsible for the form table in the second half of the season,” said Gavin.

“We know we have a foundation to compete and now we also have competition for places. One of the reasons we signed Ruaridh was that he’s a leader and also versatile. Plus he fits the ethics of this football club.”

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Note to members: Gavin will be attending Thursday’s meeting and will be conducting a Q and A session