Enfield Town 2 Horsham 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

A lightning start with two Sam Youngs goals inside four minutes was enough to see Enfield Town over the line and crucially narrow the gap on our rivals with our first win in 10.

Horsham’s recent league form may have been inconsistent but they came into this rescheduled  fixture as the best away team in the division only to be hit with a Youngs brace before rallying in a game of two halves to set up a nerve-shredding finale.

With Xav Benjamin suspended, there was a welcome recall for club captain Mickey Parcell, reverting to his familar position at fullback following a lengthy injury layoff that had restricted his participation to a couple of substitute appearances.

Mickey’s experience and leadership skills were on show for all to see as he brought a calmness and  stability to a side that pressed impressively, showed commendable movement on and off the ball, then defended stoically when the Hornets were stung into a reaction after the break.

Yet by that time, Town really should have been out of sight.  Supporters were still coming into the ground when we took the lead inside the first minute. Mickey Parcell’s very first contribution was to float a freekick to the edge of the box for Henry Hawkins – Town’s latest player of the month – to head across goal and Youngs to supply the finish (pictured, celebrating).

Three minutes later and from a short throw, Nino Adom-Malaki and Corie Andrews linked up superbly and from the latter’s cross, Sam beat his marker inside the far post to lash home Town’s second.

It was a dream start and it should have got even better. Lemar Reynolds’ header somehow missed the target from four yards in the centre of the goal, Lewis Carey saved superbly from Adom-Malaki’s low piledriver before Youngs brought another save from Carey’s outstretched hand, only for Andrews’ goal-bound follow-up to be blocked by a defender.

H-T 2-0

It was as dominant a first half as they come but 2-0, as they say, is a dangerous scoreline and Horsham responded accordingly.

Only a magnificent double save from Joe Wright preserved Town’s two-goal cushion but on 56 minutes, the Hornets halved the deficit through James Hammond’s opportunist looping header across Wright and into the far corner.

Town immediately so nearly restored their two-goal when a freekick was cleared off the line  but now the ball was mainly on the other foot, literally, as the Hornets pushed forward.

As Town were forced to defend deeper and deeper, Wright saved brilliantly again, this time from Jack Strange. And as we held on in a tense, nervy finale, the visitors saw teenage debutant Ronnie Gorman almost ruin the celebrations by blasting a 20-yard effort narrowly over the top.

Thankfully, for all their possession, the injury-hit Hornets, with only 14 fit players and having lost Lucas Rodrigues to a 10^th-minute injury,  couldn’t break through again, largely as a result of a backline  marshalled superbly by Hawkins and Adam Thompson and some canny substitutions by Gavin who was understandably delighted following our first league win since Nov 25.

“We wanted a quick start at home and obviously had an extra training session on Saturday,” said Gavin. “The game would have been dead and buried if we had taken a decent ratio of our chances. At 2-0 it’s precarious if you concede and it all becomes a bit nervy which is how it turned out.”

“We had to do some hard running second half and introduce some fresh legs to bring extra energy but overall really pleased to have put away a decent side.”

“With Xav suspended we had a good replacement and also our captain back. Mickey has had a really chequered season but I thought he was excellent. We had to remain focussed in those last few minutes and make informed decisions because conceding another late goal would have been harsh.”

With other results going our way on the night, Town moved two places off the bottom and attention now turns to another massive game at Farnborough on Saturday in a relentless schedule.

 “I’m hopeful we’ve got a little bit of momentum after two away draws and a home win,” said Gav. “What’s now got to happen is we use  the amount of games coming up to our advantage.”

 Town:

Wright; Adom-Malaki, Hawkins, Thompson, Parcell; Bullas (Brown 81), Traore, Youngs, Knight; Reynolds (Leonard 70), Andrews (Barlett-Antwi 75)

Following a 2pm pitch inspection, we are delighted to report that tonight’s rescheduled National League South fixture at home to Horsham is on, kickoff 7.45.

Get behind the boys and cheer us to three crucial points….

There will be a preliminary pitch inspection at 2pm this afternoon, prior to tonight’s league match at home to Horsham.

We will communicate the outcome straight afterwards

By Andrew Warshaw

Whatever happened to fair play and common sense?

Enfield Town go into Tuesday’s rescheduled game against Horsham still reeling from the staggering decision to call off Saturday’s fixture against Dover Athletic, leaving a number of burning questions unanswered amid all manner of repercussions.

As many supporters will know, the pitch (pictured, Saturday morning) had been passed fit by a local Step 2 referee who conducted a precautionary  early inspection before passing his findings to the match referee. 

The ultimate decision was then taken based on photographic and video evidence without the match ref himself visiting the club to check in person, leading to the only game in the entire division being postponed and, to pile on the frustration, sending us to the bottom of the table after Chippenham’s result. You really couldn’t make it up.

It begs the question firstly as to why this kind of process is permitted at such a high level of non-league football unless, of course, there are justifiable mitigating circumstances. It’s also  important to stress that the opinion of a fellow Step 2 referee with presumably just as much experience (he ended up being the man in the middle at Dorking-Farnborough) was ultimately ignored.

Thirdly, on a bright sunny day, why couldn’t the match referee have asked for a further inspection, say a couple of hours later, still giving Dover time to travel?

Throw into the mix the fact that this was the same match referee who, equally controversially, called off the original Hampton game (which still hasn’t been played after two further postponements ) and you get some idea of why the ruling caused so much incredulity. Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice? ….

While suggestions that the match referee still got paid half his fee are wide of the mark, spare a thought for Neil Lutwyche and his fellow ground staff, all volunteers, who gave up hours of their free time, both Friday and early Saturday, making sure the pitch was in perfectly playable shape.

Then there is the knock-on effect of having lost thousands of pounds in match-day revenue and bar and shop takings, plus several hundred more as a result of programme costs – both printing and sales.

Most important of all, perhaps, is how an already stretched squad will adapt to dealing with a nightmare fixture pile-up.

If Horsham ends up also being postponed, Town will have to play every Tuesday and Saturday between now and the end of March, a tall order for a full-time side, let alone part-timers who train twice a week, and only once when there are midweek games. Even if Horsham beats the weather, only one Tuesday before the end of March will be available to train and/or rest.

“I’m completely flabbergasted and simply cannot comprehend it,” Gavin Macpherson said minutes after the Dover postponement. “I’ve never witnessed anything like this before. I’ve tried to put myself in the referee’s shoes and I am still totally baffled. Player safety is paramount but the bounce was true and there will be pitches up and down the country in a far worse condition that will have been played on.”  

Take a look at Grimsby’s mudbath against Wolves in the FA Cup and you get Gav’s point.

“These decisions make changing planning for more games in a very short period of time incredibly difficult,” he added.

As for mid-table Horsham, they come into the rescheduled fixture having taken just two points from their last four league outings but, ominously, have fared extremely well on the road and are unbeaten away since Dec 26. Two weeks ago they pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season by knocking Step 1 high fliers Scunthorpe out of the FA Trophy to reach the quarterfinals.

“Probably they’ve exceeded expectations but they’ve kept the players they wanted to, havn’t had too much upheaval and have plenty of goals in them,” said Gavin who will be without Xav Benjamin who serves his one-match ban.

We are extremely disappointed to report that, in spite of a local official initially deeming the pitch playable, and despite dry conditions forecast for the remainder of today, the match referee has called off today’s National League South fixture at home to Dover Athletic.

A new date will be announced in due course. Tickets will be valid for the rescheduled fixture – alternatively, email chairman@etfc.london if you wish to be refunded.

Gavin Macpherson, like everyone else, is praying the weather gods are kind to Town as we enter a crucial period of matches tomorrow and attempt to “chip away” at the clubs in around us in the race for survival.

The referee for the visit of Dover happens to be the same official who controversially called off our original fixture against Hampton and Richmond which caused all manner of repercussions and still hasn’t been played as a result of two further postponements. Hopefully this time any inspection (at the time of writing none had been arranged) will result in a different outcome though that is entirely weather dependant.

No-one is under-estimating the task ahead of Town but at this vital stage of the season, we at least have a healthy-looking squad with only a couple of players in danger of missing out with minor knocks and Xav Benjamin’s one-game suspension not kicking in until Horsham on Tuesday.

T’Sharne Gallimore, who has been a big miss, is back in contention having training fully on Thursday, adding to competition for places in midfield as we seek to close the gap on our rivals. “We’re going to come across some heavy pitches so we’re deliberately trying to be strong in that area,” explained Gav.

Had we not been reduced to nine men in the corresponding fixture at Dover, we would surely have avoided a 4-1 thumping. Seven points from our next three games against the Whites, Horsham and Farnborough – the first two at home – would represent a healthy return but Gav is also playing the long game and has urged fans to keep the faith.

“We have to go all out to win the next three games, all of them on paper within our reach, but this is not going to be a quick fix,” said Gav.

“It’s not where we are now, it’s where we are in the final few weeks. Of course I would rather accumulate enough points long before then and I understand the frustrations.

“But the likelihood is that we are looking at the end game. We want to chip away at the margins that exist at the moment in order to pressurise the teams above us and go into April giving ourselves a real chance. We need to stick together to try and make that happen.”

AW

Ebbsfleet United 2 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Talk about bitter-sweet. On another day, under different circumstances, an away point against full-time opponents with a formidable home record would be cause for celebration.

Instead, Enfield Town’s hard-fought draw at a rain-lashed Ebbsfleet on Tuesday served only to push us further into the mire courtesy of our three closest rivals in the hunt for survival all winning.

Few could have imagined that Hampton and Richmond, Eastbourne and Chippenham would all gain maximum points on the same evening.

But so it was, only goal difference now separating us from Chippenham – remarkably, victorious over leaders Torquay – at the bottom of the table.

The argument of course is that you can only manage your own results and in that respect Town left Ebbsfleet with their heads held high as they twice came from behind.

For once, given how many times the ball has been on the other foot, it was Gavin Macpherson’s men who produced last-gasp drama, Bailey Brown’s 94th-minute header gaining an invaluable point.

Yet the reality is that away draws, even at extremely tough opponents, aren’t going to get us out of a relegation scrap. Winless in 10 tells its own story. We simply have to start winning games especially at home.

Still missing T’Sharne Gallimore but otherwise relatively injury-free, Town looked comfortable for much of the first half in a cavernous stadium where every instruction barked from the dug-out could be heard from above.

Hayden Bullas – a close second behind Henry Hawkins in the man of the match stakes – saw two shots blocked but at the other end former Towner Lennon Peake looked a constant threat with his pace and customary delivery.

And it was from one of those crosses that the hosts took a 27^th minute lead, Dom Samuel supplying a close-range finish that Joe Wright only managed to half stop. It looked for all the world like Samuel was offside, only for Xav Benjamin to have played him on.

The  lead was short-lived, however. Just 90 seconds later, Town levelled as Lamar Reynolds played in Corie Andrews who powered home a fine equaliser to open his Town account (pictured celebrating with fans). Five minutes before the interval, Corie had the ball in the net again but an offside flag had already been raised.

Shortly after, Benjamin, who had struggled against Peake in an unfamiliar rightback role, was cautioned on the edge of the area. The  freekick came to nothing but the yellow didn’t help Xav’s cause of which more later.

Quite how an Ebbsfleet defender avoided a similar  caution for pulling back Lamar when he burst forward from halfway is anyone’s guess but Town had been arguably the better side in the opening 45 minutes.

H-T 1-1

Whatever was said at halftime, The Fleet burst out of the traps and started to push us back. Toby Edser, Ebbsfleet’s danger man in midfield, curled a shot narrowly side while a rare mix-up at the back almost cost us dearly, Hawkins managing to hack clear. Two Fleet penalty shouts went unheeded (as did one for Town late on) while another effort was cleared off the line.

Town appeared to have weathered to storm only to concede with 82 minutes on the clock as Josh Passley took a touch from just outside the box before rifling home a magnificent strike off the far post.

With time running out, on came Ely Ackeson and Ruben Bartlettt-Antwi but it was the third of three successive Nino Adom-Malaki throws that ultimately salvaged a point. The first two were taken short to Mickey Parcell (how good to see him back in a Town shirt) and came to nothing. But the third was launched long and found the head of Brown, who had only just come on and rose to beat his marker despite a suspicion the ball had skimmed off a home defender.

There was still time for more drama, however, as Benjamin was adjudged to have bundled over an Ebbsfleet player on the edge of the area and received a second yellow, resulting in a one-match ban. Fortunately, the resultant freekick was ineffective and Town had their precious point.

“Obviously we have an interest in what the others are doing but I can only talk about the boys who were magnificent,” said Gavin. “They worked so hard. Although we shouldn’t necessarily celebrate draws, there is a recognition that this is a very good one.”

“We had to change shape to slow them down. It took a lot after the lad’s fantastic strike for us to go again. But we went at it and I’m full of praise for them.  Corie is lacking game and is still not up to speed but it was good step forward. As for Mickey, it’s been difficult for him and I was champing at the bit to get him on. It’s a cliché but I hope coming off the back of two away draws it can act a springboard with a lot of home games to come.”

ETFC: Wright; Adom-Malaki, Thompson, Hawkins, Benjamin; Bullas (Parcell 80), Knight (Bartlett-Antwi 87), Traore (Brown 89),  Youngs: Andrews (Ackason 76), Reynolds (Leonard 61),

On paper, it’s the tallest of orders. With only one away win in the league all season, Enfield Town go into the first game of a hugely testing schedule on Tuesday against full-time opposition who rarely lose at home.

Only twice have Ebbsfleet United been beaten on their own patch and with two games a week between now and March 24, which is currently our first free Tuesday, the energy-sapping task facing Gavin Macpherson’s men cannot be overstated.

It goes without saying that part-time clubs have far less time to prepare for a constant  Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday programme. But by the same token, as Gavin stated recently, going on a run can work in your favour.

“It could be our saviour or it could kill us,” Gav admitted. “When you only train twice a week, clearly this sort of schedule makes life much harder. I trust my squad but if we have an injury crisis, we’ll be in trouble. It’s obviously more of an advantage if you’re full-time. There’s a reason why these teams generally flourish.  We clearly need to find some form but let’s see where we are after a few of these games. A lot of them are at home.”

But not tomorrow. Town may have won the corresponding fixture against Ebbsfleet 3-1 back in October but no-one is under any illusions.

“If I’m not mistaken they have the best home record in the division and our away record isn’t good,” said Gav. “That suggests a tough day at the office and that we’re going to have to put everything together to come away with a result. But football doesn’t always work like that.”

Town’s task hasn’t been made any easier with Hampton and Richmond and Farnborough both snatching late draws at the death last Saturday. “Listen these teams are scrapping hard,” said Gavin. “As it stands, we have to try and match that.”

Even if things don’t go our way at Ebbsfleet, said Gav, there is room for optimism.

“Right now we’re focussing hard on Ebbsfleet but there’s a run of games thereafter where people might think we should pick up points so whatever happens tomorrow, after that we’ll be focussing on those.”

AW

Following the postponement of our home fixture against Horsham last Saturday because of a waterlogged pitch, this will now be played next Tuesday, Feb 17, kickoff 7.45

Today’s game against Horsham unfortunately has had to be postponed because of a waterlogged pitch

The unprecedented amount of seasonal rain is causing a fixture pile-up for numerous clubs and we will communicate a revised date for Horsham as soon as possible