Due to the incessant rain, there will be a pitch inspection at 9am Saturday morning to see if our game against Horsham can go ahead.

We will communicate the outcome shortly afterwards

On the eve of our home fixture against Horsham, pending a 9am inspection, Gavin Macpherson has given a personal insight into how a club of our stature deals with a prospective pile-up of games.

If Horsham goes the same way as our matches against Dorking and Hampton (the latter now scheduled for March 3 at the FOURTH attempt), Town face being embroiled in massive fixture congestion through the rest of February and March.

“There are many ways you can come at it ,” Gavin explained. “Yes it helps to have more time on the training field. And if you go on a run during a fixture pile-up and get points on the board, it can work in your favour and you can be champing at the bit to get out again.”

“But on balance, for a club like us with a smaller squad than most, you’d wish there wasn’t such a pile-up.”

Originally, the first Tuesday in March was put aside as a midweek rest, only to be forced into deployment against Hampton once that fixture was called off for a third time this week. It leaves Town with precious little breathing space in the coming weeks.

“If Horsham is off too, that will be another one in the mix,” said Gavin. “If so, we will use the time as preparation for Ebbsfleet next Tuesday.”

Without, however, the versatile Avan Jones who has left for Step 3 Uxbridge.

“We had no choice but to let him go,” said Gavin. “Some supporters may not realise that if a club puts in an official approach for a non-contracted player and he wants to go, we can’t stop him. We made it clear to Avan how we saw the outlook but ultimately it was his choice.”

But how do you legislate for having a small squad and losing players just at the time when you have to play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday? Triple whammy on paper.

“That’s why it’s far more difficult for us than for a lot of teams,” Gavin admitted. “Take Ebbsfleet for example. They will train Monday and may even come in on Sunday.  For us, it’s harder with a smaller squad to rotate which means a proportion of players are always going to have to play every game. Which then throws up a possible injury situation. With fixture congestion, it’s much easier for full-time teams to cope with Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday and prepare accordingly.”

As for Horsham, Gavin said he “desperately wants” to get out and try and pick up three points but is ready to switch attention instead to Ebbsfleet if the weather scuppers yet another fixture.

“I understand about not winning football matches the longer our run goes on but it’s no good me stressing about it. We’ve done our homework on Horsham whose big advantage coming into the season was that they were planning for Step 2 over several years. 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.”

AW

Our thrice postponed home game against Hampton and Richmond will now take place on Tuesday, March 3, kickoff 7.45

Following a seven-day approach, we can confirm the departure of full-back Avan Jones, who has joined Step 3 side Uxbridge.

After joining us in pre-season from Chesham United, Avan made 22 appearances for the Towners and kept 3 clean sheets.

We thank Avan for his efforts and wish him well for the future.

Following a pitch inspection, tonight’s game against Hampton and Richmond has been postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

Unfortunately this is the third time this vital fixture has had to be called off because of adverse weather.

We will advise on a rescheduled date as soon as agreement can be reached between the two clubs

With persistent rain forecast for tomorrow, there will be a pitch inspection at 3pm tomorrow, prior to our scheduled league game with Hampton & Richmond.

We will communicate the outcome as soon as we have further information.

Our National League South fixture against Dorking Wanderers has been rescheduled.

We will now welcome the Wanderers to the Dave Bryant Stadium on the evening of Tuesday 17th March, kickoff 19:45.

Enfield Town take on Hampton and Richmond Borough at the third attempt on Tuesday hoping not to be scuppered once again by adverse weather.

The Beavers have had a full week to prepare for arguably our most important game of the season following the postponement of their fixture at Totton on Saturday while we were drawing 1-1 draw at Eastbourne.

Gavin Macpherson summed up just about everyone’s feelings when he admitted that Henry Hawkins’ second-half equalizer will only be a good point if we pick up a maximum haul against a side who, together with Farnborough, are directly above us and six points clear.

Due to their game at Totton being postponed, the Beavers’ last outing was an impressive win against title-chasing Worthing. While Town are now winless in nine league games stretching back to late November, H and R are looking to make it three unbeaten.

This week they signed a new goalkeeper in 21-year-old Aaron Maguire on loan until the end of the season. Maguire is currently  part of the Spurs’ U21 squad and has made two appearances in the Premier League 2 this season. The Beavers have also signed experienced defender David Longe-King on a permanent deal from Chelmsford.

 On the Town fitness front, T’Sharne Gallimore is still battling against an ankle injury though Ruaridh Donaldson is available after completing his two-match ban and Mickey Parcell  — on the bench at Eastbourne — is edging ever closer.

“Does it put more pressure on us given that we didn’t win on Saturday? Obviously given Hampton are close to us, perhaps because it would narrow the gap,” Gavin conceded. “But the reality is it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing, we want to get out of the bottom four. What I’m saying is that our approach is exactly the same.”

Meanwhile, Adi Connolly has gone on a dual registration to Step 5 Wormley;  likewise young defender Ethan Cann to Northwood. “It will stand them both in good stead to have some important game time,” said Gavin.

If tomorrow’s game is called off for a third time, it is not likely to take place before March since the calendar is full every Tuesday in February for either Town or The Beavers.

AW

Eastbourne Borough 1 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

A result that was hardly ideal for either team but as Gavin Macpherson said afterwards, a decent point as long as Town follow it up with victory against Hampton and Richmond on Tuesday – weather permitting.

With Hampton’s fixture called off, this effectively ended up as our game in hand and we were indebted to Henry Hawkins rifling home an equaliser with 16 minutes remaining though both teams will feel they could have won it in what was at times a nervy, tension-filled affair.

Gavin made two changes from our last outing, Corie Andrews and Yacou Traore both given their first full starts as Town reverted to a familiar back three. And we began very much on the front foot, taking the game to the hosts who had lost their previous five.

Only a world-class reaction save by Woody Williamson denied  Sam Youngs’ close-range header after just two minutes. Then Nino Adom-Malaki (pictured) picked up a loose ball, sped down the wing and found Hayden Bullas who couldn’t quite get the ball under control.

After controlling the early exchanges, however, Town allowed The Sports to gain a foothold. Kai Corbett had two shots blocked, one of them winding Xav Benjamin in the process, while Joe Wright’s poor distribution almost gifted Eastbourne an opener, Adam May’s audacious lob having to be tipped over by the back-pedalling Joe.

On 32 minutes, however, Eastbourne’s pressure finally told when a short corner wasn’t cleared and May bent a beauty into the net at the second attempt.

Too often, Town lost possession in promising positions while a string of set-piece plays were needlessly wasted.

And on the stroke of halftime they had a huge let-off when Gold Omotayo  seized on Benjamin being dispossessed, only to see his effort come off the underside of the bar, with Maxwell Mullins unable to force home the rebound.

H-T 0-1

The halftime introduction of Lamar Reynolds, who was forced to miss training on Thursday, for Corie Andrews had an immediate effect, using his pace to try and get behind the home defence. But as we upped the tempo, Traore’s tenacious tackling, while highly effective in central midfield, brought him a yellow card when he went through the back of an Eastbourne player. Gavin took the wise option to substitute him 13 minutes later and prevent a possible second caution.

Mullins almost doubled the hosts’  advantage when he cut inside an already booked Adam Thompson , only to clip the post. But on 74 minutes Town were level. For once, a set-piece paid dividends as Hawkins lashed home Adom-Malaki’s freekick, worthy of a striker’s finish.

Almost immediately, a soft free-kick was awarded at the other end and caused mayhem in the Town box, Eastbourne coming within a whisker of restoring their lead before thankfully the ball was cleared at the umpteenth attempt.

There on in, having chased the game, Town were the team in the ascendancy with both Tommo and Sam going desperately close to grabbing the spoils and ending a run that now stretches to two points from seven games.

Town are still six points from safety but who knows how important this one will ultimately prove. “I’m slightly disappointed if I’m honest as I thought we were the team that showed greater intent in the second half,” Gavin said afterwards.

“We started well but didn’t score – a trademark of ours this season. Then they had a spell and did score. After that I felt we the ballsier side if I can put it that way. Yes there was a lack of quality and set-piece delivery was poor but I can’t fault the endeavour which the players show week-in, week-out for this club. They are running through brick walls.”

“Essentially it’s only a good point if we follow it up on Tuesday and then in another home game against Horsham on Saturday.”

Town

Wright; Benjamin, Thompson, Hawkins; Adom-Malaki, Bullas (Jones 88), Traore (Bartlett-Antwi), Brown, Leonard (Knight 83); Youngs, Andrews (Reynolds 45)

Enfield Town go into the first of two potentially season-defining fixtures tomorrow with belief in the camp still strong albeit with the realisation that losing either game will make the task of survival infinitely more difficult.

As six-pointers go, they don’t come much more crucial than the crunch trip to Eastbourne followed by Tuesday’s home showdown with Hampton and Richmond Borough when we simply have to close the gap behind the Beavers.

Training went well on Thursday though Town look to again be without the injured T’Shane Gallimore while Ruaridh Donaldson serves the second of a two-match suspension that would originally have happened on Tuesday night against Dorking had the game not been postponed.

There is also the distinct possibility that we may not see Cian Dillon, whose loan spell has now expired, in a Town shirt for some time – if ever. Because Cian has got injured again, no extension to his loan can be discussed with QPR at least until he has a scan. Having said that, we created enough chances against Torquay to suggest that we are more than capable of finding the net without Cian.

On the plus side, the three new boys have settled in well and defensive midfielder Yacou Traore, in particular, seems to have impressed everyone in training. “I like what I’m seeing, he’s a little fighter,” said Gavin Macpherson.

The fact that neither side can afford to lose tomorrow makes the encounter even more intriguing. While we have lost four of the last five, Eastbourne, who won the corresponding game at the start of November, have lost five on the spin.

Gavin admits he completely understands why Eastbourne and Hampton have generated so much attention but characteristically plays down any sense of win or bust.

“I entirely get why these two games have been built up but season defining, for me, is when you can no longer achieve what you set out to do,” said Gav. “If we don’t get a result, that doesn’t mean we can’t go and beat other teams.”

“I don’t shy away from the fact that we have our own pressures but the bigger pressure is on Eastbourne who would have expected to be much higher in the table. I believe we’re the more relaxed camp. The reality, however, is that the absolute minimum requirement is not to lose either game.”

The postponement of Tuesday’s Dorking fixture gave the players a full week to prepare while Eastbourne were being beaten at Dagenham and Hampton were upsetting the odds against Worthing. But Gavin would have been happy to play the game.

“The performance against Torquay stood us in good stead to have a go at Dorking. But we can only look after ourselves no matter other results. Do I think we can do better? For sure but this season has really brought home how tough this league is, on and off the pitch. Far, far tougher than last time.”

AW