Congratulations to Town central defender Alex Solomon, who was recently called up to Cyprus’ Under-21 squad. Alex (right of image) , who recently re-signed for the club following a spell with Swedish side Ytterhogdals, has joined up with his national teammates for their upcoming match against Malta. Συγχαρητήρια!
The Club will be running coaches for our next two Isthmian League Premier away matches at Margate F.C. & Corinthian Casuals F.C.
Match 1 – Margate F.C.
· Date: Saturday 24th September 2022 – 3pm kick-off
· Address: Hartsdown Park, Hartsdown Road, Margate CT9 5QZ
· Departure Point: QEII Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield, Middx
· Departure Time. – Leave 10:45 am SHARP
· Cost: £18.00
Match 2 – Corinthian-Casuals F.C.
· Date: Saturday 1st October 2022 – 3pm kick-off
· Address: King Georges Field, Queen Mary Close, Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surrey, KT6 7NA
· Departure Point: QEII Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield, Middx
· Departure Time. – Leave 11:00 am SHARP
· Cost: £18.00
For bookings, please contact Les Gold on 07979 727563
email: lesgold@enfieldtownfooballclub.co.uk
or leave your details at The Club Shop
It is essential that bookings are made through either of these contacts only.
Early reservations are essential to avoid disappointment
Enfield Town 0 Canvey Island 0
Report by Andrew Warshaw
Frustration and disappointment were the key words used by Andy Leese following Tuesday’s distinctly underwhelming display.
After scoring nine goals in our previous two games, albert one of them a friendly, we were surprisingly toothless in the final third and would probably have lost but for several timely saves from Nathan McDonald — aided and abetted by some resolute defending across the back four.
The game was preceded by a minute’s applause in honour of the late Mike North, a life-long Town supporter who sadly died recently.
When the action got going, it was as if Canvey had been given a proverbial kick up the backside following their 3-0 home loss in the FA Cup on Saturday – one round after ironically inflicting a heavy defeat on us.
Just as in that fateful cup tie, Evans Kouassi was again their danger man, troubling us with his lightning pace and trickery before we got to grips with him and managed to stop his runs.
Twice in the first 20 minutes, Koussi broke clear to force excellent saves from Nathan, then whipped in a cross that was headed wide.
A Canver penalty claim when Luca Albion went down left the referee uninterested but the visitors remained a threat going forward, Bradley Sach’s opportunist effort bringing a another finger-tip save from McDonald.
Our two best half chances of the first half fell to Marcus Wyllie whose touch let him down – as it did, to be fair, with the rest of our attacking players.
H-T 0-0
Adam Cunnington managed to finally get a Town effort on target but frustratingly our passing wasn’t up to scratch as we invariably chose the wrong options whenever we had the ball.
But when you don’t take your chances, you can pay for it and the visitors almost did. In what looked like a Town training ground routine, Sam Youngs sped down the left to collect Coker’s freekick and his centre flashed across goal before being cleared off the line. Substitute Bilal Sayoud then forced a decent save from Bobby Mason.
But even a switch to 4-2-4 couldn’t produce any serious creativity for us, compounded by the absence of Lyle Della-Verde serving the first of a three-game ban.
Luckily for Town, Canvey proceeded to waste a couple more opportunities, not least when Albon lashed wide.
“Hand on heart we didn’t do enough to win the game,” said Andy. “After Brightlingea and Saturday’s friendly when we were full of attacking intent, we weren’t going past people or putting balls in the box. Our decision making in the last third was poor.”
“I’m frustrated and disappointed. We’ve got to be winning those sort of games at home if we want to be doing anything this season. The one real positive was another clean sheet.”
Next up a visit to Margate on Saturday and a chance to avenge last season’s agonising last-minute defeat on the Kent coast.
Town:
McDonald; Spencer, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite, Payne; Thomas, Dayton (Cass, 73), Youngs; Wyllie (Sayoud, 63), Cunnington, Coker
The Blues Chapter fundraising gig in Butler’s Bar on Oct 7 has regretfully had to be postponed.
The band are hugely apologetic and we very much hope to book them again in the near future.
Anyone who has bought tickets in advance should contact Christine Hamilton for a refund
We get the chance to avenge our FA Cup defeat when Canvey Island visit the QEII Stadium Tuesday night, kickoff 7.45
Canvey have made a similar start to ourselves in the league with 8 points from 6 games. Their most recent league result was a 1-1 draw at home to Haringey but on Saturday they bowed out of the FA Cup losing 0-3 at home to St Ives Town in the second qualifying round.
Our last two results – a 4-0 away win at Brightlingsea and Saturday’s demolition of Beaconsfield in a friendly – give us plenty of cause for optimism
Tickets are available on line at https://enfieldtownfc.ktckts.com/
Enfield Town 5 Beaconsfield 1
Report by Andrew Warshaw
It may only have been a friendly but Saturday’s dominant display against fellow Step 3 opponents was another sign of things moving in the right direction in the wake of our cup humiliation at Canvey Island.
Building on our 4-0 demolition of Brightlingsea in midweek, there was an air of resolute determination about the way in which we went about our business – combined with some superb goals.
Thoughts are already turning to taking revenge on Canvey in the league on Tuesday night after the tables were turned on the Gulls when they too were knocked out of the FA cup on Saturday, albeit in the second qualifying round.
We can certainly take confidence from Saturday’s showing as we blew Beaconsfield away in a rampant first half.
Sam Youngs opened the scoring after 10 minutes and Scott Thomas doubled the lead with his first ever goal for the Town, an unstoppable 25-yard thunderbolt (pictured)
On the half hour, Youngs’ through ball found former St Albans winger Wreynell Hercules who drew the keeper before squaring to Adam Cunnington for number three. And right on halftime, Andre Coker, clearly relishing playing again, made it four.
A flurry of substitutions ensued including the welcome return of Josh Urquhart — back in a Town shirt after his lengthy injury layoff.
Beaconsfield pulled one back but with time almost up Lyle Della Verde – who now misses three games because of his dismissal at Brightlingsea – exchanged passes with Kian Wilkes and unleashed another of his trademark screamers.
Town starting line up:
McDonald; Spencer, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite, Payne; Thomas, Youngs, Soula-Osekanogo; Cunnington, Coker, Hercules
With no league fixture this Saturday, we have organised a friendly match at home to Beaconsfield Town FC. Beaconsfield also play at Step 3, in the Southern League Premier South, so it should be a competitive game.
Kickoff is at a slightly earlier time of 2pm – so supporters will be able to catch neighbours Spurs in their match at 5:30. Admission prices are £5 adults, £3 concessions, £1 under 16.
Brightlingsea Regent 0 Enfield Town 4
Report by Martin Bentley
Now that’s better. A dominant Enfield Town performance resulted in four goals and an emphatic win over a Brightlingsea side who started the evening one point above Town in mid-table.
Andy Leese shuffled his pack following the heavy FA Cup loss at Canvey Island, reverting to a flat back four with Juevan Spencer given a first start at right back and Joe Payne making a second, indeed arguably a third, debut following his recent move back to the Town from Cheshunt. There were also starts for Andre Coker and James Dayton, giving the Town line-up a radically different look.
The Town were into their stride from the first whistle, with Coker fizzing a shot over, Lyle Della-Verde hitting the side netting and Sam Youngs heading against the top of the bar, all in the opening 20 minutes. The first goal arrived after 27 minutes, with Adam Cunnington’s shot being deflected past home keeper Charlie Turner. Payne then had a shot well saved, and Della-Verde curled a free kick just wide as Town concluded the half well on top.
The home side enjoyed a spell of possession early in the second half, and fired a warning shot across Town’s bows nine minutes into the half, Luke Woodward heading powerfully against Nathan McDonald’s cross bar from a right wing cross. Within a minute, however, Town doubled their lead; McDonald’s long kick caused confusion in the home defence, and Coker ran on to the loose ball to beat Turner with a powerful finish. Coker repeated the dose six minutes later with an equally emphatic effort from the other flank, and Town were out of sight.
Still Town pressed for more goals, with substitute Jake Cass hitting the foot of Turner’s post before Della-Verde added a fourth with a curling effort from Sam Youngs’ lay-off. Unfortunately, the game ended on a sour note for Della-Verde when he received a straight red card for a late tackle on the home side’s Zack Littlejohn. The decision seemed harsh, with referee Hursey seemingly making no allowances for the greasy surface, and having previously punished a similar-looking offence at the other end by Regent’s Dominic Locke with only a yellow card. Town comfortably played out the remaining ten minutes without alarm, however, and completed an excellent win that saw them jump to eighth place in the table.
Town: McDonald; Spencer, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite, Payne; Thomas, Youngs, Dayton (Sayoud 85); Coker (Wyllie 74), Della-Verde, Cunnington (Cass 64).
Unused subs: McLean, Shulton.
Before tonight’s league game at Brightlingsea, Town are very pleased to announce two returning faces to the squad, as defenders Joe Payne and Alex Solomon have signed on at Donkey Lane.
“We decided to bring Joe back to the club to give us competition in the left back position”, said manager Andy Leese.
“Joe can also play centrally. We didn’t want to lose him when he moved , on but he comes back more experienced. Alex is in the same position. He went off to play professionally in Sweden and comes back with some games under his belt. He’s versatile for a young player and we will see how he gets on when we have international clearance for him.” Welcome back both!
In light of recent events, there will be no football this weekend as a mark of respect to HM Queen Elizabeth II.
All Isthmian League matches have been postponed. Our match with Horsham, originally scheduled for Saturday, will be played at a later date.
