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.

Canvey Island 5 Enfield Town 1

Report by Martin Bentley

Enfield Town’s FA Cup campaign lasted for only 90 painful minutes as they were dumped out of the competition in the first qualifying round.

Town were strangely lifeless for much of the game, only succeeding in competing meaningfully in the final half hour.

Ex-Towner Evans Kouassi enjoyed himself more than most, bagging a hat-trick against his former employers.

With Marcus Wyllie replacing Adam Cunnington in the only change from last Monday’s loss at Potters Bar, Town were forced onto the back foot from the opening salvo.

Nathan McDonald had already made two decent saves before the first goal arrived on 19 minutes, Kouassi converting Danny Parish’s astute pass from close range.

Four minutes later it was 2-0 when Parish ran onto Reiss Chandler’s long ball as Town’s defence failed to react.

As the half progressed, Canvey continued to find vast amounts of space on both flanks while Town struggled to get a foothold in the game.

We did manage a couple of shots on target, with both Lyle Della Verde and the industrious Wyllie having efforts well saved by Rhys Byrne in the home goal.

Two minutes before half time, however, the game was over as a contest when Canvey added a third, Jamie Salmon flicking in a near post header from a left-wing freekick.

Town made two substitutions at half time, but things did not get any better, Kouassi adding a fourth after 50 minutes. Two minutes later, Conor Hubble rolled a shot against McDonald’s left-hand post, leaving the disbelieving travelling support fearful of the eventual final score.

 Town succeeded in mustering a few attacks, with Wyllie having another shot saved by Byrne, and Jake Cass having a header tipped over from Bilal Sayoud’s free kick.

After 70 minutes though, Kouassi completed his hat trick with a rebound from McDonald’s parry to compound Town’s misery.

To their credit, Town managed a consolation goal within two minutes, Cass converting substitute Juevan Spencer’s low cross.

Unforunately even the goal carried a sting in the tail for Town, as Cass collided with Byrne and had to be helped off in obvious pain from what looked like a knee injury.

With Town down to ten men having made their subs, Canvey promptly replaced both their strikers, and the remainder of the game was largely uneventful.

Not a lot of positives to be gained here. Truly a dreadful day to be a Town supporter.

Town line-up: McDonald, McLean, Braithwaite, Shulton, Bray, Taaffe (Spencer 45), Youngs, Cass, Wyllie (Cunnington 58), Della Verde (Dayton 45), Sayoud. Unused subs: Thomas, Connolly, Marfo, Coker

We may not have a game on Saturday Oct 8 but don’t miss out on our latest fundraising gig the night before in Butlers Bar.

On Friday, Oct 7, the five-piece Blues Chapter bring their unique brand of driving Texas hotshot blues to the club with a mixture of their own compositions and covers of the likes of Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Joe Bonamassa.

Tickets priced £10 can be purchased in advance by emailing  Christine Hamilton at  ianchrisham@hotmail.com. The bar opens at 7.30 and tickets will also be available on the door depending on how many are left.

These guys really know how to tear up a stage, led by the rasping vocals of charismatic front man Sky Wood and the brilliant guitar playing of Jesse Thomas.

It might be best to book early for this one since people have been known to have been turned away in the past for Blues Chapter gigs. They are, quite frankly, probably the finest young blues band in London – and all left-handed to boot!

Save the date!

We enter the world’s oldest domestic knockout tournament on Saturday with a tough fixture away at Canvey Island

With the winners receiving £2,250 in prize money, both teams would probably have hoped for an easier draw but this promises to be a fascinating cup tie.

Canvey were promoted via the play offs to the Isthmian Premier Division last season.

Their opening fixture was a 1-3 home defeat to Horsham but since then they have won 5-1 at Brightlingsea, lost 0-1 at Cray Wanderers, beat Hornchurch 2-1 at home and most recently drawn 1-1 at Bowers and Pitsea.

These results suggest Canvey will more than hold their own in the Isthmian Premier and may even be one of perhaps a dozen teams who could challenge for a play off spot.

Address on Saturday is the Movie Starr Stadium, Park Lane, Canvey Island, SS8 7PX, kickoff 3pm

If a replay is necessary it will be at the QEII Stadium on Tuesday 6 September.

Potters Bar 2 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

There sometimes ain’t no justice. Despite our best performance of the season to date, we came away with no points on Bank Holiday Monday and scant reward against our local rivals after dominating the second half.

Potters Bar may be top of the league but got lucky with a late winner on a day when our approach play and running off the ball deserved more.

The Scholars may argue they hit the post but with a 3-4-1-2 system that for large parts negated their physicality, we were left ruing what might have been and now have to pick ourselves up for the all-important FA Cup clash at Canvey Island on Saturday.

In the first meaningful attack of the game, the skillfull Quentin Monville, who will be a handful for most opposition teams this season, burst through and  saw his shot flash wide of our goal. Then Bar’s Kasim Aidoo was booked for diving when claiming a spotkick.

Once we absorbed early pressure, we settled down and grabbed the lead on 13 minutes with, yet again, another peach of a freekick from specialist Lyle Della-Verde.

If Saturday’s strike against Bowers was a thing of beauty, this was 30 yards out and even more sweetly struck (pictured). The keeper got a hand to it but only succeeded in pushing it on to a post and into the net.

Unfortunately the lead lasted a mere seven minutes as Mo Kamara, Bar’s midfield dangerman, was given space to line up a shot and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top right corner.

As  the action began to get tasty, as happens in derby games,  it all went off in front of the dugouts as players on both teams waded in. Luckily the referee gained control of the situation.

As the half progressed, a great freekick by Bilal Sayoud, who enjoyed a fine afternoon, almost produced dividends as Adam Cunnington connected  at the back post but only succeeded in sending the ball across goal.

Just before the interval, Rian Bray handled whilst struggling to deal with a hanging ball but the result was rightly yellow rather than red despite howls of Potters Bar protests.

H-T 1-1

On 55 minutes we got into something of mess defensively and were fortunate to see Joe Boachie’s angled shot come back of a post.

But from then on, it was one-way traffic as we pushed the hosts back and carved out a string of corners and half-chances.

A sweeping Town move ended with Scholars defence just getting in a block. Then a 35-yard Della-Verde freekick cannoned off the wall.

Our one big chance of the half came on 73 minutes when Cunnington dived full length to meet a Lewis Taaffe cross but steered his header narrowly wide.

The introduction of Marcus Wyllie and Andre Coker provided further hope of a Town breakthrough only for the hosts, who had  defended stoutly, to snatch victory with two minutes left, much to the disappointment of Town fans who made up the majority of the 531 attendance.

Town failed to adequately clear a throw-in and when the ball fell to Monville on the edge of the box, he took a touch and fired a shot into the bottom right hand corner via a deflection to undo all our good work.

“A sucker punch really,” said manager Andy Leese. “I thought we set up really well and defended really well in an even first half..”

“But I thought second half we came out and dominated proceedings.  There may have been few clearcut chances but what chances there were fell for us.”

“It’s massively disappointing, we certainly didn’t deserve to lose. We were missing one or two but I’m not going to complain about that – we’ve good a squad with plenty of depth. We’ve got to dust ourselves down now, focus on the FA Cup on Saturday and then start getting some points on the board as quickly as we can. If we play like we did against Potters Bar, I think we’ll be fine.”

Town

McDonald; McLean, Bray, Wilson-Braithwaite; Taafe, Youngs, Shulton, Sayoud (Coker, 80); Della-Verde (Wyllie, 76); Cass, Cunnington

Enfield Town 2 Bowers and Pitsea 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

A much-needed first win of the season was achieved courtesy of two set pieces – one in each half – and some solid defending against a Bowers team who have changed their entire playing squad this season.

Town may be some way off last season’s playoff form but this was the ideal boost ahead of Monday’s local derby at table-topping Potters Bar.

Despite plenty of endeavour, some neat interplay and a couple of spells of pressure, Bowers didn’t unnecessarily trouble us and had more bookings, six in all, than they did shots.

Nevertheless we hardly set the world alight as an attacking force either in what was often a scrappy game.

Town lined up without Marcus Wyllie who was rested as a result of slight hamstring issue.

 Jake Cass, who worked tirelessly all game,  led the line and was almost on the end of a Lyle Della-Verde pass early doors, the ball just running on to the keeper.

Twice in the first 20 minutes, Della-Verde whipped in dangerous freekicks to the back post, both of them eluding Town’s forwards.

But it was third time lucky on 28 minutes from a slightly more favourable position outside the box. Cass was bundled over and Lyle produced another of those trademark left-foot beauties that flew past Kie Plumley (pictured)

Bowers tried to respond and Freddy Moncur had a goalbound shot blocked but with James Richmond putting in another eye-catching display in central defence, the visitors’ moves came to nothing.

In fact only a timely interception to thwart Cass prevented Town doubling their lead on the stroke of halftime.

H-T 1-0

Bilal Sayoud’s header forced a low save from Plumley who minutes later produced an even better stop, also from Bilal, saving with his legs after Town’s best move of the afternoon.

In between, Bowers had two decent chances but Nathan McDonald generally had little work to do such was the protection he received from the defence, who switched to a back three for the final period of the game.

Bowers never looked out of contention, however, and it was with some relief when the game was made safe on 85 minutes as Cass lost his marker at a Lewis Taaffe  corner and guided his header into the ground and up into the net.

The one disappointment for Town was having fullback Ryan Kirwan sent off for a second yellow literally seconds from the end, theoretically meaning he will miss Saturday’s tricky FA cup tie at Canvey Island.

Yet it is a game Ryan was unavailable for anyway.

“I’m pleased with a clean sheet following on from last Sunday but in attacking sense we weren’t at our best today, not at our most fluid,”  said Andy Leese.

“Really pleased with the outcome and our defending, such as it was, just a little disappointed with our attacking play. But then whatever way the goals come, I’d take another 20 of those results today.”

Town: McDonald; McLean, Bray, Richmond, Kirwan; Sayoud (Cunnington, 66) , Shulton, Youngs, Dayton, Della-Verde (Taaffe, 83); Cass

Kingstonian 0-0 Enfield Town

Enfield Town are still searching for their first league win of the campaign after slugging out a forgettable goalless draw with Kingstonian on a stiflingly warm Sunday afternoon.

With the conditions and unusual scheduling impacting the quality of football on display, in truth neither side threatened seriously to break the deadlock; Ks enjoying large but ultimately ineffective spells of possession, and Town taking a particularly direct approach that paid very few dividends.

After a ragged start from both sides, the hosts had the first shot in anger on 8 minutes as Kenny Beaney drove a long shot over the crossbar, before Jake Cass centred for Marcus Wyllie to head into the grasp of Ks custodian Rob Tolfrey at the other end. The game’s flashpoint – if ever there was one – arrived two minutes later as Cass collected a flighted through ball down the inside-left channel, skipping past his marker and around Tolfrey before falling under contact from defender Jack Strange. Referee Paul Stratton whistled, only to signal for a Kingston free kick; an incredulous Cass booked for perceived theatrics.

Lee O’Leary’s side were starting to grow into the game, working space out wide and afforded time to pick out some neat passes, if ultimately coming to nothing. With 26 gone, Korrey Henry’s well-struck effort across Nathan McDonald from the edge of the Enfield box was smartly tipped away; Henry again unable to force a loose ball beyond the goalie from a floated cross a few minutes later. Town themselves struggled to find any real rhythm to their build-up play. Nonetheless, they threatened just shy of half time as Wyllie’s persistence in the press won possession in the final third, yet neither he nor Cass could muster a final product as their goalward efforts were crowded out.  

Half Time: 0-0

Town arguably had the better of the second period, although the visitors continued to lack any real cutting edge. Ten minutes after the restart, they were almost gifted a bizarre opener as a relieved Tolfrey watched his clearance ricochet against Jake Cass but fly narrowly wide of goal. A series of crosses were overhit or collected by the Kingston goalkeeper, and several hopeful long forward passes were returned with interest by the Ks defence. The home side’s best chance of the half came on 68 minutes, with McDonald remaining sharp to thwart Gabriel Ajuchi’s deflected shot at the end of a buccaneering run. With time ticking away, Lyle Della-Verde twice went close from carbon-copy chances; cutting in from the right and producing a couple of low, driven efforts which were well repelled by Tolfrey’s outstretched left boot.

“A point is a fair result”, said Andy Leese. “It was a bit of a nothing game. We didn’t do enough to win it, likewise we didn’t deserve to lose. I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t get to grips with Kingstonian’s style of play, and we lacked a bit of composure when we had the ball.”

“I’m pleased with a clean sheet away from home but we could and should do better.”

__________

Kingstonian: Tolfrey; Pascal (Jones 81’), Skura, Strange, Ogundega; Gogo (Shomotun 80’), Owen, Beaney; Collins, Cadogan, Henry (Ajuchi 63’).

Unused: Bonnett-Johnson, Maragh

Town: McDonald; McLean, Bray, Richmond, Kirwan; Riley-Snow (Soulya-Osekanongo 75’), Youngs, Cunnington (Taaffe 80’); Della-Verde, Wyllie (Sayoud 70’), Cass.

Unused: Spencer, Dayton

Attendance: 275

Hornchurch 3 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

A pulsating encounter that was a wonderful advert for Step 3 sadly brought little reward for Town who succumbed to two late Hornchurch goals, rekindling those painful memories of our playoff semifinal defeat.

One point from two games may not be the start we wanted but it is doubtful we will have too many tougher challenges and Nathan McDonald (pictured) must feel aggrieved and frustrated in equal measure after pulling off four or five stunning saves.

It could certainly be argued we deserved something from the game for a battling performance that said everything about our spirit, industry and camaraderie.

 We also had more than a few good chances of our own but Hornchurch, with one of the most dangerous forward lines in the division,  would argue they were the superior team over 90 minutes and carved out more clearcut opportunities.

Having said that, we got off to a lightning start. With virtually the first attack of the game, Jake Cass was unlucky to see his looping header come back off the bar while former Towner Mickey Parcell cleared another effort off the line.

Rian Bray picked up an early booking before our luckless captain Scott Thomas had to leave the field with what looked like a bad shoulder injury and was replaced by Lyle Della-Verde.

The change didn’t phase us, however, and we took the lead on 22 minutes, Cass beating another former Towner Joe Wright from the penalty spot after Della-Verde was fouled.

It was almost 2-0 when the increasingly promising Marcus Wyllie just missed the target from a narrow angle but our lead lasted a mere four minutes, Liam Nash getting the final touch in a goalmouth scramble after we failed to clear.

As Hornchurch upped the ante, McDonald pulled off the first of several smart saves to thwart Tom Wraight. Then Joe Christou skimmed the crossbar but on 38 minutes we were back in front.

Kenny Clark was booked for a foul on Della-Verde, who got back on his feet to  thump home a sumptuous trademark freekick which came off both posts before nestling in the net.

Sam Higgins, scourge of Town in the playoff defeat, saw his bullet header miraculously parried by McDonald who moments later pulled off a remarkable double save with his legs. In between, Wyllie’s snap shot was pushed away at the other end by Wright.

H-T 2-1

With Hornchurch hurting us through the middle, we needed to keep the ball better and began the second half in precisely that vein.

A Sam Youngs header was mysteriously disallowed for offside, then Sam turned provider for Della-Verde whose shot was saved by the feet of Wright, Wyllie hitting the rebound just over.

But just as in the playoff ,the game turned on a Hornchurch substitution, Ola Ogunwamide causing havoc for the last 30 minutes.

Our resistance was finally broken on 77 minutes when the last in a flurry of home corners was flicked on for Nash to finish at the far post.

 Now it was a question of hanging on although James Richmond, who put in another commendable shift at the back,  could have put us immediately back in front, only to plant a header over from a rare Town corner.

A series of last-ditch blocks seemed to have got us over the line for a point . But with six minutes left of riproaring encounter, Ogunwamide sent over a pin-point centre which Wraight finished off with a glancing header.  

Still we weren’t finished with both Wyllie and Cass coming close to snatching a draw that would have been reward for all the hard work against an extremely accomplished side.

“We put in a good shift, I’m not going to complain,” said Andy Leese. “We had to reshuffle a bit with Scott going off which was a blow. There were just lapses of concentration, I guess much like the playoff semifinal.”

Town:

McDonald, McLean, Kirwan (Sayoud), Thomas (Della-Verde 14) , Bray, Richmond, Taaffe (spencer 86), , Youngs, Cass, Riley-Snow, Wyllie

Tonight we visit Hornchurch in our first away league game of the season, kickoff 7:45 pm.

Their address is The Stadium, Bridge Avenue, Upminster RM14 2LX 

Admission Prices: – 

Adults £12.00

Concession £7.00

12-16 £3.00

Under 12 Free

Programme £2.50

Tickets available here:

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

Directions to the ground:

https://www.hornchurchfc.com/club-information/club-and-directions/

Hornchurch lost their opening game at Bognor Regis 0-1 on Saturday despite dominating the second half.

Our last meeting with the Urchins, the playoff semifinal defeat, is still painfully fresh in the memory for Town fans but in the corresponding league fixture we won 2-1. A similar result tonight would be a real coup but this is probably going to be one of our toughest games. 

Enfield Town 1 Folkestone Invicta 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Despite the scorching conditions, two sides seeking nothing less than a playoff place come the end of April served up a commendably fast-paced encounter, with the points deservedly shared as the new season got under way.

Huge credit has to go to the ground staff who have worked tirelessly during the summer to present a playing surface to be proud of.

Our visitors, who won the corresponding fixture 3-2 last season and finished in sixth place just outside the playoff places, had half a dozen newcomers in their starting line-up including a couple of eye-catching forwards.

But just like last season when we reached the playoff semifinals, Town showed tremendous tenacity and spirit and had chances of our own to take all three points.

Invicta stormed out of the blocks with three quickfire chances,  the second of which brought a magnificent one-handed tip-over save from Nathan McDonald who later admitted it was probably one of his best ever. In between, Lyle Della Verde’s run and shot whistled past a post.

After growing into the game, we took the lead on 24 minutes shortly after the first drinks break.  Ryan McLean, given the nod at rightback, dispossessed  Folkestone dangerman Ira Jackson and his glorious ball over the top found Jake Cass who had only returned from a long-haul trip six hours before kickoff but kept his composure to round the on-rushing keeper and finish wonderfully from a tight angle (pictured).

One minute later we got lucky when Jackson’s angled shot looked all the world like an equaliser, only to bounce back into play off the post with McDonald beaten.

At the other end, one of many fouls on Cass led to a yellow card for Ian Gayle but Della Verde’s freekick was charged down.

 Folkestone thought they had levelled when Jackson’s long throw from the left was nodded home by Gayle but McDonald had clearly been impeded.

In an end-to-end half, another Della-Verde effort  was deflected away before a second drinks break was allowed with just minutes to go to halftime, much to the annoyance of our our visitors.

H-T 1-0

Folkestone again started on the front foot but we always carried a goal threat.

Invicta’s new keeper Bailey Vose kept them in the game with a terrific reflex stop from Lewis Taaffe, set up by Marcus Wyllie who had a highly encouraging league debut for Town after moving up from Step 5, not only going forward but also helping out defensively.

Just before the hour mark, however, it was 1-1. Kadell Daniel wasn’t closed down and cut inside two Enfield players before curling in an unstoppable equaliser despite Ryan Kirwan’s protestations that he had been fouled in the build-up.

Cue a trio of Enfield subs including Adam Cunnington and Blaise Riley-Snow, the latter having just signed forms on a dual registration shortly before the game.

 Only in the last quarter did the energy-sapping conditions get to the players, with crosses understandably overhit and chances drying up although Bilal Sayoud saw his goalbound drive deflected for a corner. All in all a good point against a strong side .

“A fair result in the end between two very good sides going at it,” said Andy Leese afterwards. “They are stronger than last year and their front three are as good as anyone’s. First half we were about even on chances but we could have been a couple of goals to the good. Second half we didn’t get as tight on Jackson and Daniels but after their goal they didn’t really trouble us.”

“Jake and Adam had only just come back from holiday yet I thought they were running scared of Jake. It was a great finish. I always say don’t lose to the teams around you and I think Folkestone will be one of those teams.”

Town:  McDonald; McLean, Bray, Richmond, Kirwan; Thomas, Taaffe (Riley-Snow, 64), Youngs, Della-Verde (Sayoud, 80 ); Cass (Cunnington, 60), Wyllie