After the frustration of having our midweek fixture with Folkestone called off, Enfield Town return to competitive action tomorrow with what should an enthralling battle at Hastings United, kickoff 3pm

Promoted from step 4 last summer, Hastings are one of the best supported sides in the division and a bumper crowd is expected for the visit of Town with just four points and three places separating the teams.

Considered very much one of the league’s dark horses, Hastings may have lost their last home game against Hornchurch but the fact that it was their only defeat in nine league matches says everything about how dangerous they can be.

In fact before Hornchurch we were the last side to beat them in the league with a 1-0 victory in November.

With Town in confident mood and good form – three wins from four games and players back and fighting for selection – it promises to be a mouth-watering occasion at the TGS Pilot Field in East Sussex as we attempt to secure the double over our hosts.

A reminder that the club are running a coach so if you haven’t sorted travel for Saturday, and would like a return ticket for just £18, please contact Les Gold on 07979 727 563 – or email lesgold@btinternet.com to book.

A reminder that the club are running a coach to our next Isthmian Premier Division match away at Hastings United this Saturday, 21st January 2023.
There are still a few spaces on board, so if you haven’t sorted travel for Saturday, and would like a return ticket from door to door for under £20, please call Les Gold on 07979 727 563 – or email lesgold@btinternet.com to book.

The coach details are:

• Destination – Hastings United FC, Elphinstone Road, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 2AX
• Departure – Leaving 11AM SHARP from the QEII Stadium, Donkey Lane
• Tickets – £18.00 each [payable in cash on the journey]

Tonight’s game at Folkestone has officially been called off due to a frozen pitch, the latest in a series of postponements beyond our control . We will have news of a new date in due course.

This means that our next fixture is the away game with Hastings on Saturday, weather permitting

Bowers and Pitsea 1 Enfield Town 4

Report by Andrew Warshaw

What a way to bounce back as Enfield Town recovered from the recent blip against Kingstonian  with a resounding win in Essex on Saturday to move up to third pending the result of today’s Cray-Bishop’s Stortford showdown.

Town’s regular centreback pairing of Lewis Knight and James Richmond returned after suspension and were rarely troubled while Dequane Wilson-Braithwaite moved seamlessly into the rightback spot with  Juevan Spencer missing out with a knee injury.

Also back in the starting line-up was Andre Coker who looked sharp and hungry on both wings while Jake Cass took his place on the bench after a period of unavailability.

It was Andre who put us in front in the very first minute, pouncing on defensive hesitation to jink his way into the box and finish with aplomb (pictured).

From then on we never looked back on an artificial surface that had the ball zipping about following a pre-match downpour.

Appeals for a penalty for shirt pulling on Sam Youngs went ignored but the next time Sam was impeded in the box after 34 minutes, the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Sam was actually running away from goal when tripped by Bola Daowuda and dusted himself down to double our lead, Joseph Osafhae diving correctly but only managing to get a faint hand to the ball.

Adam Cunnington had already sent a bullet header wide from a Scott Thomas freekick while Coker came close to converting a Jo Payne long throw.

Almost everything Bowers tried went through former Towner Billy Crook but Oscar Shelvey’s header off target was all they could show in the opening 45 minutes.

To add to their  frustration, both manager James Collins and one of his coaching staff were shown yellow cards for haranguing the referee at the interval though Town were well worth their lead.

H-T 0-2

Any chance of a home comeback was firmly snuffed out on the hour when Youngs cleverly nipped in with an outstretched leg to convert a glorious cross from Marcus Wyllie, another who had an eye-catching afternoon.

Five minutes later we were out of sight as Richmond fired home via a deflection from 12 yards after great work by Coker. Dexter Peter was unable to keep it out despite a last-ditch attempt.

Without ever losing our shape and being physically far stronger, only in the last 15 minutes did we take our foot off the gas allowing Bowers a consolation goal through debutant Francis Jno-Baptiste.

With tough away games to come against Folkestone and Hastings, Andy Leese was a happy man.

“A much better performance form us today at both ends of the pitch,” said Andy. “We stuck to  a game plan and had a great start.  We continued in the second half and made the game safe.”

“It was good to have a fuller squad to choose from and to have some players back to something close to full fitness. It’s a confidence boost for us as we go into a challenging run of games.”

McDonald; Wilson-Braithwaite, Knight, Richmond, Payne; Coker, Thomas (Taaffe 70), Youngs, Isaac, Wyllie (Della-Verde 66); Cunnington (Cass, 70)

Our eagerly awaited home fixture against Hornchurch has had to be moved once again because of their Essex Senior Cup Quarter Final tie at home to Billericay Town on 31st January.

It will now be played on Tuesday 28th February 2023, 7:45pm kickoff.

By Andrew Warshaw

 Having the opposition watched before matches is a vital part of a team’s preparations, even at non-league level, and Enfield Town are no exception.

Almost every Saturday, whilst the first team are in action, Howard Cowley – Town’s chief scout in all but official name — is invariably taking a close look at a future opponent before providing manager Andy Leese with all he needs to know about particular strengths and weaknesses.

Few are more qualified to do the job than Howard who has almost half a century of non-league experience  behind him, much of it on the management and coaching side before switching to scouting when, as he put it, “I’d done as much as I wanted but really wanted to stay involved in some way.”

The result was linking up with Andy when he was manager at Chesham United and helping to contribute to the club’s success, not least in the FA Cup.

“When Andy moved to Enfield a few years ago, it was a natural progression to come across with him,” Howard told The Dispatch. “I’m 74 now and although I don’t do every game for Enfield, I’m out almost every Saturday and a lot of Tuesdays. You should see the black book I have with all the details on hundreds of players.”

To give you an example of Howard’s detailed analysis, he watched Hornchurch no fewer three times before their scheduled December fixture with Enfield which ultimately had to be postponed because of the big freeze.

“I always write a report for Andy with a breakdown on each individual player and give my thoughts on how Enfield can best handle them,” Howard explained. “I try and work it out two or three weeks in advance in terms of which team I can catch where.”

It’s a unique insight into just how important the scout is when it comes to a club’s training programme, advance planning, team talk, etc.  

“You can’t over-complicate things even if players are intelligent blokes. You have to keep it simple and straightforward,” explained Howard who, like so many people involved in non-league football, does it for pure enjoyment.

“I spend countless hours thinking about what I’m going to write and to be fair to Andy, he pays considerable attention to what I say. I try to get him my reports before a Thursday training session so he can use them to prepare for the Saturday game.”

Sometimes, of course, all the advice in the world doesn’t necessarily work out.

“A game plan can last 90 minutes or 90 seconds. You have to be able to think on your feet. Just because I see a side in action in one game doesn’t necessarily mean they will line up the same way. Luckily some sides have a core of a players who play every week.”

Howard is characteristically modest when it comes to what kind of difference he feels his input makes.

“As a previous manager, I know the best preparation in the world may not always work if the game plan isn’t followed, or if the opposition changes its shape. I can only provide what I’ve seen.”

Hastings is one example of how his scouting report paid dividends. “I watched them twice and thought they were very impressive. Then Enfield went and beat them. Ultimately it’s down to the players on the pitch but in general I’d like to think the information I give Andy helps him prepare fully. My mantra is that I give Andy the best information I can and it’s up to him what he does with it.”

His only regret is that by the very nature of the job, he can’t get to enough of Enfield games.

“It’s useful to watch them because if I know their own strengths and weaknesses, it helps with what I can provide in terms of dealing with the opposition.

“On the other hand, it’s very hard for me to watch Enfield sometimes if they are doing something wrong, bearing in mind I know the opposition inside out. I feel I have to keep away from the dugout, it’s not for me to get involved. But it can be hard emotionally to disassociate myself which of course doesn’t happen when I’m watching the opposition.”

After suffering an unexpected setback against Kingstonian, Enfield Town aim to bounce straight back this Saturday at lowly Bowers and Pitsea.

Just a reminder this is a 2pm kickoff so those making the trip need to plan accordingly.

Bowers may be third from bottom of the table but they are fighting for their lives and have actually only been beaten three times in the league on home soil.

On their day they can be dogged opposition although in their most recent outing they lost 1-2 at home in midweek to neighbours Canvey Island in the Essex Senior Cup.

One familiar face in the Bowers line-up could be former Towners favourite Billy Crook who joined the club in November from Cray Wanderers.

Town defenders James Richmond and Lewis Knight have both completed their three-game bans while Jake Cass could also be back after a period of unavailability.

The game marks the first of three successive away trips for Town with tough fixtures to come against Folkestone and Hastings.

Three points in Essex on Saturday would be a fantastic springboard from which to go into those games as we aim to maintain our place among the leading positions.

Directions to Bowers can be found here:

https://www.bowersandpitseafootballclub.com/a/find-us-20751.html

Our re-arranged Middlesex Senior Cup quarterfinal against Northwood – postponed Tuesday because of a waterlogged pitch – will take place on Tuesday, Feb 7

This date has now been officially confirmed. Kickoff details to come

Tonight’s Middlesex Senior Cup quarterfinal has been postponed because of a waterlogged pitch

We will inform you as soon as there is a re-arranged date

Enfield Town 0 Kingstonian 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

A great opportunity missed is how manager Andy Leese described Saturday’s result – and few would disagree.

Having secured those back-to-back derby wins over the holiday period and with teams in and around us all dropping points apart from Hornchurch, victory could have pushed us even further up the table.

Instead we allowed visitors who hadn’t won  in 15 away games to claim victory despite a second-half rally that on another day might well have yielded a positive outcome.

Before kick-off, as the sun made a brief appearance on a generally wet afternoon,  a minute’s applause took place in memory of club life vice-president Keith Wortley who sadly passed away recently.

With Josh Hill having returned to Dulwich after his loan spell (he has since moved on to Hemel Hempstead) and James Richmond and Lewis Knight both serving the last of their respective three-game suspensions, the management team was forced into yet another central defensive partnership, Anthony Wordsmith coming in alongside Dequane Wilson- Braithwaite.

Things didn’t go much better in terms of personnel because by halftime, both Anthony and James Dayton were back in the dugout having been forced off through injury.

To make matters worse, Town  were a goal down as a result of Great Evans’s freekick which skimmed off the wet surface and beat Nathan McDonald who appeared to help the ball over the line.

Evans had already fluffed the best chance of the half when he was through on goal but shot straight at Nathan.

H-T 0-1

There is little doubt that Kingstonian, for whom midfielder O’Shane Stewart and striker Joe Boachie were especially eye-catching, deserved their interval lead.

But having created very little in a flat first half, Town came out with renewed urgency and intensity.

Sam Youngs and Lewis Taaffe both went close while Marcus Wyllie’s cross from Chez Isaac’s chipped ball just had too much pace for Adam Cunnington who again led the line relentlessly (pictured).

After weathering a 20-minute Enfield spell, Kingstonian twice missed a golden chance to put the game to bed on the counter.

Thereafter they were fortunate not to pay the price as they rode their luck in the final quarter.

Not once, not twice but three times we hit the woodwork, first through Marcus Wyllie’s angled left-foot drive against the far post, then Jueven Spencer’s 30-yard thunderbolt and finally, deep into eight minutes of stoppage time, through Lewis Taaffe.

In between, Kingstonian skipper Rob Tolfrey tipped over a rasping Youngs effort but in truth Tolfrey should have been tested far more often  over the 90 minutes.

“I’m as upset as I’ve  been all season today,” said Andy. “We got what we deserved.  It was a great opportunity had we applied ourselves properly but the first half was way too passive.

“One or two players today clearly weren’t fit. We’ve also got as number missing and it clearly caught up with us. It’s a real blow, a disappointing day all round but good teams bounce back starting on Tuesday night at Northwood in the Middlesex Senior Cup.”

Town: McDonald; Spencer, Wilson-Braithwaite, Wordsworth (Okotcha, 17), Payne; Wyllie, Thomas (della-Verde, 66), Dayton (Taaffe, 37), Isaac, Youngs; Cunnington