Enfield Town 3 East Thurrock 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

That’s more like it! After three straight defeats, Enfield Town rekindled their play-off hopes by sweeping aside relegation-threatened East Thurrock on Saturday to move into fourth spot.

The visitors have radically changed management and playing staff since being dealt an 8-0 drubbing in the corresponding fixture back in October but were still largely second best.

Manny Maja was restored to our starting line-up after a lengthy injury layoff while Percy Kiangebeni was suspended.

On a day when girls and ladies were let in for free to mark International Women’s Day, boosting the attendance to almost 500, we were on the scoresheet after just six minutes with a textbook goal straight from the training ground.

Lee Chappell’s long throw was flicked on by Adam Cunnington and Sam Youngs buried the loose ball.

A strong wind and muddy pitch rendered conditions far from ideal but Town, playing a flat back four, were hardly troubled in a dominant first half.

Lyle Della Verde was particularly eye-catching with several inswinging corners but it was from open play that he almost created a second goal as he sent Mo Faal away down the left, only for Mo to miss the target by whisker. Two minutes later we went close again as the Thurrock keeper just managed to prevent the ball trickling over the line.

In their only threat of the opening half, Johnny Ashman failed to take advantage of Jerry Gyebi’s weak back-header but on 31 minutes we extended our lead as  Cunnington, showing commendable persistence, wrested possession from the opposition and squared for Mo to finish with precision (pictured).

Gyebi almost made it 3-0 with a bullet header from another Chappell throw and the only blemish of the first half was a booking for otherwise excellent Sam Youngs for kicking the ball away.

H-T 2-0

The Towners could have been out of sight by halftime but the Rocks re-emerged with a far more positive mindset and decided to have a go, Martins Dantas-Carvalhi particularly prominent as he twice weaved his way dangerously into our box.

With the visitors pushing forward, Nathan McDonald was finally called into action with a couple of decent saves while Gyebi was cautioned for a late challenge.

Nevertheless, the better chances still went our way as Thurrock had precious little end product.  Scott Thomas drove wide, Sam Youngs brought a flying save from  Arthur Janata and with the next goal always likely to prove crucial, we wrapped the game up on 69 minutes.

Cunnington was fouled 25 yards out and, not for the first time this season, Della-Verde’s sublime left-foot strike flew into the net.

There was still time, in a 4 v 2 Town counter-attack, to make it even more comfortable, only for Mo’s final shot to be smothered by the keeper.

“A much better day at the office” is how Andy Leese summed up proceedings ahead the all-important showdown at Hornchurch next Saturday.

“Getting the points was all that mattered and we did that without being troubled too much. We gave East Thurrock a couple of opportunities but dealt with what they had to offer.

“We have more games like this to come in the next six weeks. We need to focus on ourselves and on getting as many points as we can to guarantee a playoff spot. That was our objective at the start of the season and it hasn’t changed.”

Town

McDonald; Chappell, Bray, Gyebi, Kirwan; Thomas, Youngs, Maja (sayoud, 78), Della Verde (Taaffe, 73); Cunnington (Cass, 69), Faal

A must-win game lies ahead for The Towners against East Thurrock tomorrow afternoon following setbacks in our last three games and all our female fans will have free entry.

The gesture is being made to mark International Women’s Day which officially falls on March 8.

We look forward to welcoming as many regular and/or first-time visiting women and girls to our Borough’s iconic Queen Elizabeth II Stadium.

Kickoff is at the usual time of 3pm and weather permitting there will be a display by Empire Cheerleading Academy beforehand and again at halftime while representatives of our women’s and girls teams will be assisting with a number of match-day tasks.

East Thurrock are in a desperate battle to avoid relegation and are currently 21st in the table seven points from safety.

Back in October we won 8-0 at Rookery Hill , with four goals from Muhammadu Faal, two from Lyle Della-Verde, and one each from Adam Cunnington, and Nathan Smith.

However, this will be no formality. Last Saturday East Thurrock beat Carshalton Athletic 1-0 and on Tuesday caused Folkestone a few problems before going down 1-3.

The Cinelli Brothers gig at Butler’s Bar tomorrow, March 4, is now officially sold out.

Doors open at 7.30

One of the UK’s most electrifying and dynamic blues bands, who wowed the audience at last year’s Livestock festival at Forty Hall farm, are back in Enfield – at our own Butler’s Bar this Friday March 4, with all proceeds going to the club.

Tickets for the Cinelli Brothers, who recently sold out the legendary 100 Club in central London with their unique infectious style of blues and rhythm and blues, are selling like hot cakes so get in quick.

This is a veritable coup as well as an extraordinary gesture by the four-piece band formed by Italian brothers Marco and Alessandro Cinelli who have already performed once at our club but have since developed a fanatical nationwide fan base.

The band have released several albums – tasty originals as well as finely crafted covers — and have been nominated for a number of awards.

Doors open at 7.30 and tickets, priced £10, can be purchased in advance by contacting Christine Hamilton on ianchrisham@hotmail.com.  Please state how many you would like.

Tickets may still be obtainable on the night but only pending availability.

Worthing 3 Enfield Town 0

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and admit you were beaten by the better side.

So it was on Saturday when, despite a formation designed to match our high-flying opponents, we were well beaten by the runaway league leaders on the south coast.

A healthy Town following in a bumper crowd of over 1,500 did their best to spur the team on but in truth we were never really in the game.

Yet despite having now lost three in a row and played more games than most of our playoff rivals, we are still very much in the hunt for a top-5 spot, with many of the other contenders having to play each other before the end of the season.

Basically nothing is settled as of now but we do need to bounce back next Saturday against East Thurrock, who are fighting to stay up,  to regain momentum before the mother of all six-pointers against Hornchurch the following weekend.

Worthing flew out of the blocks and caught us napping after just eight minutes when a quick throw found man-of—the-match Davide Rodari and his volleyed cross was headed home by Jasper Pattenden.

The game was billed as a clash between the league’s two top scorers, Oliver Pearce and our own Mo Faal with 60 goals between them.

But both had a quiet afternoon by their own high standards and instead it was Rodari, on loan from Crawley, who stole the show.

Jake Cass had our best chance of the opening half when he skimmed the top of the bar from 30 yards.

But Worthing always looked the more threatening side and had two more golden chances to extend their lead, one of which was cut out by a last-ditch Rian Bray interception.

H-T 0-1

Although we re-emerged with more urgency, we continued to struggle to deal with Worthing’s pass-and-move style in contrast to our more direct approach and on 54 minutes we fell further behind.

A quick break down our right ended with Rodari arriving at the back post to rifle the ball home from James Beresford’s pinpoint  cross.

And it was Rodari again who finished off the scoring with the goal of the game, a side-foot finish off the post on 65 minutes.

A hugely disappointing afternoon in the sunshine was complete when Percy Kiangebeni, who had already been booked, was shown what appeared to be a straight red for a body challenge on the edge of the box. Because it was not deemed as violent conduct, Percy is expected to only miss one game.

All in all not many positives to take away but let’s not get too downhearted.

 There will still be several twists and turns and victory against East Thurrock, when girls and ladies will have free entry to celebrate International women’s day, will keep us very much in the mix.

Town

McDonald; Bray, Chappell, Smith; Sayoud (della Verde 69), Thomas, Youngs, Kiangebeni; Faal, Cass (Taaffe, 74), Cunnington (Kirwan 82)

Following the postponement of our home game with Leatherhead last Saturday, the action returns tomorrow with our eagerly awaited trip to Worthing who are expecting a huge gate for what promises to be a mouth-watering occasion between two free-scoring sides.

Having drawn 2-2 in the corresponding fixture back in October when goals from Percy Kiangebeni and Muhammadu Faal cancelled out strikes from Jasper Pattenden and Reece Myles Meekums.  we are hoping for another positive result against the league leaders in what should be a cracking atmosphere in front of possibly close to 2,000 fans – including a healthy Town travelling support

A much-changed Worthing team made up primarily of youth-team players crashed out of the Velocity Trophy to Haywards Heath in midweek but in the league they have only slipped up twice at home all season and in their last two home games scored 10 goals without reply.

The fixture is  likely to feature the league’s top two goalscorers with Worthing’s Oliver Pearce on 31 up against Mo who has 29.

Match tickets are still  available on line at https://worthingfc.ktckts.com/event/wor2122h17/worthing-fc-vs-enfield-fc

You can also book your coach ticket now.  Payments can be made directly to our Bank account.

The details are:

Barclays Bank

ETFC Ltd

Sort Code: 20-45-45

Account Number: 43222942

Departure Point: QE II Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield, Middx

Departure Time: Leave 10.30.p.m. PROMPT

Cost: £16.00.

Please confirm your booking by contacting Les Gold on 07979 727563 or lesgold@enfieldtownfootballclub.co.uk

COYT!

We now have a revised date for our home league game against Leatherhead which had to be postponed last Saturday.

The match will take place on Tuesday, March 22 at 7.45 pm

Today’s game with Leatherhead has been called off because of the weather.

The pitch was playable in the morning but the match had to be postponed following severe rain when conditions worsened badly. A new date will be announced as soon as possible.

Wingate and Finchley 4 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Not even a temporary floodlight failure could save Enfield Town’s blushes as we slumped to a 4-1 defeat at local rivals Wingate and Finchley on Tuesday, marking our first back-to-back reversal of the season.

There were few positives to take from a night where we made a couple of defensive changes from Saturday’s loss to Bishop’s Stortford but were still very much second best against opponents who were clearly fired up for the occasion managed by former Town skipper Marc Weatherstone.

It was a game in which everything Wingate tried came off whilst our efforts were either well saved or narrowly off target.

But that doesn’t excuse a performance that will have infuriated the management team and only adds to the desperate need to get back to winning ways against Leatherhead on Saturday to rekindle our playoff hopes, with most of the other contenders now heaping on the pressure.

Almost before we could settle we were a goal down as Theo Ofori’s half-hit shot appeared to have either been deflected in off Lee Chappell or deceived Nathan McDonald.

On 20 minutes it got worse as Chappell was dispossessed near the corner and Dylan Kearney’s cross was turned in by man of the match Antonis Vasiliou – on loan from Barnet just to add salt the wounds.

Sam Youngs and Mo Faal both went close to halving the deficit  while Jack Cass was thwarted when one on one with Ben Goode in the Wingate goal. Then  Mo ran half the length of the pitch and set up Cass who narrowly failed to hit the target.

But W and F always posed a threat and just before the break, we fell further behind to a wonder strike as Vasiliou gave McDonald no chance from 30 yards.

There was still time for the hosts to come close to a fourth as McDonald saved superbly, again from Vasiliou, before a floodlight failure brought a temporary halt to proceedings.

H-T 0-3

When the lights came back on, Town needed to brighten up their ideas and they did so as Rian Bray moved up from the back to rifle the ball home from close range (pictured).

Bray put another snapshot just wide in a sustained period of Town pressure as we were finally in the ascendancy.

But the pivotal moment came on 66 minutes.  Mo won a penalty, only to see his spotkick saved by Goode and watch the follow-up go wide. Perhaps, bemoaned many Towners fans afterwards, it is time that penalty honours were switched to Cass who, after all, used to take them for Bishop’s Stortford.

A double substitution following a halftime change of formation briefly looked promising but on 78 minutes it was game over. McDonald parried but couldn’t hold a rasping freekick and as our defence hesitated, Kearney was first to the rebound.

Worryingly we looked poor throughout when we didn’t have the ball whilst some of the players appeared leggy and Andy Leese didn’t mince his words.

“It was the most shambolic performance of the season…we got what we deserved,” fumed Andy.

“I think we turned up with a misplaced confidence as a team thinking we can win and somehow we need to find a fighting spirit and resilience that has gone missing.”

Town: McDonald; Chappell (Taafe, 69), Gyebi, Bray, Smith; Youngs, Thomas (Della-Verde 68), Kiangebeni, Sayoud (Muleba, 46); Cass, Faal

Enfield Town 0 Bishop’s Stortford 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

Enfield Town’s seven-match unbeaten run was halted in its tracks as equally in-form Bishop’s Stortford completed a rare league double over us on Saturday.

For once we failed to live up to our reputation as the division’s great entertainers but we are still in a fantastic position in the runners-up spot as the race for playoff places intensifies.

Rian Bray and Lee Chappell were both unavailable for different reasons while Manny Maja has only just resumed training after a lengthy injury absence.

No team can win every game and this was simply an off-day, something that all our play-off rivals have suffered over the last few weeks as we claimed victory after victory.

If our visitors were slightly fortunate to win the corresponding game with that last-ditch goal back in November, on this occasion they on balance deserved the three points.

Stortford were quicker to the ball and more composed than Town and managed to keep our strike force quiet for most of the game.

After a scrappy first 20 minutes  in front of a bumper 754 crowd, the Blues took the lead on 23 minutes as Ryan Charles ran on to Frankie Merrifield’s defence-splitting pass to beat Nathan McDonald who got a hand to the shot but couldn’t keep it out.

Town have been scoring goals for fun but on this occasion hardly troubled a defence marshalled superbly by skipper Ryan Henshaw.

H-T 0-1

 Three minutes after the break, our visitors doubled their lead as Merrifield converted from the penalty spot, sending McDonald the wrong way after Charles was barged over by John Muleba.

Lyle Della-Verde and Sam Youngs both had chances to reduce the deficit but it wasn’t until Adam Cunnington and Bilal Sayoud came off the bench that we posed any real threat.

Whilst no-one can take anything away from  Stortford, who closed us down at every opportunity, the fact remains that the players and management team have a superb job getting us to where we are now, something all of us would have taken at the start of the season.

It’s just a shame Jake Cass didn’t get a chance to shine against his old team and that we again dropped points against one of our play-off rivals who look certain to be in the mix with us come the run-in.

On the plus side, which cannot be emphasized enough, we have two highly winnable games – against Wingate and Finchley on Tuesday and Leatherhead on Saturday – before the eagerly awaited clash at Worthing.

Andy Leese summed up our performance as “bitterly disappointing. We never really got going and seemed a bit too anxious.”

“We didn’t start well. The things we’d asked to do  we weren’t doing. I thought at halftime we were in it. I thought we could go with two strikers and then we concede a penalty at a poor time. More disappointingly after that, we didn’t really create a lot. But credit to Stortford, they are good at what they do.”

Town:

McDonald; Muleba, Smith, Gyebi, Kirwan (Sayoud, 69); Thomas, youngs, Kiangebeni (Taafe, 77), Della-Verde; Cass (Cunnington 66), Faal