Enfield Town 2 Tottenham Hotspur under-21 1
Report by Andrew Warshaw
First Arsenal, then Spurs. As morale boosters go, Enfield Town couldn’t have asked for much more as we ended our pre-season campaign with another impressive showing ahead of the big kick-off at Torquay on Saturday.
A week after beating Arsenal’s under-21 side, another terrific goal from Lamar Reynolds plus a superb strike from the peroxide-haired triallist who has been so eye-catching of late gave us a well-deserved win over our near-neighbours in the annual fixture that has become an integral part of our pre-season campaign.
The management team, who again made wholesale changes in the second half in order to have a final look at a string of hopeful recruits, are bound to have spotted elements that still need tweaking ahead of the daunting trip to Devon but there’s an argument to suggest that we are peaking at the right time which augurs well for the weeks ahead.
Despite their youth, three of the Tottenham side had first-team squad experience on their side but just like against Arsenal, Town were the better side for large periods of the game against full-time opponents.
Tottenham had an early let-off when Reynolds lashed the ball wide after being put clean through but Lamar made no mistake with his second opportunity on 23 minutes, running on to Tommy Wood’s sublime headed flick to finish with aplomb.
Spurs of course had their moments, Luca Williams-Barnett beating the offside trap and shooting across goal and Xavier Benjamin having to clear his lines in the nick of time. At the other end, Billy Leonard was a constant threat and only a last-ditch clearance by Malacki Hardy prevented us doubling our lead.
You can’t make mistakes against full-time opponents, however ,and when the otherwise reliable Ruaridh Donaldson was disposssed by Russell-Denny three minutes before the break, the same player ran through to equalise.
Before the halftime whistle, Wood looped a header just over the bar from a corner and within moments of the restart we should have moved further in front. Halftime sub Harry Ludovica was clipped from behind but smashed his penalty against the top of the bar.
By the end of the game, Town had made a full 11 changes but if anything we were even stronger in the second half as further chances came for Ludovica and Evan Jones though Reiss Elliott-Parris should have scored for Spurs with a bullet header.
The game was won just after the hour mark when the afore-mentioned blond-haired triallist, put through down the right by Mickey Parcell, checked back on to his left foot and drove the ball expertly into the far corner (pictured).
Ethan Cann, a new name on the Town bench, then conjured up a superb block on the line to keep us in front and Bailey Brown’s header almost extended our advantage late on.
All in all, a highly encouraging evening’s work to get us in the groove.
“The one thing I demand from the players is hard work and energy and I was pleased with that,” said Gavin Macpherson. “We were a bit wasteful but we’ve made huge strides since Wingate and Finchley. You always get a lull in pre-season at some point…but the important thing is to finish pre-season strongly and do the right things. The result tonight was the cherry on the cake.”
“I’ve got to be pleased with where we are but I also have to acknowledge that we’re playing Torquay away in front of a big crowd with everything stacked against us. There’s continuity from the second half of last season which helps going forward and we’ve added some players we’re very happy with. The partnership up front is something we couldn’t produce last season. We are still a couple light but we will plan and prepare for Torquay to try and get the best out of the game we can.”
First-half line-up
Enfield Town: Forster, Benjamin, Thompson, Donaldson, Bullas, Parcell (c), Leonard, Youngs, Wood, Reynolds, Triallist A. Substitutes: Connolly, Jones, Payne, Hawkins, Cann, Brown, Trialist B, Trialist C, Trialist D, Ludovica, Trialist E.
Second half subs: Connolly; Jones, Payne, Hawkins, Cann, Brown, Triallist b, Triallist c, triallist d, Lodovica, triallist e