Enfield Town 3 Cheshunt 0
Report by Andrew Warshaw
Dave Bryant would have been so proud. In front of our record league gate of 1,271 and despite only 48 hours’ preparation, Town swept aside neighbours Cheshunt in the so-called A10 Classico to complete a maximum six-point haul over the Easter weekend.
In what was a case of breathtaking finishing at one end and a “thou shalt not pass” mentality at the other, Town stretched their unbeaten league run 10 games with five fixtures remaining.
With all the main playoff contenders winning, it’s very much a case of “as you were” as we battle to stay in the top three and secure that home semifinal draw, nothwithstanding Horsham’s two games in hand.
Much of the post-match chat was about which goal was the best. It’s rare enough to have one worldie in a game, let alone three, as we put the game to bed by halftime to bury any chance of an Ambers comeback.
Even before kickoff, there was a buzz of excitement around the ground with the teamsheet showing Jake Cass in a starting role – his first since that terrible injury back in August.
Joe Payne went for goal with an early freekick that totally deceived Cheshunt keeper Woody Williamson before hitting the side netting but on 11 minutes we took the lead. Off his line, Williamson directed a miskick straight into the path of Lewis Taaffe who showed wonderful skill in curling an audacious lob into the far corner of the net from 25 yards (pictured celebrating).
Skipper Scott Thomas, on his 34th birthday, rifled a corner narrowly over the bar before we doubled our lead on 23 minutes when Taaffe squared for Sam Youngs to unleash a sublime side-foot finish.
With only two changes from Saturday’s 4-2 win at Bognor, it was inevitable we would not have things all our way but a combination of two excellent saves by Rhys Forster and several last-ditch blocks by the back four snuffed out Cheshunt’s goalbound efforts.
As we continued to be a threat going forward, Marcus Wyllie flashed a header wide before extending our advantage with another stunning goal, putting one Cheshunt player on his backside before sidestepping another and bending his shot into the net.
In the final action of the half, the excellent Mickey Parcell cleared off the line from Antonis Vasiliou whose team must have realised it was never going to be their day.
H-T 3-0
With some tired legs out there, it was now a question of managing minds and bodies as well as the scoreline.
Jake completed 65 minutes before being substituted and after Cheshunt missed a golden chance to pull a goal back, a glorious rainbow provided the perfect backdrop to our first home game since Dave Bryant sadly left us.
With such fierce rivalry between the two sets of fans, the usual mutual goading was to be expected but there was no need for flares being thrown on to the pitch at the Cheshunt end which briefly held up proceedings.
Eight minutes of stoppage time were added on accordingly during which Cheshunt, who had previously played the game in a good spirit, were reduced to 10 men. Vasiliou was upended by Taaffe who duly received a yellow card before the Ambers front man was shown a straight red for what looked like a punch in retaliation.
There was still time for 10-man Cheshunt to carve out and promptly miss another chance to reduce the arrears. But it was anyway too little, too late.
“Great goals and a clean sheet but there were still things I thought we could do better, particularly from long throws and set pieces,” said Gavin Macpherson, ever the perfectionist. “I didn’t want us conceding scrappy goals.”
“People may have been surprised by Cassy starting but it gave us that extra ability to secure the ball and he brought a physicality this particular game needed. I also felt that after Saturday it would have been a long day for Marcus being up there on his own.”
“Given such little time between games the players had to understand, if you like, a training session on the tactics board and they deserve huge credit for putting it into practice. If Horsham win their games in hand and end up above us, so be it. But we’re in a good place.”
Town:
Forster; Parcell, McKenzie, Tanner, Payne (Okotcha, 73); Knight, Youngs (Alves 83), Thomas, Taaffe; Wyllie, Cass (Turner 65)