Stanway Rovers 1 Enfield Town 2

Report by Andrew Warshaw

(photo by Michael Michalia)

Enfield Town put their FA Cup horror show behind them as they maintained their 100 percent away league record at 10-man Stanway Rovers to move back up to second in the table.

But for Stanway’s on-loan keeper Khiani Sombe, signed the same morning from Hull, and some heroic last-ditch defending, Town would have won by a landslide but in the end had to be content with a Sam Youngs penalty and Jez Davies’ winner which provided considerable relief after at one point looking like it might never come.

Until they lost Sam Carter to two yellow cards, Stanway certainly didn’t give the appearance of the league’s bottom club though it’s fair to say the playing surface – packed with pockets of sand, the odd hole and surely the worst Town will encounter this season – was a significant leveller. Having said, Town arguably made life far harder for themselves than they should have.

With so many matches squeezed into such a short period of time, Billy Holland shuffled the pack and made five changes leaving the likes of Tommy Avgoustidis and Amrit Bansal-McNulty on bench and giving Sean Tarima his first start at leftback.

Both sides had a point to prove, Town aiming to shake off Saturday’s debacle and Stanway, who have won back to back promotions to reach Step 3, hoping to show they could compete at this level.

It made for an end-to-end first half with Stanway’s dreadlocked danger man, Stephan Toussaint, who was prominent throughout, pulling most of their strings.

Indeed it was Toussaint who thought he had given Stanway the lead, only for the linesman to take an eternity before ruling that he had stabbed the ball home from an offside position.

It was a significant let-off for Town who took a while to find their feet with the pitch cutting up early. Indeed we had to wait until the 20-minute mark for our first corner from which Tariq Al-Sadi saw his shot pushed away by Sombe, the rebound deemed offside.

As Town upped the tempo, Luke May-Parrott somehow missed the target from four yards when it seemed easier to score – a classic example perhaps of the bobbly pitch playing its part.

But on 34 minutes, the pressure told as Sam Youngs played a delicious ball between centrehalf and fullback and Al-Sadi was brought down as he raced through the gap. Up stepped Sam from the spot, slamming the ball down the middle.

The lead didn’t last long, however. Four minutes later, EJ Mensah uncharacteristically upended the afore-mentioned Toussaint and from a central position, Tyrese Osbourne produced the most sublime of freekicks to get the ball over the wall and under the bar.

Who knows what might have happened but for the next pivotal incident. Right on halftime, having earlier been booked for blocking a freekick, Carter received a second yellow for kicking the ball away and off he went.

H-T 1-1

A disaster for the hosts but more incentive for Town who swarmed all over the bee-coloured hosts.  Davies and Al-Sadi stabbed wide, a Youngs turn and shot  was magnificently saved and then it was the visitors’ turn to have a goal disallowed for offside as Sam’s flick with his instep was ruled out.

As Town continued to lay siege to the Stanway goal, the management’s response was to make an attack-minded double change but still chances went begging, at one stage six shots raining in within 90 seconds but either blocked or somehow kept out by the inspired Sombe.

Until, finally, Stanway’s resistance was broken. On 75 minutes, Al-Sadi, Enfield’s man of the match, drilled in a low centre and Davies’ finish was hard and true, the Town midfielder celebrating with a double cartwheel (pictured).

A third seemed on the cards, especially when Avgoustidis bore down on goal but took the wrong option by trying to square. And as Town failed to extend their lead, it made for a nervy finish with a flurry of Stanway set-pieces at the other end which thankfully came to nought.

Relief all round, then, and now for an eagerly awaited home clash with Dulwich Hamlet on Saturday and a chance to cement our position with a game in hand – and even leapfrog Welling to the top should they slip up at Eastbourne.

Town:

  Thompson D; Tarima (Velasquez 90), Hart, Mensah, Tanimowo; Al-Sadi, Rydings (Leonard 76), Davies, Kyei (Avgoustidis; Luke-Parrott (Bansal-McNulty, Youngs