Enfield Town 0 Peterborough Sports 1
Report by Andrew Warshaw
There will be no FA Cup run this season after we were knocked by Peterborough Sports courtesy of a lone first-half penalty.
For the second time in four seasons, we were eliminated by the Turbines but we certainly did enough in the second half to warrant a replay after entering the competition in the 2nd qualifying round.
It was not to be as we couldn’t quite force an equaliser but there was no lack of effort from a patched-up side hit by unavailability, suspension and players suddenly deciding to go elsewhere after being signed.
To put it all into perspective, because of lack of forward options Lennon Peake was forced to play up front in a totally unfamiliar position.
Consistency comes with having a settled side but there have been a number of circumstances beyond the control of the management team. Players need time to gel and once we have settled into a rhythm, there is no reason why we can’t improve our fortunes.
Despite the huge disappointment of being knocked out of the cup so early, we looked more solid at the back than of late, perhaps as a result of the 3-5-2 formation that looks like being the blueprint going forward.
Sadly, however, another defensive error did for us as Joash Nembhard’s clumsy 35th-minute challenge on Michael Gyasi led to a penalty which Dan Lawlor duly dispatched though Joash was by no means the only player at fault at what proved to be the winner.
It was no more than the visitors, quicker to the ball and playing to feet, deserved at the time. Indeed, they should have extended their lead when the unmarked Michael Gash planted a free header over from the corner of the six-yard box.
H-T 0-1
The fact that we had made only three first-half forays into the opposition box said everything about the difficulty we were having in breaking down the Turbines.
On 55 minutes, Gavin had seen enough and threw on Billy Leonard whose introduction immediately improved us.
Peake so nearly levelled as he brought a flying stop from Peter Crook. Then, right on the hour, a bursting 80-yard run and cross from Leonard again found Peake but his first-time shot was driven straight at the Sports keeper.
With time running out, the ever-willing Harry Ottaway, who ended up playing the full 90 minutes even though that wasn’t the original plan, flung himself at another cross, only for his effort to be scrambled clear.
In stoppage time and with Town pushing forward, Gyasi should have put the game to bed, only for Rhys Forster, not for the first time in the game, to pull off a terrific save.
Sadly it mattered little, a bitterly disappointing end to Sam Youngs’ 300th game for the club – a remarkable statistic for one of Town’s great servants – and a potential opportunity to kickstart our season lost.
“I thought we definitely deserved a draw,” said Gavin Macpherson afterwards. “They were in control first half but they were hanging on at the end. Yes they headed balls out when they needed to but we stretched them and the only reason we are not still in the competition is that we made another mistake for the penalty.”
“It wasn’t easy to fit a side together today but that’s no excuse, we should be having a replay. The boys never ever fault me for effort, it’s just sometimes the quality especially in respect of our defending. Then at the other end you are asking to Lennon to play up front. I have to go away and think about what’s going and how we change things because it’s got to the stage when we have to.”
Forster; Parcell (Knight, 90), Nembhard, Solomon (Tanner 87); Payne; Thomas, Leshabela (Smith), Youngs, Adjei-Hersey (Onyeagwara, 78); Peake, Ottaway.