Salisbury City 1 Enfield Town 2
Report by Andrew Warshaw
Spirit, grit, desire, determination, teamwork – and the odd slice of good fortune.
Those were the ingredients that contributed to a superb away victory as we closed the gap on Salisbury to two points on a day when for once other results went in our favour in the push for Step 2 survival
If the officiating at times was well below average, to put it mildly, in the end it mattered little as we moved out of the bottom four with nine games remaining and with more than a little help from the away end which sung their hearts out all afternoon.
Salisbury came charging out of the blocks and for 20 minutes it was all about weathering the storm and staying in the game as we struggled to pass to feet and get out of our own third.
But after taking the sting out of the hosts, we started to impose ourselves. Hisham Kasimu’s miscued cross-shot bounced off the angle of post and bar. Then the Salisbury keeper got in a right pickle from a Billy Leonard centre and Hish’s turn and shot was cleared off the line.
How many times this season have we seen the opposition pounce late in the half? Now the ball was on the other foot. With the last action of the half, Jack Bates’ freekick was nodded on by Adam Thompson and Henry Hawkins headed across goal into the far corner.
H-T 0-1
Town’s second was not long in coming courtesy of a ricket by Rhys Byrne in the home goal. Charlie Stallard recycled a corner by driving a low shot towards the near post and the ball wriggled through Byrne’s arms and legs (pictured).
If it was a stroke of luck, we weren’t complaining and it soon should have been three, Bailey Brown’s close-range strike instead met by Byrne’s fine stop.
Now the Whites started to pour forward again mirroring the opening period of the game, almost everything going through their dangerous wide man Aiden Elliott-Wheeler.
Tommo took a yellow for the team with a deliberate pullback while Joe Wright pulled off a couple of smart stops from Joshua Hedges and Owen Dore.
We were standing strong but under the cosh and on 83 minutes the pressure finally told as Salisbury talisman Hedges halved the deficit, controlling a long pass before outwitting Xavier Benjamin and slipping the ball past Wright.
As we moved into six minutes of stoppage time, it was hearts in mouth time especially when Joe flapped at a freekick and was rescued by Hawkins who somehow marginally prevented the ball from going over the line to preserve the three points.
“A lot of things went against us with the officiating in the first half when they did similar things and never got punished,” said Gavin Macpherson after we finally snapped a four-game losing streak – the perfect present for Town chairman Paul Reed’s 50th birthday.
“We had to over-ride that but when you think they had to resort to route one football which is not their style, it shows what a good job we did. We nullified what they’re good at for large parts of the game.”
With Billy Leonard’s ankle having swollen up as a result of a late challenge and Hish limping off with what seemed a heavy dead leg, changes may have to be made in midweek.
“We’ll see how they both are,” said Gav. “I can’t get too carried away because my mind now turns directly to Hampton and Richmond on Tuesday. I’m not going to allow the boys to show me the heart and desire they did today, then turn up with a different mindset. Let’s face it, we were out of the bottom four after Chesham and then went back into it. Which means there’s a lot of hard work still to do.”
Town:
Wright; Hawkins, Thompson, Benjamin; Leonard (Peake 85), Brown, Bates (Oyenuga 75), Parcell, Stallard; Youngs (Chukwu 84), Kasimu (Knight 75).