Bishop’s Stortford 1 Enfield Town 1

Report by Andrew Warshaw

The diehard Town faithful who made what should have a been a relatively pain-free journey to our final away pre-season fixture but ended up becoming a nightmare due to traffic snarl-ups at least witnessed us snatching a deserved late equaliser.

After kickoff was delayed by 15 minutes, while the performance of the team may have lacked the excitement , penetration and creativity of our previous two outings – both against Step One adversaries – a draw was the least we merited.

As first-team coach Charlie Gregory pointed out afterwards (see his post-match interview on social media), this was in a way just what the doctored ordered given that Step 3 Stortford represented exactly the level of opposition and we can expect to face when the season proper starts, on an artificial surface to boot.

Town are getting closer to finalising the group with a nice blend of experience and youth ahead of our opening league game at Lewes. The teamsheet included latest signing Shiloh Remi who produced some neat touches from out on the wing until replaced around the hour mark.

Town had the lion’s share of possession in the first half without finding the breakthrough though Sam Youngs, who scored on this ground eight years ago, had his low drive easily saved. Luke Deslandes saw his volley blocked and Remy’s snapshot missed the target but perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the opening half was the sight of young Jay Lambert, given a start back in the side, limping off injured.

Luckily for the visitors, when former Towner Jack Smith – arguably the Blues’ best player on the night – rolled the ball into an empty net, the linesman’s flag came to our rescue.

Not for long. With the final action of the half, Smith’s pinpoint freekick was met by home captain Jake Thompson’s sidefoot volley and Town were behind.

Stortford could easily have doubled their lead after a calamitous mix-up at the back, only for their trialist centreforward to roll the ball inches wide.

But with 15 minutes left, after a flurry of subs, Town upped the invention. Tommy Avgoustidis, increasingly eye-catching with every outing, twice almost brought us level and with 87 minutes on the clock he scampered down the wing, beat his marker and crossed for Luke May-Parrott, on briefly for the closing passage of play, to supply a close-range finish.

Thankfully, the journey home was more palatable for all concerned and we now turn our attention to the final pre-season fixture – the annual home encounter with Spurs under-21 on Tuesday.

Team: Block Jorge; Parcell, Trialist (wearing 2), Thompson, Lambert; Rydings, Leonard, Akubuine;  Deslandes, Youngs, Remi

Subs: Mensah, Corrigan, Bansul-McNulty, May-Parrott, Kyei, Setters (glk), velasquez, Avgoustidis, trialist (wearing 24)