MATCH REPORT
Enfield Town 1 Enfield Borough 3

A very special night for Enfield Borough as they returned to their former home and won their final pre-season friendly in some style. No one is going to pretend that this was a full strength Town line-up, the circumstances behind the fixture taking place made sure of that. But Town’s starting eleven included four first team players who have amassed over 300 appearances for the club between them, regardless of matches played elsewhere in their careers, with the balance of the side made up of youth team players and trialists, so they were going to be no pushovers.

Town were not the only under strength team as Borough made five changes from the Clapton victory as the management rotated their players to keep them fresh for Saturday’s big FA Vase tie. In came Dawid Nikolaj, Ayuub Ali, Gavin Hinds-Cadette, Kofi Appiah and Micah Jackson for Calvin Harrison, Gideon Sarpong, Casey Nolan-Samuels, Fusion Queta and Huseyin Ombasii. Town were first to threaten as Nikolaj scuffed his clearance and Ben Adjei pounced on the loose ball but no one was on hand to take advantage of his pass into the heart of the Borough penalty box. With just five minutes on the clock Borough took the lead and it owed much to the determination of Blessing Tshibikubla who muscled his marker off the ball before playing it into Town’s goalmouth. A brief bout of “penalty box pinball” ended with the ball falling at Tshibikubla’s feet on the edge of the box and the striker found the bottom corner of the net with the aid of a deflection. Town’s response was swift as Jon Muleba broke down the right, his cross was perfect for Adjei who was sprinting in at the far post but the striker blazed his effort over the bar. Borough took full advantage of the reprieve and increased their lead on twelve minutes. Frank Chandler picked up possession in the centre circle and strode forward unchallenged. When around thirty yards from goal he unleashed a drive that flew like a missile just inside the keeper’s right hand post. A stunning strike that is an early contender for goal of the season.

Soon afterwards there was a brief halt to proceedings as it was necessary to find a replacement for one of the assistant referees who was taken unwell. This seemed to interrupt the flow of the match for a spell but Borough were soon back in their stride and extended their lead as the half hour approached. Jackson was the instigator of the move on the left and the ball was transferred infield until it reached Bruno Tavares whose shot from twenty yards crept beyond the keeper’s grasp and into the bottom corner of the net. In terms of possession the match was evenly poised as Muleba once more threatened down the right wing but Town’s forward were far more wasteful and Patrick Akwase ballooned his shot well over. Tavares had a chance to double his personal tally when he found himself in space on the right, but the keeper parried his effort while Tshibikubla ran down the left wing and cut inside, his shot going narrowly wide of the far post and just beyond the outstretched leg of Tavares. The final chance of the half came from Town as Ryan Blackman tried his luck from distance and with Borough keeper Dragos Stefanoaica at full stretch, the ball flew just wide of the target.

As with the Clapton match three days earlier, the second half was disappointing when compared with what had gone earlier. Both teams started to ring the changes at an early stage and the game became mired in a midfield battle with little goalmouth action at either end. Town managed to get themselves back into the contest on sixty five minutes when Amelio collected a throw in and weaved his way into the penalty box before beating Stefanoaica at his near post. But otherwise Borough’s rearguard stood firm against Town’s attack and Stefanoaica was only once called upon to dash from his goal to clear his lines. As the game entered the last five minutes, Borough once more appeared as an attacking threat when Richard Ennin clipped a shot that barely cleared the bar and Queta, having been fouled thirty yards out, took the free kick himself and smashed the ball against the bar with such ferocity that the keeper must have been glad that he got nowhere near it.

After the match joint manager Shaun Reece was delighted with the evening’s work. “This was an excellent performance. There were some very experienced players in the Town line up who I know from my time working at the club and they were not going to just let us walk all over them. That was a well- earned victory. Our players are getting to grips with the system that we have adopted and form has improved with each match. It means that we have some nice selection dilemmas ahead of Saturday’s Vase game with Tower Hamlets.”

Team; Stefanoaica, Montana, Wilson (Peters), Nikolaj (Cousins), Chandler, Ali, Hinds-Cadette (Queta), Appiah, Tavares (Ennin), Jackson (Peynado-Peart), Tshibikubla