MATCH REPORT

Enfield Borough 3 St Margaretsbury 1

 
Enfield Borough secured their fourth win in a row as they overcame fellow strugglers St Margaretsbury 3-1 in their Thurlow Nunn Division One South game on Saturday. With a number of the other basement dwellers also picking up valuable points, the victory has not made Borough completely safe from relegation but their situation has greatly improved over the recent weeks.

 Both sides had chances before Enfield took the lead on eleven minutes. The ball was played along the edge of the penalty box before Idries Turay laid it into the path of Alex Awobimpe whose shot found the bottom corner of the net. With a strong wind blowing down the pitch both teams struggled with judging their passes and the quality of play suffered accordingly. Top scorer Marco Magunga missed a chance to extend the lead with a header while Mario Stavrou’s shot looped up over keeper Albie Marsden and struck the underside of the bar before being cleared. However, it was not one-way traffic and Arsenio Lima produced a last ditch goal line clearance while from the subsequent corner Jesse Ansen headed over. Enfield hit back and a desperate lunge by Alfie Campbell denied Magunga while Stavrou’s free-kick curved narrowly wide.

 St Margaretsbury wasted a great chance early in the second-half when Clarence Emeh mis-kicked in front of an open goal and they were made to pay for their profligacy later when Enfield broke upfield quickly and Turay slid an exquisite pass into the path of Magunga who rounded Marsden and slotted the ball past the covering defenders. Gideon Sarpong headed over and Rory Connolly-Harding was denied by Marsden as Enfield strived to make the game safe but midway through the half Ansen got free to slip the ball between Harry Cooke’s legs to half the deficit. Matters got worse for Borough when Awobimpe was shown a second yellow card soon after but despite the numerical disadvantage, a re-organised formation coped admirably. As the game entered stoppage time at the end of the match Magunga’s surging run into the penalty box was brought to a halt when he was upended by Ansen and Stavrou calmly converted his spot-kick. Borough needed a timely intervention by Luke Bailey to keep the visitors at bay as the game drew to a close.

 Four games remain in Enfield’s season and the first of these sees them travel to Hackney Wick next Saturday.