Cray Wanderers F.C. versus Enfield Town F.C.
(Saturday 26th April, 2014 - 3pm kick-off)
Your intrepid reporter ventured South of London’s mighty river this week-end, to watch only his second ever Enfield Town away fixture. The good news - and a positive omen - was that I had never seen the Towners lose on the road before. The bad news: nor had I ever seen them win on the road, either ... and a single point might not be enough to avoid relegation. After visiting my elderly mum in South-East London for an early afternoon cup of tea, I carried on my voyage of discovery into deepest, darkest Kent, to see Enfield take on Cray Wanderers at the Courage Stadium, which they share with Bromley F.C.
(Saturday 26th April, 2014 - 3pm kick-off)
Your intrepid reporter ventured South of London’s mighty river this week-end, to watch only his second ever Enfield Town away fixture. The good news - and a positive omen - was that I had never seen the Towners lose on the road before. The bad news: nor had I ever seen them win on the road, either ... and a single point might not be enough to avoid relegation. After visiting my elderly mum in South-East London for an early afternoon cup of tea, I carried on my voyage of discovery into deepest, darkest Kent, to see Enfield take on Cray Wanderers at the Courage Stadium, which they share with Bromley F.C.
Pre-match research on Cray was not greatly revealing. In 1870-72, the Rev. John Marius Wilson's “Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales” noted that Cray was “a village and a parish in Bromley district … stand[ing] on the rivulet Cray, and on the Mid Kent railway”. No mention of Premier League football, then; and there won’t be any next season, either. After a shocking year that had seen them conceded 135 goals already, "The Wands" were already standing on the far bank of the Premier League rivulet, waiting for a Division One rescue boat to pick them up for next season. This inexplicably nicknamed club claims to be the second oldest in the world. Travelling fans may have been hoping they would still be fielding their original defensive line-up.
On arrival at the ground, it was soon apparent that Cray were not accustomed to entertaining large crowds of visiting fans. In the ground before 2.45pm, so as to soak up some sunny, warm, pre-match atmosphere and absorb the programme notes, I discovered that all (both?) the match programmes had already sold out, to travelling souvenir hunters. Prior to the game Cray’s average gate had been just 184, compared with Enfield's lowest of 265 and highest of 662. Those numbers got me thinking about how directly on-pitch team performances might be linked to a club's financial performance off it. Sure enough, there is a clear and obviously direct link: with three of the four sides who would suffer relegation by the end of the day also sitting amongst the bottom four of last season's lowest average gates - and amongst the bottom six of this season's. Whether or not The Towners’ own strong performance in this area (seventh-best gate average in the league) would be enough to save them from the drop this year, their impressive travelling support had clearly taken home club officials (and their programme printers) by surprise today - and will have also raised Cray's season’s average gate a shade further. Programme planning was just yet another missed revenue opportunity for the itinerant Kent club. Many Enfield residents were obviously keen to see first-hand just how that maths test would go. The final day papers have now been submitted and marked; and the results are in. "Shall - we tell them?".
Before the game, I had a long chat with injured goalie-turned-supporter, Noel Imber; and commiserated with him over his dislocated shoulder. It turns out that Noel’s day-job is as a landscaper. So not only is he out of the side; but he is also currently unable to work – and not insured for loss of earnings. The good news for Noel - as I pointed out to him - is that it’s his left arm he's injured; the bad news is that he’s left-handed, of course! Noel seemed surprisingly stoical about the situation, coming into what should be the busiest time of the year for his landscaping business. Meanwhile, Enfield needed to be equally stoical about his absence, between the sticks. Injury to their first-choice ‘keeper had put the skids under the club’s recent resurgence in form. It had left them still unsure of their fate right up to this final day; and nervously looking over their collective shoulders, having previously managed only three wins on the road all season. It was immediately clear that Town’s vocal travelling fans would provide all the moral support they could muster - and that some of them had found the stadium bar early - as they were quickly into their singing stride, well before kick-off: “We’ve got a ground; we’ve got a ground – you ain’t!”
Flags were flying, spirits were high, balloons in away colours were sent floating into the azure Kent sky; the home side seemed to lack all confidence in early exchanges; and, for the first 10 minutes, Enfield put their opponents firmly under the cosh, barely seeing the ball advance into their own half. "We're staying up - we're staying up - you're not!". It is often said that pride comes before a fall. So it may be little surprise to regular readers to hear that Cray then broke out at pace from the back, against the run of play, with Vines latching onto a well-weighted through-ball to send his shot past Town's advancing under-study 'keeper, James Chalk, and open the scoring. At 1-0 down, Towners’ nerves were jangling loud and clear, both on the pitch and in the stands. If they could not turn things around, Enfield would be relying on Bognor Regis Town and/or Billericay Town to grind out at least a point against one of Town’s relegation rivals. "Go on you Towners!" ... any Towners! Relief was tangible as rumours filtered through that Bognor had gone 2 goals up at East Thurrock United. “We love Bog-Nor and we love Bog-Nor …” ; but just how accurate and reliable was that information, exactly? In this world of Twitter and 24/7 news feeds, it can still be more difficult to find out what’s happening in Finchley or Thurrock, than to follow the developing crisis East of Kiev.
An extended early delay caused by injury to a Cray defender
was later followed, after 18 minutes, by a further long delay, after a heavy
challenge had Enfield’s stand-in ‘keeper, Chalk, laid out on the chalk of the 6-yard markings. The physio's were being kept very busy. The first half was going to end up being painful - and painfully long. Larin
was booked for his clumsy foul. Defender Lee White got ‘gloved up’ and prepared
to come off the bench in place of Chalk; but the youngster was eventually
deemed fit enough to continue. Just! After a further period of midfield dominance by Town,
Chalk was called into action again after 35 minutes to tip a shot from Fakino onto
the bar and out for a Cray corner. It was his last act of the game, as he immediately stumbled from the field of play, still ‘dazed and confused’ from the earlier collision. White now entered
the fray at the second time of asking, in Chalk's place, dealing with the resultant
corner only at the second attempt, to set Enfield hearts further a-flutter.
Town’s response was a break up-field by Whitely, fed by Richards, ending
with a low shot across goal from the left, which rolled agonisingly wide of the
right-hand post. Soon afterwards, play from an Enfield corner set-piece move broke down;
but Livings picked up the pieces to carry the ball back into the Cray defence and their 18-yard box. A ricochet off defensive shins saw the ball fall to the marauding right back, Lockie, just inside the edge of the area. Appearing to pose little immediate threat, he drove diagonally and determinedly forwards and drilled a shot across the ‘keeper. The ball hit the join of
post and side-netting, on its way high into the far side of the goal. Enfield were back on level
terms, leaving Wingate and Finchley needing to win by more than 5 goals to
go above us. Inconceivable, surely! "We're champ-yons of Eur-ope; we know what we are". A brief explanation may be required here, for the uninitiated. Enfield are the current holders of the Supporters Direct Cup, played between fan-owned clubs, having successfully defended their title by beating off YB SK Beveren of Belgium, pre-season. Hence their hyperbolic, euphoric chanting.
At 1-1, and with nothing at stake but their pride, it wasn't clear why the home side would indulge in time-wasting tactics; but that was exactly what their ‘keeper was booked for, after 43 minutes. With the first-half almost over, Enfield then had a couple of corners in quick succession, one of them hitting the Cray bar. Was this a cryptic clue or subliminal half-time advice for the visiting fans? It is certainly advice they were shortly to follow with relish; but not before the Cray ‘keeper was given a second stern talking-to, this time for dissent; lucky not to receive a second yellow card and his marching orders. The ref. was starting to have some trouble controlling a physical game, with plenty of ‘needle’ developing. He sensibly decided it was at last time for a break and a quick exit. Half-time score: 1-1. Half-time entertainment: provided by Status Quo’s Greatest Hits … although most of the tracks aired through the stadium tannoy system had never been hits and weren’t all that "great". Perhaps the announcer was simply setting up a musical joke at the travelling fans' expense; making a musical comment on Enfield’s survival chances, as we ‘enjoyed’ Rossi and Parfitt intoning (rhymes with droning) "Down, Down (deeper and down)". Was Division One still beckoning us, then?
The second half continued much where the first half had left off, with lots of Enfield pressure and plenty of decent chances on the Cray goal; but little meaningful end-result to show for it. Some away fans turned their nervous attentions to events elsewhere at the foot of the league. In a game where (perhaps uniquely?) both sides went by the nickname of “The Rocks”, things were turning ugly for Enfield. After 70 minutes, Thurrock had over-turned a 0-2 deficit to take the lead against Bognor. With Enfield still only level at lowly and out-classed Cray, those complicated and shifting maths meant that Finchley and Wingate would still need to win by more than 5 goals to send Enfield down. Surely we could rely on Billericay Dicky; but, no. Late in their home game, Finchley's score was poised dangerously at 5-0, our local rivals having reached the brink of achieving the inconceivable.
At 1-1, and with nothing at stake but their pride, it wasn't clear why the home side would indulge in time-wasting tactics; but that was exactly what their ‘keeper was booked for, after 43 minutes. With the first-half almost over, Enfield then had a couple of corners in quick succession, one of them hitting the Cray bar. Was this a cryptic clue or subliminal half-time advice for the visiting fans? It is certainly advice they were shortly to follow with relish; but not before the Cray ‘keeper was given a second stern talking-to, this time for dissent; lucky not to receive a second yellow card and his marching orders. The ref. was starting to have some trouble controlling a physical game, with plenty of ‘needle’ developing. He sensibly decided it was at last time for a break and a quick exit. Half-time score: 1-1. Half-time entertainment: provided by Status Quo’s Greatest Hits … although most of the tracks aired through the stadium tannoy system had never been hits and weren’t all that "great". Perhaps the announcer was simply setting up a musical joke at the travelling fans' expense; making a musical comment on Enfield’s survival chances, as we ‘enjoyed’ Rossi and Parfitt intoning (rhymes with droning) "Down, Down (deeper and down)". Was Division One still beckoning us, then?
The second half continued much where the first half had left off, with lots of Enfield pressure and plenty of decent chances on the Cray goal; but little meaningful end-result to show for it. Some away fans turned their nervous attentions to events elsewhere at the foot of the league. In a game where (perhaps uniquely?) both sides went by the nickname of “The Rocks”, things were turning ugly for Enfield. After 70 minutes, Thurrock had over-turned a 0-2 deficit to take the lead against Bognor. With Enfield still only level at lowly and out-classed Cray, those complicated and shifting maths meant that Finchley and Wingate would still need to win by more than 5 goals to send Enfield down. Surely we could rely on Billericay Dicky; but, no. Late in their home game, Finchley's score was poised dangerously at 5-0, our local rivals having reached the brink of achieving the inconceivable.
With just over a quarter of an hour remaining, it was centre-back
Doyle who brought some much-needed calm to proceedings in Bromley. Somewhat surprisingly, he put matters firmly back in Enfield’s own hands - and in some style. A free-kick on the left
was floated into the Cray box. After a bit of pin-ball style action, the ball
fell to Doyle. With his back to goal on the 6-yard line, he turned majestically and shot with
aplomb - and with his right foot. His effort was deflected upwards by a desperately lunging defender's outstretched leg, on the line; but only into the
roof of the Cray net. Scoreline: 1-2; and, if Enfield could hold on to that
narrow lead, results elsewhere would be irrelevant to their Premiership status.
Joy was almost unconfined as Doyle celebrated (at first alone and in uncertain style) before wheeling towards the delirious away fans behind the goal, to share in the emotions of the
moment. It was Doyle’s second goal in successive games – and only his 2nd in total for the
club, after 18 appearances in his first season. His timing is very good - his goal celebrations were less so!
Nervous tension epitomised much of the remaining match-time, despite the away fans' hubristic singing: "A-gain. We'll never play you a-gain!". Cray
were still intent on upsetting Enfield's avoiding-relegation party. They brought
on former Southend United youngster Acheampong, for James-Lewis. Town kept
carrying the attack to the home side, however; and, as the clock ticked down, increasingly
sent play towards the corner flags. It wasn't pretty; but it was keeping us in the league. With ‘normal’ time running out and ‘abnormal’ stoppage time already in play, Cray’s Fitzgerald inexplicably took out Whiteley, off the ball, just a few
yards outside the penalty area, on the left and in clear sight of the referee. His action was deemed unnecessarily
crude. A yellow card was flourished; and it turned out to be Fitzgerald’s
second of the game. The number 5 shrugged in disbelief, uttered all of the
obligatory expletives and trudged the lonely walk of shame back towards the home dressing room; head bowed and shoulders hunched. Could 10-man Cray now succeed
where 11-man Cray had not? Buoyed by this unexpected additional advantage, the
volume of Towners fans’ celebrations increased, to help ensure the Cray
players remained stunned and crushed by latest developments. A few more
prolonged visits to the Cray corner flags followed; but it transpired there were no more
surprises in store. When the referee blew the final whistle of Enfield’s season, The Towners had done the bare minimum required in their final game, just enough to avoid the
dreaded drop; by grinding out only their fourth away win of the season. One goal (and the resulting two additional points) have rarely seemed such a narrow margin. Away team
thoughts could now finally turn safely towards celebration – and next season. The
manager’s thoughts could turn to a summer of training, rebuilding and
strengthening. Just how many of those tired faces, now busy jubilantly applauding
their travelling fans, could look forward to another season in Enfield Town’s
starting line-up, only that fickle friend time (and George Borg) can tell.
Cruelly, while Enfield Town were passing their maths test and going to the top of the class and securing another season in the Ryman Premier League, my ‘other’ Premier League team, Fulham, were quietly being asked to re-sit their own maths test
Enfield Town (1) 2 Lockie 39, Doyle 74
Cray Wanderers (1) 1 Vines 10
Attendance: 318
Cray Wanderers: Darren Behcet, Ugo Udoji, Nathan Simpson, Merrick James-Lewis (Duane Afori-Acheampong 76), Max Fitzgerald, Dmitri Larin, Giannoulis Fakino, Alex Stavrinou, Paul Vines, Jordan Bird, Adrian Stone.
Subs not Used: Saul Otobo, Richard Monan, Michale Akande,
Booked: Behcet, Fitzgerald, Larin.
Sent Off: Fitzgerald.
Enfield Town: James Chalk (Lee White 36), Jordan Lockie, Joe Stevens, Ryan Doyle, Mark Kirby, Michael Ewang(Tyler Campbell 66), Nathan Livings, Bradley Quinton, Liam Hope, Jamie Richards, Corey Whitely.
Subs Not Used: Smyth, Hahn, Kalu.
Booked: Richards
Photo's:
Photo's:
1) Ball or balloon? It looks as though Enfield are going to sneak in an early, go-ahead goal, un-noticed at the far post. A mean-spirited Grinch of a linesman was later seen stamping on a bevy of balloons swirling around his tiger feet.
2) A 'tired and emotional', yet highly vocal, Towners fan opts for uncoventional head-gear.
Possibly as defence against the maddening Kentish sun.
3) Lockie (#2, in foreground) embarks on the over-lapping run that will result in Enfield's deserved equaliser, after good probing work by Livings (#7, front centre, with ball).
4) Whitely (with ball) goes past the Cray defence once again. Manager George Borg (standing, grey hair and dark blue club tracksuit) looks on appreciatively from the edge of his dug-out.
5) Doyle (at right) wheels away celebrating Enfield's lead, completing a full 360-degree clockwise circuit (being, as yet, unused to goal celebrations). Has he secured safety?
6) ... before eventually locating and joining jubilant away fans (top of head just visible amidst the throng). Even the referee seems keen on joining in the NOT-relegation party.
7) "The Press" had turned out in great number ... the number being a great big 'ONE'.
8 ) Late, corner-flag-bound action from Enfield Town. The ref knows where we're heading.
9) Stewards (in hi-vis jackets) are called upon to join in the celebratory singing. Somewhat surprisingly, they did so - with a good humour not matched by their surly, night-club-doorman demeanours.
10) Whitely is taken out "agriculturally" off the ball by Fitzgerald, in added time.
The referee has a clear, if somewhat distant, view. Oops!
11) Whiteley (#11) gets even better-acquainted with the corner flag, after being up-ended, unceremoniously and unintelligently, nearby (yet again!) as the shadows lengthen.
Premier League survival is secured... painfully.
See that final Ryman Isthmian Premier League table in full here. Fans of Cray Wanderers F.C. may prefer to look away now:
http://www.enfieldtownfootballclub.co.uk/s/table-65370.html?table=division-7573
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