Tuesday 7th October, 2014 – 7.45pm kick-off
THE ROBERT DYAS LEAGUE CUP - ROUND ONE
After all the recent glamour, excitement and allure of the qualifying FA Cup rounds (no, seriously!) this Enfield Town game was likely to be an anti-climax for Towners fans, wasn’t it? Certainly the small size of the crowd indicated so. At the time of writing there has been no confirmation of the attendance; but I’d be surprised if it even reached 200 - compared with our normal c.350. Of the 23 other fixtures in the tournament played on the same evening, only 3 crowds managed to beat the 200 mark. So it is clear that club fans are not convinced about the importance or appeal of this non-league tournament. It didn’t seem as though the club were too convinced, either; issuing just a four-page programme for the match – but still charging a quid for it, of course. Luckily, I was able to negotiate the inclusion of a team sheet for that price. There were still plenty of copies available for purchase at kick-off.
Question: Why is this trophy even called the ROBERT DYAS League Cup, anyway, if it’s a tournament of the RYMAN Isthmian League? That little mystery is easily resolved. British-Greek Cypriot “retail magnate and entrepreneur”, Dragons' Den inhabitant, TV business celebrity and former chairman of Millwall Football Club, Theo Paphitis, owns both businesses, as 'sister' UK high street retail brands. It seems he likes to spread the sponsorship love around his empire. Incidentally, Paphitis is director and part-owner of fellow Isthmian League side Walton & Hersham, which may help to explain his ongoing interest in non-league football. But enough of the commercials – back to the business of football ON the pitch!
After drawing twice with Eastbourne Borough in the FA Cup, the Towners collected their third draw in a week at home to Grays Athletic in the league, on Saturday. Not the best of recent records, then, ahead of this contest, perhaps; but Harrow Borough’s was worse. They arrived on the back of three straight league defeats, while Town were unlucky to have given up a 2-1 lead in the EIGHTH minute of injury time, at the weekend, in their latest game, against high-flying visitors Grays Athletic. It was very much to be hoped they wouldn’t suffer a similar fate this evening. The two teams’ first meeting of the season ended with a home win for Harrow, after a dubious ball-to-hand penalty was awarded in their favour. It was a game marked by comedy officiating which, you may be starting to gather, is pretty much the norm. This particular referee decided the ball had gone too soft and held up the match … because he couldn’t find a suitable replacement. Would you call that a lack of balls? Now, almost two months later, the two sides sat in 19th and 20th places in the league – immediately above the relegation zone – although the scheduling of Enfield’s recent FA Cup exploits meant that they have games in hand on the teams around them. Harrow, meanwhile, have continued FA Cup interests of their own, with a home tie against relative minnows, Waltham Abbey.
Perhaps it was with half an eye on that forthcoming FA Cup game, and on the prospect of bigger future opponents and potentially more Cup revenue, that manager Dave Anderson had shuffled his deck of cards for today’s starting line-up. My team sheet would come in right handy. His side featured seven changes from Saturday’s league starting eleven; but all those ‘dropped’ (with the exception of 'keeper Charlie Horlock) remained available on the bench, should tonight’s game prove still to be there for the taking, late on. It was a bold move, against an improving Enfield side which featured just three changes of its own, all for returning players: right-back Jordan Lockie, winger Ade Cole and CF (Centre Forward and Crowd Favourite) Liam Hope; but would it prove a shrewd one? There was little doubt which side was taking the contest the more seriously.
Harrow's notable former players include: mathematically-challenged penalty-miss maestro, Middlesbrough's Albert Adomah; "Crazy Gang" mastermind, Dave Bassett; much-travelled TV pundit Steve Claridge (who, of course, has played for just about EVERYONE); Robert Rosario (of Norwich City, Coventry City & Nottingham Forest) and Graham Westley (QPR, Gillingham, Barnet, Wycombe Wanderers; manager of Stevenage and Preston North End). Would any of tonight's second-string side show signs of an ability which could help them follow in those pro-footsteps? Frankly, the answer to that was no - with the possible exception of returning former GK hero, Nicky Jupp (who has recently been playing at a higher level, with Conference South side St. Albans City and current Conference Premier table-topping outfit Barnet FC).
A bracing, cool wind and a falling temperature were signs that Autumn had finally arrived in Enfield. Evidence, if any were needed, of Vivaldi's (or Frankie Valli's?) Four Seasons. Perhaps in part to keep themselves warm, all the early pressure was applied by Enfield. Borough at first seemed happy to sit back and contain the home side's initial control, looking to cause trouble 'on the break'. That soon seemed an optimistic strategy. As early as the 4th minute, and from a tight angle on the right, Town's Hope hit the underside of the bar, only to see his effort inexplicably rebound OUT to safety. After 8 minutes, Cole collected a nicely threaded through-ball on the left and shot across Jupp, narrowly missing to the right. To call the away support "desultory" would be an insult to desults everywhere. About 7 or 8 fans, gathered in the away end, failed miserably to get behind their team. Even when an unexpected flurry of corners might have seemed to give them something to cheer. Soon it was business as usual: Town piling on the pressure; just failing with their final pass or goal-bound touch. In the 26th minute, Whitely raced into the far right corner with the ball and cut it back ... to the invisible support player. Home groans intensified and midfielders began to try their luck from range; shooting on sight; but Jupp was equal to everything they had - which, to be truthful, was not very much, beyond the odd loose, star-gazey, moon-ward effort.
Mid-way through the half, a firmly-struck Enfield effort appeared for all the world to have been cleared from well behind the line - yeah, even off the netting at the back of the goal - by a Borough defender. Such was the eyesight of the officials (and the luck shadowing Town, of late) that the referee saw nothing untoward. He also failed to see a defender standing by the post, and playing everybody ONside withe the help of the Harrow 'keeper, when he later gave what may rate as the world's worst ever OFFside decision, during a threatening Enfield attack. Groans! "You don;t know what you're doing". With half an hour gone, there was a brief, and somewhat surprising, spell of Harrow possession; at the end of which, a misplaced Enfield back-pass had McDonald scurrying back across his six-yard box to clear a potential own goal off his line. The next Red attack saw a chipped through-ball collected by Harrow CF Vickers; but his poorly-judged, attempted lob was comfortably collected by the 'keeper. After 41 minutes, the referee was clearly getting bored and decided to lend a hand, playing a one-two early in an Enfield attack, which resulted in a run and shot over by Whitely. Soon afterwards, we'd all seen quite enough; and there were no complaints at the seemingly early half-time whistle. The break brought a desperate search, via the public address system, for a qualified referee from amongst the small crowd, to replace one of the linesmen. They were lucky to find one; and the game restarted only a little late, after some hurried rummaging around for spare kit - and a second warm-up.
"Getting to Know You": the B-team of officials gets acquainted - and warm - while Town's finest await the restart and discuss their plans for the weekend.
The second half began as the first one had ended: with poor refereeing and total Enfield dominance, in terms of possession, territory and intent; but still no goal. The greatest danger to the home side appeared to be the risk of boredom from their visitors' negative tactics. Fortunately, just 6 minutes after the re-start, the scoreboard finally got moving. Borough's #4, Sheriff, seemed unaware there was a posse on his trail, as he dallied with a ball on the right, bringing it back towards his 'keeper. Whitely pursued and harried him, knocking the erstwhile law-enforcer off the ball, before striking a sweet, curling right-footed shot beyond the diving Jupp, into the inside netting at the far post, to produce a deserved 1-0 lead ... at last! It was so sudden and exciting, I forget to press the camera shutter in time.
Enfield's possession and pressure continued . "Come on, Town; they're rubbish, this lot!". It was no lie. The home side remained the vastly dominant team. Seven may have been "A Change Too Far" after all; but, as Anderson finally started to bring on his first-string players as replacements, their goal-ward threat increased. After 62 minutes, McDonald had to be quick off his line to smother a threaded ball, deep into his area on Harrow's left. After 65 minutes the replacement referee fluffed his lines badly, after which the hostile responses of the crowd amplified. Town's lively Cole was quickly onto a through ball, down the centre. He was unceremoniously stopped in his tracks by a combination of keeper and defender taking him high and low in a crunching player-sandwich. Neither of them had got the ball. Not only was there, amazingly, no red card - when there could have been two! - but the deluded official also waved play on, having seen no infringement. Cole stayed down for some time and was soon replaced. The home crowd started to mutter about conspiracies and the possibility of a fixed result looming. An equaliser was widely anticipated, as decisions went ever-more-erroneously against the home side. "You'll be back in your local park next week, ref!" There was, indeed, an official referee's assessor on duty in the crowd, though his views are not recorded here. One old hand observed to some of those around him: "We all know the referees are poor; but you shouting at him won't help". It was sensible but unwelcome advice.
Jupp took an easy collect, after a Whitely shot was half-blocked. He then made a good save from a shot across him by the same player. Enfield laboured to stretch their lead. The next good opportunity was squandered at the other end, as substitute striker Michael Brian (in white boots, no less!) skewed probably Borough's best chance of the game wide and high of goal. The image of him with his head in his hands spoke volumes. That 'pony' he'd apparently given the ref earlier had obviously been wasted.
Enfield nerves jangled, both on and off the pitch, as the final minutes ticked away. The spectre of that late-late equaliser in their previous game at the Donkey-Drome hung heavy in the air. Nobody on the home side wanted extra time or penalties - again. At times, Town resorted to tactics perhaps suggested by the name of one of the club's sponsors (see floodlight post, below) as the ball was sent deep behind the visiting defence, into the corners of opposition territory, to kill time (also below).
Enfield's possession and pressure continued . "Come on, Town; they're rubbish, this lot!". It was no lie. The home side remained the vastly dominant team. Seven may have been "A Change Too Far" after all; but, as Anderson finally started to bring on his first-string players as replacements, their goal-ward threat increased. After 62 minutes, McDonald had to be quick off his line to smother a threaded ball, deep into his area on Harrow's left. After 65 minutes the replacement referee fluffed his lines badly, after which the hostile responses of the crowd amplified. Town's lively Cole was quickly onto a through ball, down the centre. He was unceremoniously stopped in his tracks by a combination of keeper and defender taking him high and low in a crunching player-sandwich. Neither of them had got the ball. Not only was there, amazingly, no red card - when there could have been two! - but the deluded official also waved play on, having seen no infringement. Cole stayed down for some time and was soon replaced. The home crowd started to mutter about conspiracies and the possibility of a fixed result looming. An equaliser was widely anticipated, as decisions went ever-more-erroneously against the home side. "You'll be back in your local park next week, ref!" There was, indeed, an official referee's assessor on duty in the crowd, though his views are not recorded here. One old hand observed to some of those around him: "We all know the referees are poor; but you shouting at him won't help". It was sensible but unwelcome advice.
Jupp took an easy collect, after a Whitely shot was half-blocked. He then made a good save from a shot across him by the same player. Enfield laboured to stretch their lead. The next good opportunity was squandered at the other end, as substitute striker Michael Brian (in white boots, no less!) skewed probably Borough's best chance of the game wide and high of goal. The image of him with his head in his hands spoke volumes. That 'pony' he'd apparently given the ref earlier had obviously been wasted.
Enfield nerves jangled, both on and off the pitch, as the final minutes ticked away. The spectre of that late-late equaliser in their previous game at the Donkey-Drome hung heavy in the air. Nobody on the home side wanted extra time or penalties - again. At times, Town resorted to tactics perhaps suggested by the name of one of the club's sponsors (see floodlight post, below) as the ball was sent deep behind the visiting defence, into the corners of opposition territory, to kill time (also below).
At the final whistle, we'd all seen enough. This was not a classic cup win. Not even a repeat of Town's FA Cup draw 'heroics', exactly; but it did represent a dominant performance, a clean sheet, a lead retained and an ordeal survived. It was also a welcome first win in five attempts for the home side. The draw for the second round now pitted Enfield at home to either Hendon or Wingate. Both are currently in the top 6 of Enfield's league table and either will likely be a sterner test than Harrow proved. We will have high hopes, however, of harnessing the home advantage. With only a small crowd in the ground, the Western exit gates, unusually, remained locked at the end of the game, requiring a long trudge around the ground by all the exiting home fans. That is, after the intervening security gates to the players' 'tunnel' had finally been re-opened. It only remained for Bradley Quinton (furthest right, in black, facing his players) to hold a post-match inquiry on the pitch as to exactly how his side had skillfully managed not to secure a greater winning margin. I hope he found the answer. Most home fans will probably be content to be left hoping that the missing luck quotient will return in a future fixture. CO,YT!
Theo Jones (#15, standing) scratches his head, when asked the $64,000 question.
Post Script: The official match attendance was eventually declared as 112 brave souls - which sounds light compared with the numbers of home fans, at least, I thought I'd seen. It also later turned out that James Keane, one of the starting assistant referees, had received sad news of a family bereavement at half-time and, understandably, left the ground. Everything football-related then falls back into proper perspective. For a while.
Enfield Town: Nathan McDonald, Jordan Lockie, Phil Kane, Ryan Doyle, Mark Kirby (Theo Jones 89), Taylor Hastings (Stanley Mugou 68), Tyler Campbell, Nathan Livings, Liam Hope, Corey Whitely, Ade Cole (Michael Kalu 72). Unused subs: Jamie Smyth, Anthony Page.
Harrow Borough: Nick Jupp, Daniel May, Amadou Barry (Ryan Hope 55), Romil Sheriff, Howard Hall, Jake Gilbert, Nik Salapatas (Marc Charles-Smith 89), Julian Smith, Michael Vickers (Michael Bryan 60), Spencer Bellotti, Ryan Debattista. Unused subs: Michael Barima, Ben Long.
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