Play-Off Hopes Hang in the Balance
Enfield Town versus Leiston F.C.
Ryman League Premier Division
Saturday 28th February, 2015 – 3pm kick-off
Earlier this week, I spent some
time in Liverpool. I survived; and returned to North London – my pulse having been quickened by that short visit to the historic home of great (‘70’s) football. Today
(Saturday 7
th March) is FA Cup Quarter-Finals day. Neither of
my favoured teams will be contesting the tournament; which gives me time to
reflect on last week’s endeavours by Enfield Town in the (far more engaging?) Ryman
Premier League. The automatic promotion spot is now, surely, a two-horse race; as
Margate and Maidstone fight it out, tooth and nail, over the final weeks (and
the last dozen or so fixtures) to finalise bragging rights and the glowing title of Kent's richest 7
th-tier team. Meanwhile, ahead of Saturday’s game, Enfield Town still maintained hopes
of competing for an end-of-season play-off spot at this level for the first
time. A poor start to the season, under George Borg, had been allowed to
continue for too long, before Brad Quinton was finally promoted to the
manager’s role. He brought increased
belief, fitness and strength to the squad – and an all-important run of October wins.
An end-of-year ‘wobble’ then also lasted too long; and inconsistent form had left Enfield realistically needing
a win over play-off rivals Leiston to stay in the hunt. Town’s recent form had
a consistently inconsistent pattern and, arguably, a predictable rhythm to it, despite a host of postponed matches:
Won, Lost, Won, Lost, Won. Continuing that pretty pattern would probably prove
pivotal to any remaining hopes of securing that elusive play-off place. Enfield’s
record at Donkey Lane, however, gave cause for hope; with only four sides in
the league boasting stronger home form.
The Liver building, captured from the Ferry 'Cross the Mersey
In other Enfield-related news, former
Town boss George Borg was recently found guilty of aggravated misconduct, after
a five-month investigation by the Football Association came to its belated conclusion,
last week. Borg has been banned for five matches, fined £275 and forced to sit
an education course by the governing body. It was alleged he said “Hitler’s
going to get you” to Wingate and Finchley supporters during a match in August.
W&F is a club with strong links to the local Jewish community. Borg
maintains he was misheard; but he did not deny use of the name “Hitler”. It strikes
me as difficult to construct any sentence incorporating “Hitler” which might
misrepresent his true intentions. Borg admits his enforced departure from
Enfield still rankles with him, saying: “I hope I can get an apology from
Enfield Town. They acted too quickly without any evidence – that was not
right.” The club refused to comment when contacted by local press. I suspect
that hoped-for apology may be some time in coming.
This fixture would be my first
game since New Year’s Day. “Man ‘Flu”, the Great British weather and a
decimated fixture list had ensured few other opportunities had arisen since
then. The last day of February seemed as good a time as any to renew my
acquaintance with Enfield’s up-and-down season. Our visitors from Suffolk have
a club heritage dating back to 1880; and were promoted (automatically) to this
tier in the same season Enfield reached it, following them via the play-offs.
Other recent fame(?) came as one of the footballing homes of Ipswich-born, one-time
Montserrat international, Tesfaye Bramble – yes, the lesser-known, former
non-league playing brother of England U-21, Titus – and yes, “Tes” was an
international player just the one time.
Sport in the Park: a reminder of the Bramble brothers' footballing style?
Enfield Ignatians R.U.F.C. could be seen in mid-match flow, in the King George V Playing Fields, as I strolled towards the ground. Their pitch was already cutting up rough. A “Herculean effort” had been made
to ready the QEII pitch, by Enfield ground-staff and volunteers. It would be
interesting to find out whether “we” should have just let the promise of yet
another long-distance, mid-week fixture, re-scheduled for later in the season,
sap the spirit of our visitors. The day started wet and windy; and the forecast
‘fine afternoon’ did not materialise; nor did Leiston’s fans. Just 12 of them
stood in the away end, in a total gate of 361. By contrast, Enfield had already
filled at least 2 coaches for next weekend’s trip to Margate FC. As a result of
the visitors’ poor support, the attendance was a little below Enfield’s home
average for the season which, incidentally, is the 7th best in the
league. Despite Leiston’s missing fans, the pitch passed its morning
inspection.
Leiston arrived fielding only three of their five permitted substitutes; and with a change in goal, where the diminutive Nick Rossis looked likely to have a torrid day. Enfield kicked off towards the
East, with the wind at their backs, attacking on the half of the pitch surface in
better condition. For the first half-hour, Leiston offered very little threat.
Possession and territory were all Enfield’s; and it soon became clear that the
visitors would play a deep-lying, spoiling game, allowing Town to press
forwards, in the hope of catching them on the break, when over-committed. The
yellow card tally grew ever-larger, from the 11th minute onwards, as
Leiston coupled physical intimidation to their other key objectives. Many
times, the home crowd howled with indignation as their players were tripped,
barged and kicked off their game, particularly in and around the penalty area.
The ref mainly seemed keen not to act in areas that might actually directly affect
the score! Rossis (often more by luck than judgment) was able to block everything, with disdain.
Enfield (in white) attack down their right, on the "better" end of the QEII surface
For regular readers of this
irregular blog it will come as no surprise, then, to hear that after Enfield’s
dominance in that first half-hour, after several shots on target (and with the
away ‘keeper playing a blinder) Leiston broke to score the opening goal of the
game, against the run of play. Things looked likely to get worse soon after
when, in the 38
th minute, Leiston’s #10 Sands was clearly fouled
inside the Enfield penalty area. That is to say, it was clear to everyone
looking on, in horror, even from the far end of the ground. Referee Mr.
Holderness duly booked Sands for “simulation” when it appeared he was, himself,
the only one simulating - imitating a qualified and competent referee. His
linesman soon took up his example. In the next Enfield attack, the home side
were flagged offside after a run from behind several defenders to reach the
touchline and cut a ball back. The decision, like so many others, again made no
sense to the spectators. Mr. Holderness finally got one call right, when he
decided it was time to retreat to the warmth of the bar / changing rooms.
Leiston's Rossis prepares to get in the way of one more effort on goal, as yet another infringement goes un-noticed and un-punished inside the Leiston box
During the half-time break, a
tannoy announcement apologised for an earlier technical error. This could have
been referring to the first goal or any one of the officials’ howlers; but it
turned out that the PA system hadn't been working at the start of the game.
Enfield toil on the "worse" end of the pitch in a torrid second half
The second half carried on where
the first had left off. The main changes were the home side playing against the strong wind and under floodlights. Enfield dominated possession again; Leiston’s goalie gymnastically
repelled all onslaughts; and the away side scored their second (again
completely against the run of play) after just over half an hour, whilst the
referee continued to see relatively few infringements anywhere near either
penalty area. This time Leiston’s goal came from a handling error by Enfield ‘keeper
McDonald, at a corner from his right. The visitors’ full-back, Blake Saker,
accepted the generous gift with a driven shot through a crowd of players and
across goal, back into the right-hand corner of McDonald’s net. The main
difference between the two halves was that the playing surface Enfield toiled
on in attack now resembled a ploughed turnip field. This was clearly a natural
advantage to the visitors from Suffolk. Enfield appeared clueless in the face
of stiff defensive resistance. There was too little invention and wing-play up
front, coupled with a lack of clinical finishing - something in which Leiston
gave a masterclass. Having rarely reached mid-way to the half-way line on many occasions, the visiting goalie at last gave up his horrific efforts to kick the ball, leaving these duties to a colleague, who was soon dubbed his "Dad" by wags in the home crowd. Substitutions saw additional Enfield strikers brought on;
but record club scorer Liam Hope found himself playing in midfield, as towering
centre-back Joe Ellul was pushed forward to add aerial threat, to no avail. The
clock ticked; Enfield toiled; the game ended – as did any meaningful hopes of
an end-of-season challenge for the play-offs. Leiston might just be in that
mix, though; if other sides are as baffled and clueless as Enfield proved about
how to play against them. The visitors posed little threat and barely sought
possession; but dined richly off scraps – in hopes of a Tier 6 banquet next
season. We really should have laid off those pre-match pitch preparations, after all ... as we had all(?) probably suspected.
Makeshift centre-forward (#4) gets another aerial effort just OFF target
Full time: Enfield Town 0 Leiston
2
Enfield Town: Nathan McDonald, Jordan Lockie, Ricky Gabriel,
Claudiu Vilcu, Mark Kirby, Ryan Doyle, Leon Wilson (Dernell Wynter 60), Nathan
Livings, Corey Whitely (Michael Kalu 73), Bobby Devyne, Tyler Campbell (Liam
Hope 67). Unused subs: Joe Stevens, Joe Ellul. Booked: Gabriel.
Leiston: Alex Rossis, Blake Saker, Stuart Boardley, Daniel
Cunningham (Tom Winter 67), Joe Jefford, Scott Mitchell, Patrick Brothers,
Gareth Heath, Leon Ottley-Gooch, John Sands (Darren Mills 65), Joe Francis.
Unused sub: Josh Meritt. Booked: Sands, Francis, Jefford.
All over, bar the shouting. One corner flag tells the tale of gale - and the deep-lying defensive tactics of the tractor-boys (in red) are revealed.
