In a League of Their Own

Enfield Town versus East Thurrock

Ryman League Premier Division
Monday 31st August, 2015 – 3pm kick-off

Middlesex versus Essex: The Big One ... apparently! When your club’s website is pre-empting a bad result by blatantly talking up the day’s visitors as a ‘bogey team’, then you know you could be in for a torrid time and some trouble, come the final whistle. It seems that Enfield Town have never beaten East Thurrock. A record that was (an optimist might say) surely overdue for breaking; despite the disparate league table positions of the teams at kick-off being 20^th and 9^th, respectively. Especially if one took into account Enfield's impressive pre-season friendly win against "The Rocks" (3-4) away at Rookery Hill, back on the first day of August. What a difference, however, a month has made for both clubs. Thurrock were given a big-up in the match-day programme (see cover, below) by Towners' vice-chairman Paul Millington as "one of the first clubs that gave us their support during the points deduction issue that arose at the end of last season". Fair play to them, then for that. Perhaps they would be equally accommodating over the small matter of 3 home points early this season?

It is, indeed, still very early in this campaign; but most Towners fans will already be hoping to avoid another "Winter of Discontent". Just three points from the first five league games is a poor return, it is true - all earned in a narrow home win against recently promoted Burgess Hill Town - but the Enfield side is somewhat changed from last season - including the heavy loss of former club captain and central-defensive rock, Mark Kirby. Injuries and absences have also cost us – as have a couple of injudicious red card offences. So one should not set too much store by the results exhibited so far. I went along to the QEII hoping that the final fixture of August might at last kick-start Town’s stuttering season into life, once and for all. On an English August Bank Holiday Monday, during the latest ‘International Break’, there wasn’t much else to do. 

Nine goals conceded in the first 6 games wasn’t the worst record in the league, somewhat surprisingly. Eleven other teams had fared as badly, or worse-ly, at the back. Although, perhaps more worryingly, I was left feeling a little unconvinced by Enfield’s scoring prowess to date; their paltry single goal scored so far in the league being the worst record of all the 24 teams. To be fair, I HAD already seen Enfield score a brace in a match against league rivals this season, Brentwood, as reported elsewhere on this blog; but that had been in the League Cup competition. It had also required them to be stung into action by going a goal behind, first.

The availability of key team members has been so mixed in previous games, that only TWO players have been ever-present in the 6 competitive fixtures played to-date. Both would feature prominently again, today: 'Keeper Nathan McDonald and Skipper, Ryan Doyle. The visitors have a squad boasting no less than three players claiming Caribbean nationalities. Although only one would feature today: Simon Peddie has been capped twice for the Montserrat national football team. They brought a reasonable amount of away support, which helped to muster a match attendance of 441 brave souls and masochists.

Before we get into details of the action, first a word about the day's weather. And what could sum it up better than the words of Henry Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949) made famous by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1948) & Mahalia Jackson (1954):

Didn't it rain, children?
Talk 'bout rain, oh, my Lord!
Didn't it, didn't it, didn't it oh, my Lord,
Didn't it rain?
Didn't it rain, children?
Talk 'bout rain, oh, my Lord!
Didn't it, didn't it, didn't it, oh, my Lord,
Didn't it rain?

No, it didn't exactly "rain 40 days, 40 nights without stopping"; but Old Noah and both teams' faithful followers were still "glad when the rain finally did stop dropping". Yes, typical English Summer Bank Holiday weather played its part and meant that there had been some concern as to whether the pitch would be in fit condition for the match; and whether ("weather"?) it would get underway at all. By 2pm, however, the rain had cleared up enough to allow the referee to pronounce the fixture as "on". The greasy conditions seemed like a good omen for a healthy goal count. By 3.15pm, a persistent drizzle had returned, along with a Northerly breeze. It was a combination that had most fans heading for cover, making the home end officially "cosy". The away end less so.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the above preamble regarding player availability, the Enfield defence was doing its very best impression of a group of strangers meeting at a party: "... and how do YOU do?" The Essex side, however, wasn't standing on such ceremony. The tone for an uncomfortable match (for Enfield's fans, at least) was set as early as the third minute. That's when an under-struck back-pass played Town's goalie, Nathan McDonald, into early trouble. Thurrock's Harry Honesty (honestly, you couldn't make it up!) chased the loose pass. He tucked it past the Town 'keeper and looked for all the world to have been taken out by the custodian as he rounded him, intent on finishing off his own good work. Enfield hearts were firmly in mouths, as the visitors' #11 hit the deck, well inside the penalty area. Mysteriously, referee Mr. Ellis Clark waved play on - seeming to doubt the striker's "Honesty" - and Town cleared their lines; but they had dodged an early, silver-plated bullet.

Within four minutes, Town had grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck themselves and taken the lead. Enfield's diminutive #9, Wynter, floated a shot from the left-hand edge of the area high into the right-hand side of the net, around the flailing left palm of Thurrock's 'keeper, Lucas Lidakevicius.

Dernell Wynter (centre) is congratulated on having found black boots to wear - and for using them to score only Enfield's SECOND(!) league goal of the season: 1-0.

I won't bore you with all the rest of the gory match report details. As usual, you can do that for yourself, on the club's own web-page:
http://www.enfieldtownfootballclub.co.uk/teams/65370/match-centre/1-1607195

Suffice to say that Enfield shared an evenly-fought contest, with worthy opponents. Town showed some pace and finesse going forward, for sure; but rarely looked likely to increase their lead, against well-organised visitors. There were frequent Comedies of Errors at the back, though; and Town were lucky to go in at the interval still clutching onto their single-goal lead. This was thanks in part to our regular #2 and most-capped squad member, Jordan Lockie; a right-back who intercepted one threatening forward ball down the left from Thurrock by sending it firmly out of play and, not even troubling the occupants of 'Row Z', high over the main stand, straight into the King George V Playing Fields beyond. As they often say: "If in doubt ...". It gave him time to regain his breath and return to the right side of our shaky defence.

 

The iconic stand that Lockie's clearance cleared. Seen from outside ... and in.

Half-time food queue. Back in the mists of time, my search for the best of non-league ground cuisine is what first brought me to the QEII. Yeah, thanks, Grant!

Long after a tannoy-less half-time break in the game had ended, the inevitable equaliser finally came for East Thurrock in the 66th minute. Equally inevitably, it came from a defensive lapse. Town gave away an unnecessary throw-in, deep in their own half on their left. It was worked nicely across them to their right, where Rocks #3, Tom Wraight, was on hand to drive a shot back across McDonald and low into the left-hand side of his net: 1-1; and it was probably no less than Thurrock had deserved.

Skipper Ryan Doyle sends in a right-footed cross over the wall, from a 2nd-half free-kick on the left. Spot the ball!

In fact, Enfield did have the ball in the Thurrock net one more time, in the 90th minute, after a firm and well-placed header from a corner on the right; but Mr. Clark had seen an infringement and he consequently disallowed Town's third "goal" of the season. So Thurrock maintained their title of Enfield's 'Bogey Team' and, slightly fortuitously, stood firm; taking a share of the (two) points back to the Far East. As a result of that result, Town dropped a place to 21st; but they will be happy to have taken something from the game - anything - and to have doubled their goal tally for the season.

Tyler Campbell pursues and (just!) keeps in a testing late "pass".

Enfield are not in a league of their own quite yet; but if they can't find a few more goals from somewhere quickly, they might soon be!

More Corner Flag "porn" from the QEII Stadium.

Town now face a series of away fixtures - one in the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round and two in the league - before they return to Donkey Lane to take on the enigma which is Farnborough. Relegated from the Conference South at the end of last season, the Hampshire side currently sit one place below Enfield in the table. They have one point less but have scored 4 goals more, after playing only 2 fixtures so far. They have made a delayed start to their season, after falling foul of the FA's financial regulations and being prevented from fulfilling their early scheduled fixtures. It was touch and go for a while as to whether they would be allowed to play at all this year. Such is the world of non-league football, in the seventh English tier.

ETFC: The Co-Operative Club? At least in defence.

East Thurrock, as it turned out, would not be so accommodating about those three home points, after all.