Three Of A Kind – Part 2

Enfield Town versus Bognor Regis Town - 7.45pm 8pm k-o 
Thursday 31st March - The Ryman League Premier Division

You may remember, from the previous installment of your favourite non-league football blog, that Enfield had recently been the lucky recipients of a gift horse. That was when Dulwich Hamlet central defender, Matt Drage, was sent off for a second, first-half yellow card, during Town’s previous home game. It had seemed a golden opportunity to close the four-point gap between the teams; but Enfield showed their ongoing determination to look such gift horses firmly in the mouth, by failing to take their chances and scraping an ultimately disappointing 2-2 draw; in which they were forced to come from behind (fnah!). Twice (fnah, fnah!). Since then, they had gone to Brentwood just two days later, on Bank Holiday Monday, and escaped with all three points, in a hard-fought contest with the relegation-threatened Essex boys. Alas, Dulwich's narrow home win on the same day, against fellow play-off berth sitters, Tonbridge Angels (after two early Hamlet goals) had done nothing to reduce either the points deficit or total still required by Enfield.

So, when fourth-placed Bognor Regis Town came a-calling on the last evening of March (only three further days later) Enfield were sitting pretty on a recent record of just one defeat in their last 10 league fixtures; AND they had delivered the first of those six wins on-the-trot that manager Brad Quinton had demanded, after disappointment of those dropped points in our “six-pointer” against Dulwich. Bognor’s own position was a somewhat false one, since they had FIVE games in hand on the two teams above them. A fixture backlog caused mostly by their success in reaching the semi-finals of the FA Trophy (where they were beaten home and away, by Grimsby). Any modicum of success in those extra games should have Bognor placed second; possibly challenging Hampton & Richmond Borough for the title of division champions – and the coveted automatic promotion place.

Those all-important pre-match stats, from the Enfield programme. Even when "blown up", things didn't look great for The Towners.

Brad Quinton has talked openly this season of feeling he has strength in depth within his squad. He made four changes from his previous starting line-up, at Brentwood, for what promised to be a tough Bognor challenge. Town needed a win to stay in the play-off hunt. The visitors needed a win to maintain their challenge for the league title. Even if Brad thinks he has a strong squad, he might still envy the resources available to his opposite number. Bognor’s strong challenge for the lead of the Ryman Premier has been helped by four loanees from the Football League’s south coast clubs: Connor Tighe & Chike Kandi (both on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion) and Chad Field & Snorre Nilsen (both on loan from Portsmouth – it was assumed, on the home terraces, that the Norway flag on display at the far end was for Snorre’s benefit). Add in the League experiences of Alex Parsons (at Bournemouth) and Jason Prior (at AFC Wimbledon – who would captain the side for this game) and there was a decidedly formidable look to the current squad of this 133 year-old club. It was no wonder they had performed so strongly in both league and cup, this season.

"Where's Wally?": Pre-match, sunset floodlight 'porn', courtesy of Bognor's delayed arrival.

Thursday is an unusual day of the week for top class football. When it was announced that the kick-off would be delayed by 15 minutes, due to the late arrival of the Bognor team bus (the rush-hour M25 shows no mercy; not even for élite athletes!) there was a distinct groan - and a realisation that we could probably also expect a fairly small away following to have made the demanding, 230-mile, mid-week round-trip. More annoying than the delayed start was the irritating and liberal use of an air horn by the away fans; presumably in a desperate effort to make up for their small numbers with a large, artificial noise.

Delayed first-half action, in front of the main stand. Enfield are in yellow.

The home side showed their visitors little respect in the early exchanges. Town showed more appetite and hogged both possession and territory. The Towners generally show little fear, at home. Only the top two sides boast better home records in the league this season: current table-toppers Hampton and … tonight’s visitors. Rather, it is our way record that may well prove to have been costly, once the fat lady does, eventually, stumble onto the stage and finally sing her heart out. Things started to get interesting after 25 minutes when Snorre Nilsen caught the Enfield defence napping. The Bognor #7 flicked a header on the right beyond his marker who, apparently in awe of the Norwegian's dexterity, looked on, impressed as Nilsen continued his run, collected his own pass and sent in a low cross, out of the reach of Enfield GK, McDonald, caught flat-footed. The Rocks' #9, skipper Jason Prior then achieved the rare and unexpected feat of stopping his own scuffed effort on goal, almost sitting on the ball inside the Enfield 6-yard box. More defensive dithering by the home side, however, gave Prior the freedom of the Town goal-mouth for a second bite at his own cherry, even whilst he remained sitting on the ground, almost on the Enfield goal-line. He (eventually) put Bognor ahead with his stabbed, follow-up Keystone Cops effort: 0-1; and play-off hopes were receding with the South-Coast tide.

Undaunted, Enfield simply went up the other end and scored two goals of their own, in the space of just three minutes. Firstly, in the 32nd minute, Corey Whitely volleyed a speculative shot, through a crowd of players and beyond the Bognor 'keeper, Grant Smith, after the visitors had failed to properly clear their lines from an Enfield corner. This was quickly followed by the go-ahead goal. An Enfield free-kick was, again, not dealt with. The ball eventually falling to super-skipper, Mark Kirby. It was easier for him to score than miss. Fortunately; and the score-line remained 2-1 up until the end of the half, despite plenty of further action at both ends.

Corey Whitely's shot (he's in the background, peering through the crowd) creeps in at the far post for the first of Enfield's two goals. (Photo: Tom Scott) 

In the second half, Bognor showed why they are strong challengers for the league title. Undaunted by the deficit and mostly unhurried, they sought hard for their equaliser. They looked very well-drilled and organised; happily playing the ball across their back line consistently and probing for Enfield gaps, before launching each of their many attacks. For once, Town sat back a little, prepared to soak up the pressure and let their visitors do most of the work. The Bognor air-horn was now heard somewhat less often. It was attritional stuff and allowed home fans the luxury of some quality time, in which to reflect once again on the maths of the situation. With no other games being played in the Premier League that night, if the score remained unchanged, it would put a dent in Bognor's title and automatic promotion hopes; but it would guarantee no more for Enfield than perhaps a temporary reduction of the points gap to Dulwich. That missed opportunity to dent 10-man Hamlet's hopes, by scoring any one of the many chances Enfield had enjoyed, just a few days earlier, was already starting to look potentially very costly. A win would still, though, put added pressure on them and fellow play-off hopefuls Kingstonian; who, prior to this game, had been one point ahead of Town, with a brace of spare games in-hand. Wise heads in the Enfield crowd happily voiced the opinion that points in the bank were better at this stage of the season than a couple of dodgy birds in the bush. Or something. These impromptu maths and philosophy lessons in the home end, were then interrupted by Billy Crook and Doug Tuck. They enlivened what little remained of the evening with a touch of completely unnecessary 'hand-bags', late on in the game. Both sides took it as the cue for a little 'fracas'.

Enfield's Tyler Campbell (R) is first on the scene to try separating Billy Crook (L) and Doug Tuck as their libertango disintegrates into a gentleman's excuse-me. (Photo: Tom Scott)

To the home fans, it looked a clear, straight red card for the Bognor bruiser, for his well-executed pushing and shoving; and perhaps a yellow one for Crook. An extra man advantage (again!) might have eased any remaining fears amongst Towners fans. After long deliberations with both his assistants, however, the referee "bottled it" and issued a yellow card to each player; when there had clearly been only one belligerent party. Luckily, his latest terrible decision had little effect on the result of the game. As the final minutes ticked by, Enfield were happy to introduce the ball to a new friend, the corner flag; and Bognor forget (if they ever knew) how to seek out a more direct route towards the Enfield goal.

Floodlights AND corner flags. What more could you ask for? Moments later there was an up-ended flag and a tangle of writhing bodies in the foreground.

The game ended in a satisfactory 2-1 Enfield win; meaning that Brad's boys had delivered the first two of those six wins 'on the bounce' he had demanded. They were now the serious form side in the league, with just one defeat in their last 11 fixtures. Town climbed to sixth place, only one point behind Dulwich and just outside the play-off places; albeit having played an extra game. Kingstonian, meanwhile, were two points and one place behind us, with three games in hand. Hmmmm!

To Be Continued ...