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Enfield fixtures and match reports for 1998/1999 November 1998[Friendlies] [Aug] [Sep] [Oct] [Dec] [Jan] [Feb] [Mar] [Apr] [May](Ryman Premier League) 7th November 1998 Slough Town (0) 2 Hammett 51; Deaner 89 This report is dedicated to all those fans who leave games early when their team looks to have lost. Read this and weep. Any fan will tell you that playing a match that features an ex player or a manager adds a little spice to the proceedings. Particularly when there is a little - how shall I write it - history to the departure. So Enfield versus Graham Roberts will always be one to raise the blood pressure of any Enfield supporter who feels there is a little extra to add to the last meeting between the parties. Subsequent meetings with any side featuring GR have been on more times than not, explosive. Four meetings against Yeovil spring to mind, plus this season's adventure at Chesham United have shown Graham delighting in getting the better of his former employers (and their supporters for that matter).With his ever-so public fall out with Yeovil last season after the fax incident, somehow the game today was just a side line to the banter off the pitch. On the pitch, the game was much of a muchness. Save for a Dearer effort that bought a reaction save from Pape, and a Darlington effort that flashed just wide, there was precious little to record in my notebook. The bleak surroundings of Slough's corrugated iron fortress did little but add to the greyness of the game. Slough opened the second half with a rather fortunate first goal. Hammett beat Pape on his near post that surprised both spectators and keeper. Meanwhile, the decisions of referee Melin and his cronies left a lot to be desired. THE most baffling of which involved Darlington being sent off 15 minutes from time after (get this) a foul throw. What did he say? Even sillier was Hardyman getting involved in a discussion with the Enfield supporter who returned the ball to the player a little more lustily than the player had wanted, being at the time involved in milking an injury for all the time he could get. In the last minute of normal time the game looked to be all over as Pape found himself all at sea, allowing Deaner the most deftest of lobs. Roberts appeared pleased, gesticulating in our direction in a manner unbecoming of a manager whose club abbor the very actions he was displaying. With the crowds departing, and the game heading into time added on for time wasting, Steve Terry broke clear of the appealing (and I don't mean they looked nice in their yellow and blue kit) Slough defence to give Wilkerson no chance. Lots of protesting that Terry was offside - and with the whistling from the home end growing louder, a free kick in enemy territory gave Enfield the chance for glory. The ball fell perfectly for Bentley to head home as both Pape (acting as an extra striker for the last five minutes) and a defender lunged at the ball as it crossed the line. Amazing scenes followed! After being on the wrong end of an Aylesbury double ourselves, I can guess what Mr. Roberts was thinking, and what a sweet sight to see the Enfield bench getting just as much mileage from the moment as GR had just seconds earlier. The only difference being that Calder's enthusiasm was not directed at the opposing supporters... (Ryman Premier League) 7th November 1998 Enfield (0) 2 Dunwell 60; Richardson 67  A magnificent comeback by an Enfield side that had gone in at the break two goals behind. Only a questionable decision in the last moments of this exciting encounter denied Enfield a trip to Wrexham in the second round. That may still happen - but the Enfield cup roadshow now moves to Bootham Cresent for the replay on Tuesday week. What was going on with the crowd segregation? I arrived at the ground to find that both sets of fans were using the same turnstiles at the Town End of the ground. Look, I know that York's supporters were a good bunch of lads on the day, but what would have happened if things had got out of hand? Bad memories of Yeovil still remain, and I would have much preferred to see both sets of fans restricted to their respective ends, thank you. That's my only gripe of the day. I have to say that there were no incidents to my knowledge of trouble, and it was to my amusement that the half-time change around was observed at the away end... but not without some degree of bafflement at first from our visitors, who probably were bemused by this quaint lower-league custom. As for the game, it was classic cup football. York City stuck away their two chances whilst Enfield were still looking for the killer touch. Cresswell was the culprit on both occasions, toe-poking the ball past Pape for the first; following up with a similar effort towards the end of the first half. In between these strikes the woodwork was rattled, whilst Enfield's response was an amazing pinball scramble in which the visitors goalmouth was laid under seige in a sixty-second scramble that saw the woodwork struck (twice), a goal line clearance and of all things, a Terry overhead kick (how did he manage that?). It looked as if the dice was not going to roll our way for a change. The turning point came when, from a deep Pape clearance, Dunwell had the time to execute a perfect lob over the advancing Warrington. Cue amazing scenes. Seven minutes later saw a near identical senario, with Richardson this time lifting the ball over the advancing keeper as all us behind the goal held our breath as the ball fell just the right side of the bar for the equaliser. Of course, this dramatically shifted the balance of power towards Enfield, and City looked pleased to still be in the draw for the next round that followed shortly afterwards. Thanks to the programme selling out, York's travelling support snapped up the remaining copies of TGTLS News 25, so if any Yorkies are reading this, comments and suggestions please. (F.A. Trophy Second Round) 21st November 1998 Oxford City (0) 0  With my hands too cold to take pen into hand, here is a summary of the days play. Dull match - very few moments of goalmouth action. The first real shot on goal in anger was actually City's. It took 74 minutes and rattled Pape's crossbar. The last ten minutes of the game saw constant Enfield pressure, the result being a bizzare own-goal via a Richardson cross/shot. All rather forgettable really. Meanwhile Mrs R. (best mate of Graham Roberts) had puffed up a lot of yellow and blue balloons. Despite a small hitch with setting free said balloons at the start of the match, she still found time to come up with an alternative use for two of them, which led to some particularly smutty suggestions from the regulars - best of all Being Phil Mc', who upon turning around asked if he could warm his ears down her fine "cleavage". OO-er missus!!! (F.A.Cup 1st Round Replay) 23rd November 1998 
York City (2) 2 Jordan 18; Cresswell 45 Enfield Football Club added another chapter to their long F.A. Cup tradition with this, a creditable performance against York City. Reduced to ten men for all but seven minutes of the second half, Enfield's performance was such that it drew the deserved appreciative response from the York City supporters who stayed on after the final whistle. Steve Terry tested the butt of an unfortunate City defender in the opening minutes of the game (on the pitch I mean), but otherwise, City had the better of the opening exchanges and possession. The E's defence remained firm, and were wise to the fact that Cresswell was the danger man to keep under tabs. Enfield were cheered on by a large contingent of supporters from North London who had braved the long journey and countless Little Chef restaurants along the A1, and Cresswell was relatively quiet - save for a half chance against Pape that flashed across the face of goal. However... twenty minutes in, Jordan was given the time and space to curl a shot around a lone defender and past the unsighted Pape, who could do nothing to prevent the goal. This was to be but a temporary setback. Dunwell, whose goal at Southbury Road had sparked the comeback and ultimately this replay, then produced a spectacular solo goal that would will long be replayed on the highlights package of many a compilation video. Picking up the ball on the right, he ran across the face of the York defence and then unleashed a 25 yarder that smacked against the crossbar and down and in. We were quite pleased of course *heck* we were overjoyed! Shortly before this fine equaliser there was an unfortunate incident in front of the Enfield fans when Crosswell appeared to feign an injury - or at least milky, milky in order to gain a free kick in an advantageous position. Of course, this did not endear the player to the hearts of us blues, and every remaining touch got the obligatory reaction from one end of the ground at least. Then, in the last minute of the half came what proved to be the winner. The self same opponent made the most of a goalmouth scramble to somehow back heel the ball into the net past Pape, who probably wished he had dived into the middle of a tangle of boots and shins to recover the ball. Annon closed the half by heading off his own line to keep Enfield in the game. Two incidents in the second half summed up our chances of a cup shock. Firstly, Richardson was sent off for a second yellow card. The latter was probably deserved, but what was the first for? There must be an unwritten rule that Enfield must play with ten men in the second half, for I have lost track of the amount of occasions where the team have been at a disadvantage in vital stages of cup games such as these. The second incident came when Terry put his head to a free kick and tested the bar. On moments such as these are games decided... The remaining ten minutes saw increased Enfield pressure, with a number of corners in succession. It was all to no avail though, and City fans showed both their relief, and appreciation of their opponents after Calder and the team came over at the end of the game. Anyway, after four hours sleep in two days that's your lot for this game. Thanks to those York supporters who were writing over the past three weeks... see you in the not too distant future eh? (Ryman Premier League) 28th November 1998 Enfield (2) 4 Bentley 15; Dunwell 26(pen), 79; Richardson 70(pen) As the Enfield fan behind me said: 'when was the last time that a George Borg side got beaten in that fashion?'. And you know, he was right. Aside from a twenty minute spell at the start of the second half and a couple of goalmouth scrambles this Aldershot Town side did little to suggest they are going to make any great impact on the top half of the league at the end of the season. Thankfully, the segregation barriers are now back in place. At last - a dividing fence was there as some kind of barrier against what we were led to believe was going to be an invading army from Hampshire. The reality was that approximately 500 made the journey to London. A lot of difference from the 1,000 expected. I had two contrasting omens for this game beforehand. The first was a dream in which I was saying the words "George" and "Borg" with some reverence to our former manager. The other was that a bird shat on my match day programme on the Aldershot Town pen pics. Freaky! Enfield began well, and looked up for a battle after their two excellent performances against York City. They were committed in their tackling, more so than the Shots, who had only a misplaced Salvation Army drummer to keep their supporters amused with witty Borg chants. It all clicked for Enfield on the quarter hour mark when Dunwell and Cooper combined to set up Bentley, who fired past old favourite Phillips for the first. It went quieter at the Cambridge Road end. Borg sides are not known as quitters, and Pape was tested in a ping-pong moment in Enfield's penalty area before the lines were cleared. Bone the ref is not exactly endeared to the hearts of us Enfield fans. Too many debatable decisions against the blues in the past to mention. After today's game the balance has been restored just a little, as Bone adjudged Penn to have been hauled down for a penalty on 26 minutes by Howard, who was booked for his troubles. Dunwell took responsibility for the spot kick and squeezed the ball (not an easy task!) just past Phillip's bulky frame. Phillips can count himself unlucky not to have kept it out. Town opened strongly in the second half and forced a number of corners at the town end of the ground. Nartey and Pape, along with Annon and a shots substitute, had seperate altercations that Bone decided to ignore. It was only a matter of time before someone was going off. That person happened to be Howard, who was adjudged to have pulled down Richardson in the box and got sent off for a second bookable offence. At least Howard lasted longer against Enfield than he did for Leyton Orient, where he left the club for good at half time in a league match under something of a cloud. Must have objected to making the tea I guess... There were a lot of unhappy voices at this decision as I left the ground, but as I could not see clearly what happened, I could not give an unbiased opinion, so I won't! Richardson duly stepped up to beat Phillips to the other side this time, and it was 3-0 and finished. The rest of the game was one way traffic. Dunwell added his second and a team fourth as Aldershot looked more interested in getting off the pitch, showered and home. Alleyne rolled the ball agonisingly close for a fifth, but the post and a relieved defence denied him. |
