Hackney Wick 1 v 1 Enfield Borough

MATCH REPORT
Hackney Wick 1 Enfield Borough 1

Enfield Borough opened their first Thurlow Nunn Division One South campaign with a 1-1 draw against Hackney Wick on Saturday. Whilst it was only the first game of the season, both clubs will be aware that they will have to play considerably better in the coming weeks if they wish to be in the shake up for promotion next April.

Borough gave full debuts to three players, Joseph Parker, Ikromjon Kamoliddinov and Adam Al-Afsii, while both Brian Tshibangu and Waiel Hassan returned to the club after three and four year absences respectively. The opening twenty minutes were largely devoid of incident on a dry and bobbly pitch that made good football difficult for both teams. But what goalmouth action there was took place at Enfield’s end of the ground. Parker had an early chance to impress in goal when he was quickly off his line to foil Jermaine Lachoo who had seized upon an underhit back pass from Gideon Sarpong. But he was a relieved man when he misjudged the flight of a free kick, the ball brushing his fingertips and flying just the right side of the post. Nathaniel Thomas Simms lobbed a flick on from a throw-in harmlessly over the bar before Parker carelessly gave away possession from the resulting goal kick and was forced into an acrobatic tip over to deny Lachoo.

Enfield eventually managed to threaten the Hackney goal and Rinidie Lokilo hit the deck after a challenge in the penalty box, however the referee was not interested in awarding a spot kick. Soon after Gerogi Steed put in a cross to the far post but a diving Darius Ogodon was unable to get his header on target. Tshibangu made good use of his experience as he was outpaced by Lachoo but his challenge was just sufficient to put the Hackney player off balance and his shot was easily gathered by Parker. Parker produced another sharp save to keep out a shot on the turn by Alex Coster, but six minutes before the interval the hosts broke the deadlock in fortunate circumstances. Kenneth Adanyah’s long range shot appeared to be well covered by Parker until it struck the head of Tshibangu and diverted into the opposite corner of the net with the keeper stranded.

The second period opened quietly with little evidence that Enfield were threatening to get back on level terms. Indeed, they nearly slipped even further behind when Hackney broke upfield rapidly from an Enfield free-kick. Borough’s defence was outnumbered 3-to-1, but newly appointed captain Darral Wopara showed his leadership qualities by producing a lung-busting recovery run and getting in a last ditch tackle just as Said Ali was about to shoot for goal. On fifty eight minutes Enfield scored the equaliser from a quickly taken free-kick that caught Hackney off guard. Al-Afsii spotted Steed in space and clipped the ball over the home defence for Steed to run onto and calmly dispatch past former Enfield Borough keeper Jonti Purdom.

Borough introduced a couple of substitutes who were making their first appearances for the club as Jonas Borges and Kalan Rock replaced Ogodon and Tshibangu respectively. During the final half hour, both sides had chances to win the match, yet neither was able to convert one. Lokilo and Steed combined with a neat one-two which sent the former clear but Lokilo was unable to place his shot wide of Purdom whilst Borges showed pace and power with a run from the right wing into the penalty box, but he delayed his shot and Purdom was able to smother the danger. Meanwhile Parker dealt with Matthew George’s effort from distance while Malachi Soile’s well-judged tackle defused the danger after possession had been lost just outside the Borough penalty area.

Manager Anthony McNamee was frustrated with the outcome. “I know these players are capable of much better than they showed today. I would rate our performance as no better than 2 out of 10. There are a lot of disappointed lads in the dressing room and I have told them that in order to achieve what we want this season, they need to be as committed to attending training sessions as they are on matchdays and that there are no short cuts to being successful.”

Team; Parker, Kamoliddinov, Sarpong, Al-Asfii, Tshibangu (Rock), Soile, Hassan, Wopara, Lokilo, Steed, Ogodon (Borges)