Match Report

MATCH REPORT
Enfield Borough 1 Milton Keynes Irish 6

It is not only in politics that a week is a long time. A mere seven days after gaining the biggest victory in their history, Enfield Borough suffered their largest ever home defeat at the hands of Milton Keynes Irish on Saturday. While injuries sustained during the match hampered their efforts and exaggerated the winning margin, Borough were clearly second best for the vast majority of the game.

After the ten goal victory over Hillingdon Borough, Enfield introduced Ayuub Ali and Matty Newman in place of Jean-Paul Antwi and Micah Jackson. As early as the first minute Irish lofted a free kick into the Borough penalty box which just evaded Scott Dummett at the far post. The pressure was maintained by the visitors and Gideon Sarpong managed to defuse the initial danger from a corner but the ball found its way to Robert MacDonald whose curling shot was pushed round the post by Dragos Stefanoaica. Dawid Nikolaj was booked for the hosts but his next contribution saw him reach a ball destined for MacDonald and put it safely behind for a corner. But from the resulting set-piece the visitors took the lead. A near post corner was flicked on by George Shrieves. Stefanoaica produced a fine reaction save, but the ball ran loose for Dummett to poke into the net from close range. Sarpong came to the rescue again when he produced a great recovery tackle on MacDonald which if mistimed would have resulted in a penalty and a red card. Just after the half hour Irish doubled their lead from a free kick on the edge of the box. Shrieves curled the ball around the wall and beyond the despairing grasp of Stefanoaica.

Despite the scoreline, it had been a fairly even match contested mainly in the middle of the park but unlike the visitors, Borough had offered nothing in attack. Their sole chance had come from a long range shot by Alassana Queta that was straight at the goalkeeper. But within two minutes of conceding, Borough got a lifeline back into the game. The ball was worked along the eighteen yard line by Bruno Tavares and Matty Newman to Queta whose shot rolled past the motionless Owusu Kyeremateng. Tavares tried his luck from distance when others were better placed but Enfield were starting to gain the upper hand as the half drew to a close. With the strong wind and driving rain at their back in the second half, they would have hoped to take advantage of these favourable conditions.

These aspirations were soon quashed as Milton Keynes started after the break in lively fashion. In the opening minute Nikolaj struggled with an awkward bouncing ball which MacDonald crossed to Mason Spence who wasted a great chance by blazing over the bar from six yards. But Nikolaj redeemed himself with a great challenge that prevented a certain goal for Jack Clarkson. Frank Chandler, who had been struggling with injury for most of the first period, had to be replaced by Antwi with Ali moving across to central defence. Irish had claims for a penalty turned down when Shrieves went down under a challenge by Sarpong and from the resulting corner Liam Smyth’s glancing header went narrowly wide. Eventually the pressure told in the fiftieth minute when Sarpong momentarily lost concentration dealing with a hopeful ball into the middle and Spence seized on the chance to turn and curl his shot beyond Stefanoaica. Ali now suffered an injury that necessitated his withdrawal with Gavin Hinds-Cadette coming on and Nikolaj moving across to partner Sarpong in the third different centre back pairing inside fifteen minutes. Brodie Couzins was introduced shortly after in place of Newman, but the revamped defence was creaking under the strain.

Smyth struck the post when he was left unmarked at a corner but on sixty five minutes the whole Borough defence were drawn towards the ball like a magnet and Smyth chipped it across to the unmarked Shrieves who slipped it past Stefanoaica as the keeper closed him down. It took only another minute for Shrieves to complete his hat-trick as Nikolaj carelessly gave away possession and after playing a one-two with Spence, Shrieves slotted home again. Tavares had a rare shot for the hosts that Kyeremateng dealt with before Irish notched their third goal in six minutes. A long ball from defence released Spence, Stefanoaica raced from his area to intercept but was beaten to the ball by the striker who headed for goal. Sarpong tried to get back to cover but Spence’s shot went between the defender’s legs and into the empty net. Borough’s best chance of the half came when Tavares glanced Carlito Montana’s corner goalwards only to see a defender clear his header off the line. Enfield’s day was summed up when Montana showed great skill to beat his marker only for his shot to finish outside the ground.

Joint manager Mani Asare was angry after the match. “We had Milton Keynes watched and told the players who the danger men were and how we wanted them to be dealt with, but the instructions were completely ignored. In hindsight we possibly should have started with some different players, but there is no reason why this team could not have won the match if they had followed what Shaun (Reece) and I had set out for them. The injuries during the match certainly did not help and we now have potential selection issues for our match in midweek”

Borough are back in action on Tuesday evening when they visit Rayners Lane, kick off 7.30 pm.
Team; Stefanoaica, Nikolaj, Ali (Hinds-Cadette), Ombasii, Chandler (Antwi), Sarpong, Montana, Queta, Tavares, Newman (Couzins), Tshibikubla.