MATCH REPORT
Bedfont & Feltham 1 Enfield Borough 2

In complete contrast to last Saturday’s goal-fest against Bagshot, Enfield Borough won a closely fought contest at Bedfont & Feltham on Tuesday evening. Their standings in the league table suggested that there was little to choose between the teams before kick-off and this proved to be the case after 90 minutes of football.

Very rarely do Enfield Borough name an unchanged line-up, but this was one such occasion. The opening section of the match was more like a game of chess than a football match as both teams checked the opposition out, looking for weaknesses and there was very little in terms of goalmouth action to report. Borough had a great chance to take the lead in the nineteenth minute when Gideon Sarpong’s ball forward was flicked by Craig Nelson into the path of Richard Ennin, but with only the goalkeeper to beat, Ennin dragged his shot wide. Ennin then set up Issac Stevens but the winger delayed his shot and the threat was averted. The hosts had the ball in the net shortly after when Nathan Smith got his head to a free-kick at the far post, but his joy was short-lived as the assistant referee had his flag raised for offside.

Enfield nearly suffered a self-inflicted setback when Gavin Hinds-Cadette passed the ball back to Finn Rushton only for it to roll past the keeper and head towards the open goal. Rushton was able to regain his ground and stop the ball on the goaline to defuse the danger. After Micah Jackson’s spectacular free-kicks on Saturday, it was the turn of Nelson to try his luck from the edge of the box, but his delivery was just above Sam Bersey’s head and the keeper was able to tip the ball over the bar with ease. It seemed as if the half would end goalless, but in the dying seconds Michael Capon made use of full space on the right wing and crossed in the goalmouth where Anthony Oakes fired home from close range.
The early stages of the second half replicated those of the first with little in terms of goalmouth action. Borough nearly fell victim to the kind of quick counter attack that they usually inflict on others and Capon’s shot drew a scrambling save from Rushton. Micah Jackson’s second attempt from a free-kick was deflected wide by Remarrio Francis but Borough were struggling in attack where Ennin appeared increasingly isolated. The game swung on a substitution on the hour mark with the introduction of Rinidie Lokilo in place of Stevens. The big striker immediately assumed the target man role and inside five minutes Borough were level. A clearance was well controlled by Lokilo and passed out to Offei on the right who cut inside and fired a low shot past Bersey. Lokilo also had a hand in the equaliser six minutes later as he passed to Ennin inside the penalty box. Ennin’s shot was blocked but the rebound fell to Jackson who managed to squeeze the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

Borough have previously had problems in game management situations like this and it appeared as if these had yet to be rectified as a lapse allowed Nathan Mampono to run right through the Enfield back line, but his shot was straight at Rushton who managed to parry the ball to safety. Luke Bersey’s cross cum shot was just too far in front of Capon for him to make contact and in the fifth minute of added time Capon went to ground when he collided with Rushton as he chased a through ball, but the referee waved away claims for a penalty. A bewildering seven minutes of added time was played in the second half before the referee finally blew his whistle to the relief of the Enfield Borough followers. The victory inflicted a first home defeat on Bedfont since the opening day of the season whilst Borough’s third away win in succession takes them to the lofty heights of sixth place in the league table and they will be hoping to maintain their good form when they entertain Woodley United at the Maurice Rebak Stadium on Saturday.

Team; Rushton, Mbaza, Sarpong, Wopara, Hinds-Cadette, Nelson, Offei (Mussanda), Adiku, Ennin, Jackson (Wane), Stevens (Lokilo)

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