MATCH REPORT
London Lions 5 Enfield Borough 1

On a very cold evening in the Hertfordshire countryside, Enfield Borough were well beaten by London Lions who go to the top of the league table with this result. Had it not been for a fine goalkeeping display from a debutant, the score line could have been far worse as Borough were put to the sword by a team who appeared to be playing well within themselves.

Already weakened by the absence of suspended top scorer Richard Ennin, Borough were hit by a number of late call-offs due to positive Co-vid tests. Along with Ennin, Dragos Stefanoaica, Joe Mendy and Malachi Soile were absent while Rinidie Lokilo dropped to the bench. They were replaced by Gideon Sarpong, Simon Offei, 16 year-old Anish Sharma making his full debut and two newcomers in Walid Hirsi and keeper Tarell Annokie. Annokie, who has not played for quite some time, was soon in action that nearly brought a very swift end to his evening’s work. With around ninety seconds on the clock he came charging out of his area as Daniel Creese ran clear of Borough’s defence and brought down the winger. Possibly due to the offence happening so early in the game, the referee decided that a booking was sufficient but Lions got their revenge as Austin Lipman curled in the free-kick which glanced off the near post on its way into the net. The lead was doubled on fifteen minutes. A corner was played to the edge of the penalty box to Jake Furman who lobbed the ball to the far post where Max Kyte got his head to the ball. Annokie grabbed it but the hosts appealed that it had already crossed the line and after consultation with his assistant, the referee awarded the goal. But just two minutes later Borough were back in the game. Craig Nelson’s shot from the edge of the box was deflected to Darral Wopara who slipped the ball past Josh Samberg in the home goal and despite protests for offside, the goal stood.

Appropriately the hosts were having the “Lion’s” share of possession but were not creating many clear cut chances. Kyte chased down a long ball only to hit the side netting while the visitors had a great opportunity to draw level when Hirsi played in Korede Akande who outpaced his marker but his shot across goal went inches past the far post. In the twenty fourth minute Lipman chased after a pass from the back. The striker got there just before Annokie to toe poke the ball into the net but in his attempt to get there first, Annokie collided with Lipman which caused the home players to ask for the keeper’s dismissal. Fortunately the referee felt a quick word was all that was needed but he did brandish a yellow card when Adam Lipman’s robust challenge took down Wopara. The injury sustained resulted in the midfielder leaving the pitch minutes later and Borough had lost one of their more influential players. As the half wore on, Lions decided to try a little shooting practice and a first time strike from Adam Arnold beat Annokie only to strike the bar and bounce to safety. Arnold and Austin Lipman both had shots from distance which took deflections en-route that a wrong footed Annokie was pleased to see go past the post. The keeper dived bravely at the feet of Kyte before producing a marvellous double save to deny Kyte and Austin Lipman in quick succession just before the interval.

Throughout the first half Sharma had been given a torrid time by the tricky Creese but the youngster stuck valiantly to his task. Early in the second half he decided to stand off his man rather than rush in. Creese took advantage of the space to run past Sharma into the box, but Annokie dived low to his left to save. Offei responded for Borough with a curling shot that would not come down quickly enough but Sharma would have been relieved to see Creese depart just before the hour mark. Sadly his replacement, Felix Shalom, was equally as troublesome and within a minute he got in a shot that Annokie fumbled, the ball hit the post and rebounded into the keeper’s grateful arms. Annokie fared better when Austin Lipman tried to place his shot wide of the keeper, producing a fine save. Enfield introduced fresh legs with Lokilo and Juan Olave replacing Offei and Akande, but the host’s substitute was now the major threat. Shalom drove a centre into the six-yard box with which Kyte made poor contact and Sarpong was able to hook clear but within a minute the same move produced the fourth goal as Arnold scored with a diving header at the far post.

Naaeb Alamyar came on for Kevin Mussunda but the onslaught continued and in the seventy third minute a neat flick by Jake Furman set Kyte free to slot past Annokie. In a rare visit to the other end of the pitch, neat interplay between Nelson and Hirsi ended when the latter shot wide. But it was back to normality as the hosts kept up their bombardment. Oscar Wagner should have hit the target from close range after a corner by Shalom, but he nearly made amends two minutes later when he swivelled and hit a cross from Shalom towards the corner of the net only to see Annokie produce an excellent reaction save to push the ball around the post. Enfield finished the game with just ten men when Alamyar had to leave the pitch with an injury and all the substitutes had been used, but the match had long since been lost.

A difficult evening for “The Panthers” and even with a full strength team it is doubtful whether any points could have been secured from the game. Borough are on the road again this Saturday as they travel to Hillingdon Borough for a league fixture, kick off 3pm.
Team; Annokie, Sharma, Roberts, Hinds-Cadette, Sarpong, Nelson, Akande (Lokilo), Wopara (Adiku), Hirsi, Mussunda (Alamyar), Offei (Olave).

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