Pursestrings Held By Enfield As Highgate Fail To Trouble Honoured Guests
Highgate United 0-3 Enfield Town
In truth Highgate were beaten by a slicker, more physical and generally more compact team which really should have won more comfortably. Tough defence by ‘Gate’s Richard Bryan and Scott Turner kept Town at bay on occasions but some of the guests’ shooting and final passing were also wayward when it mattered. A three-goal salvo involving the lively Enfield forwards Roberts and Gabriel wrecked ‘Gate’s combative start and being behind by that scoreline at the interval, it was always going to be a tough job to make inroads into the visiting defence, typically well marshalled by the presence that is ex-Bluenose Darren Purse. The Town goalkeeper Joe Wright was also influential and he caught three crosses superbly during the match, leaping high in traffic like a salmon springing upriver in Scotland, although to be fair he wasn’t tested enough by United’s shots on target.
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| GUESS WHICH GOALIE WAS TALLER... |
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| THE 'GATE SEEM RARING TO GO... |
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"I SCORED WITH SUCH A POWERFUL HEADER AND I KEPT ALAN SHEARER QUIET..."
"YEAH, BOSS, YOU'VE TOLD US 46 TIMES SINCE YOU TOOK OVER..." |
Purse was given far too much time on the ball as he orchestrated the rhythm for Town from the back and it was only when a weak back-header by Purse before the break worried his ‘keeper and then when home substitute Dale Edwards dared snap at his heels later in the game, did the Enfield manager look ill at ease at all. His midfielders were ebullient throughout and it was interesting that ‘Gateman Josh Hawker really struggled to get a grip for the hosts, something he generally finds no difficulty in doing. Trev Edwards, apparently having been ill all week and thus shed weight in the process lasted until the break for ‘Gate but his strong start as a defensive midfielder was suddenly interrupted by his handling of a Town cross and thus conceding a penalty, then subsequently losing possession a couple of times. He did not reappear after half-time and one would imagine he had returned home to snuggle up with a water bottle and wrap his hands around a hot drink, wrapped inside a blanket. He did say though that to play in this game was important to him, so credit for that…
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| GUESS WHICH SKIPPER WAS TALLER... |
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| SILENCE 1... |
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| SILENCE 2... |
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| NOT WISHING TO BE NOTICED, ENFIELD'S GOALKEEPING COACH WEARS SOMETHING DOWDY BUT HIS WORK WITH JOE WRIGHT CERTAINLY LED TO THREE SUPERB CATCHES BY THE GLOVEMAN... |
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| ASH PULISCIANO HAS SUCH A BIG BAG OF BALLS... |
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| JAMES WILCOCK PRETENDS NOT TO NOTICE THAT HIS MANAGER IS HAVING TO CARRY STUFF... |
Enfield’s Kreshnic Krasniqi was robust, the number 6, a triallist, was useful with a decent left foot and striker Gabriel, smiling like an angel, was an awkward customer all afternoon for the home defence to cope with but Roberts looked to be a smart finisher, netting a brace to Gabriel’s single strike in this emphatic victory on the road.
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| TREV EDWARDS: WEIGHT LOST AND UNWELL... |
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| FLAGGING UP ENFIELD... |
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| DARREN PURSE ATTEMPTS TO DECIDE WHETHER HAVING PLAYED FOR BIRMINGHAM CITY IS SOMETHING WORTH BEING PROUD ABOUT... |
A minute’s silence was impeccably observed and I admire Darren Purse’s resolve to bring his team north to honour the former United centre-half Tony Allden’s memory, following his tragic death from a lightning strike on The Coppice pitch during an Amateur cup-tie against Enfield FC, the eventual winers of the competition at Wembley fifty years ago.
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| NOTE THE MOVEMENT HERE... |
The best action came during the opening half, when both teams attempted to be fully offensive but after the interval, substitutions, some niggling attitudes and Enfield’s lack of need to go hell for leather, meant a quieter 45 minutes. A sighter by Isaac Jagroop from 25 yards was one of the tall forward’s only two real first-half goal attempts for ‘Gate, who were missing strikers Marco Adaggio, Ricardo Richards and Lei Brown, as well as creative midfielder George Curry. Skipper Aaron Brown’s 27 yard free-kick wasn’t too far over the Town crossbar, before a one-two move by Connor Mooney and Aaron Farrell led to Wright diving right to catch Mooney’s 19 yarder athletically and the only other two ‘Gate attacks of note in that half involved Purse’s defending.
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| JOSH 'MAGWITCH' HAWKER, LEFT: FOUND GETTING INTO THE GAME UNUSUALLY TOUGH... |
First he did well to rise like an angry elk and head away a Jagroop effort on the turn from 12 yards, after a good run at inside-left by Aaron Farrell then the ex-Birmingham City player back-headed the ball towards Wright, only for Mooney to spot his chance and cause the ‘keeper a problem. There was a messy physical coming together of the pair and Mooney fell to the mown turf claiming a penalty but it seemed that a corner was a fairer decision by the officials.
Enfield in contrast had asked a number of questions with the number 6 on the left well involved and Steve Wales making runs on the right byeline (or should that be the coastline with a name like Wales)… Danny Rumens had blasted an early effort way too high before home goalie Brad Hayward caught a drive by Roberts and then following a timely clearance by Trev Edwards, Rumens’ next delivery allowed Gabriel in on the right side of the 18 yard box but he was flagged offside, even though Hayward had parried his angled shot well anyway. The game changed when a long cross following a short corner by 6 was challenged for beyond the far post by Trev Edwards and Roberts but the ball bounced off Edwards’ arm to concede a penalty which Roberts placed into the bottom left corner of the net, whilst Hayward dived the other way.
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| TREV EDWARDS LOOKS DECIDEDLY UNIMPRESSED WITH THE PENALTY DECISION... |
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| 0-1... |
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| GUESS WHO'S TALLER, ROBERTS OR THOMAS... |
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| ROBERTS, LEFT, WAS THE GOALSCORER... |
A loose Trev Edwards moment allowed the guests to move the ball quickly forward again and Gabriel’s low 18 yard shot might have deflected slightly off the increasingly unfortunate Edwards as well as the ‘keeper’s right glove as it entered the goal just inside the left upright. 0-2 and in truth, ‘Gate looked shattered by the second goal. Gabriel’s next effort deflected to Hayward off Turner, a Roberts effort looped off Turner’s lunge and bounced against the crossbar following a good Enfield move and then the third Town goal effectively killed the encounter.
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| WRIGHT: GOOD HANDS... |
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| THE ANGEL GABRIEL APPEARED & HIGHGATE FEARED... |
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| ...BUT HE MADE IT 0-2... |
The ball was swung from right to left and there was Roberts to lash a close range power shot into the roof of the net at the far upright.
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| 0-3: ROBERTS AGAIN... |
A near post right-side cross by 6 to the near post was flicked by Gabriel but again Turner blocked the effort in desperation and the ensuing corner was taken short again by Town, 6 using John Kyriacou but the triallist’s shot rose too high from 19 yards after cutting inside. The break arrived, some folks took the long walk to the bar or tea hatch, others walked from behind one goal to the other and James Wilcock, like Trev Edwards an ex-Montpellier player (the Studley based team in Midland League 2) had replaced the poorly ‘Gate midfielder.
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| 'GATE 'KEEPER BRAD HAYWARD TOOK THE ENFIELD FANS' STICK WELL... |
Despite the effort displayed by both teams, little in the way of goalmouth action occurred in fairness, for after Wales drove way too high for the visitors, replacement Harley Haag repeated the dose, before curling a decent effort wide of the right upright. A quick free-kick led to Roberts’ replacement Sam Youngs driving too high from 25 yards but he did clip a neat chip into the Highgate net off a post after the referee had blown his whistle on one occasion. United’s Aaron Brown could get no power behind a 5 yard shot following a corner by right-back Scott Rickards and the ball struck Wright, only for Brown to slice the rebound which didn’t even cross the byeline. Farrell’s shot struck Purse’s considerable form, Reece Stator who looked purposeful in the home midfield, shot wide of the left post, following a neat pass by Nathan Pulisciano and a Dale Edwards effort was also blocked late on but essentially the above were the only moments of mild interest in the disappointing second period.
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| JUMP AROUND... |
At least Dale Edwards ran at the visiting defence and the Stator looked comfortable on the ball for ‘Gate but the guests certainly missed the replaced Gabriel and Roberts as the game wore on. Krasniqi though was fully focussed for the entire match, Jack Higgs had foraged in midfield and Purse was like a worn anchor at the back, well supported by left-back Rumens in particular. Skipper Simon Thomas, a tall central striker was unable to threaten for the visitors but I guess credit should go to ‘Gatemen Turner and Bryan for that. Hard challenges went in from Pulisciano too, along with Rickards.
Rickards’ back foot was raised for his first few long throws and I mentioned to him that the nearby linesman was taking a look, so I did help someone on the pitch, although watching Darren Purse reminiscing before the game about a header he’d scored with and the fact that he’d kept Alan Shearer quiet, led me to comment, “Did you clamp your hands round his mouth?”
SQUADS:
HIGHGATE UNITED:
BRAD HAYWARD, SCOTT RICKARDS, NATHAN PULISCIANO, RICHARD BRYAN, SCOTT TURNER, TREV EDWARDS, JOSH HAWKER, AARON BROWN (CAPT), ISAAC JAGROOP, AARON FARRELL, CONNOR MOONEY.
REECE STATOR, JAMES WILCOCK, DALE EDWARDS, KARL KING.
ENFIELD TOWN:
JOE WRIGHT, JOHN KYRIACOU, DANNY RUMENS, JACK HIGGS, DARREN PURSE, (6, A TRIALLIST), STEVE WALES, KRESHNIC KRASNIQI, SIMON THOMAS (CAPT), DREW ROBERTS, RALSTON GABRIEL.
GEORGE BEATTIE, SAM YOUNGS, HARLEY HAAG.
