Benjrider10

Terrific match last night!! I thought the quality of football played by both teams was a credit to the non-league game. I was encouraged straightaway when I saw we had stuck with the same starting 11. Our back 4 just look “proper”. Really good to see skilful players at left back and right back (old school terminology) and each time I see Youngs and Blackman are starting in midfield, I know that part of the spine is secure. I’ve read a lot about Scott Thomas and saw why last night. Very intelligent player, always seems to know where the ball is going to go. Wins more than his fair share of 50-50’s and, like Blackman, takes the sensible option when passing. No need to showboat or keep trying the type of pass that comes off only 1 in 10 times. Keeps it simple, crisp and on the deck. I commented after the Leatherhead match that if we could take the same grit and determination we showed there, and add the passing game that we saw during the first half at Stortford, we would play well. That is exactly what the team did last night. We dominated the first half and were unlucky to go in a goal down. Pepera slipped at just the wrong moment and the Kingstonian striker took his chance well. It was heart in mouth time because I thought Pepera was going to foul the guy, which would have resulted in a red card and probably a penalty (he looked like he was just inside the box when he shot). Good decision by our defender not to “take one for the team”. Lovely flowing move near the end of the first half ended with a Blackman shot just over the bar. Great delivery by Della Verde for the equaliser early in the second half, bending into the box the type of cross that Bricknell must dream about. He wasn't going to miss and sure enough, buried the header. Bricknell’s close touch and control must be one of the best in the league. I like the way he berates himself if he doesn’t control a ball that mere mortals like me would wave a leg at and groan after missing it completely. Kingstonian had the lion’s share of the possession after the equaliser and played some good/risky stuff but despite keeping the ball, I don’t recall them making many clear cut chances. We looked dangerous on the break and another great delivery from a Della Verde free kick into a packed penalty area 2 minutes from time saw a late winner that will keep home team fans smiling for days. I echo 55 season’s comment re Percy - his run down the line towards the box won the free kick (terrific strength and skill). Loved Weatherstone’s tweet saying he doesn’t claim other players’ goals (then claimed Urquhart’s goal 😆). I was standing at the side and had no idea who scored but having seen the clips on Twitter, it looks like Urquhart got the first header in and was quickest to react to stab the rebound home. Last night’s performance should fill the team with confidence for Corinthian Casuals on Saturday. Let’s keep the momentum and positivity going 👏👏👏

Last night was a strange match. I thought our line-up and formation looked good and we started well, playing the ball around nicely. Stortford seemed one-dimensional to me, long balls and not much else. Difficult to comment on the penalty as I was standing some distance away, but it was far from clear cut. Not sure what it was awarded for, to be honest. Perhaps shirt pulling In the box? Seemed harsh. Anyway, we were still well in the game and I thought if we carried on with the possession based football we were playing, we would equalise. Their second goal stemmed from a poor pass out from the back (which was to become a recurring theme) but heads didn’t go down. We fought back well, Della Varde’s shot wrong-footed their keeper and we were right back in it going into half time. But more poor defending cost us the third goal early in the second half. I still can’t believe we allowed them to score a header direct from a corner. The Stortford front 2 linked together well but had no height advantage. Terrible goal to concede so early and knocked the wind completely out of our sails. The fourth goal stemmed from yet another poor pass out of defence - enough said, it simply wasn’t our night. Fair play to Stortford - they accepted the gifts on offer. Also, well done to their groundsman. Pitch was excellent. We need to be constructive in our criticism here. I didn’t enjoy watching Stortford’s long ball game but you can’t argue with the result. Lessons learned: 1) Jared Small had an excellent game and showed the type of pace, mobility and strength on the ball we have been missing since Faal moved to Bolton 2) I’m all for playing it out from the back. We played some really good stuff last night in patches - clearly, the coaching team have been working on this. But we also need to play to the players’ strengths. Weatherstone, Thomas, Percy and Youngs are comfortable on the ball. Jerry was not. So don’t expose him unnecessarily. His strengths are different. Leave him to defend. Anyway, in time- honoured fashion after a defeat, we move on. We have a strong squad, the strongest for some time. Blackman on the bench says it all. I’m looking for a reaction on Saturday against Kingstonian and hope we play to our strengths.

That’s an excellent start to the season! How lucky we are to have so many people willing to volunteer and help out. A veritable army of stewards 👏. I think the club have done exactly the right thing by setting the attendance at 250 for this first “proper” home fixture, given the 2 pre-season friendlies had to be cancelled. With the various working arrangements now trialled, people can be confident they will be safe when the capacity is increased. I don’t see it as lost revenue at all. On the contrary, it’s a sensible investment. The club would lose far more money if it had to postpone a fixture; fingers crossed that doesn’t happen. With so little live sport around, there should be every chance of getting higher home attendances through the rest of the year. Watching football live is so much better than seeing it on TV, whatever the level. I like the look of this season’s squad - new signings in the positions we needed to strengthen. Can’t wait to get to see them play (all being well, at Bishop’s Stortford away). COYT!!!!!

..... on winning the Division 1 play-off final last night and securing promotion to the Championship! Wonderful achievement for a club that we can relate to, given that they were supporter-owned and run until just a couple of months ago. Shows what can be done. I'm sure some of our "older" supporters (of which I am one) will remember the old Enfield FC playing Wycombe at Loakes Park. The "Beast's" post-match interview is fantastic!!

It's not often a website changes and the changes make it better. In my experience, most "upgrades" are anything but. Not the case here though - I much prefer the new website layout 😀

I don’t think the league had any choice. Though I feel sorry for teams that were dead certs for the title or promotion. Nobody could have predicted this and I doubt that the league’s constitution allowed for anything else. It is perfectly clear that the 2019/2020 season can not be finished - I just hope that 2020/2021 can start afresh on time.

We’re under strict curfew in Riyadh. Nobody outside between 3pm and 6am next day. From next week, will work mornings in office and afternoons from compound. Enjoying watching the ETFC highlights from seasons gone by on YouTube! And still recovering from daily “PE with Joe” sessions .....

Hard to believe just 10 days ago I was driving back from Bishop’s Stortford with son no. 2, thinking we still had an outside chance of a play-off place. Now the UK (and most of the rest of the world) are effectively on shutdown for an undetermined period and I’m stuck in Saudi for god knows how long. Difficult to get your head around, to be frank, and I’m sure most forum readers are as bemused as I am. Probably not of much use but after 6 days of working from “home” in self-isolation, these are some tips that worked (so far) for me: 1) don’t have Sky News on in the background. It’s disheartening. 2) keep your mobile or laptop charged. FaceTime /Skype are life-savers. 3) Pray to the WiFi gods for unbroken service 4) take anything you read on WhatsApp or Facebook with a VERY large pinch of salt (having said that, the Simon Pegg / Nick Frost parody doing the rounds on social media is a cracker!) Can’t help but wonder what the 4 deleted posts said 😝 Stay safe everybody and look after each other! PS: separate thread but don’t care - good statement from the Chairman. Hope to see an update in a couple of weeks’ time.

Correction to third para. from last. The Saudi government is considering instructing ALL private companies to close for two weeks.

Interesting post, AT. Coronavirus chatter got louder and louder during the 2 weeks I was at home. I flew back to Riyadh on Friday (the 13th - gulp) and contrast what is happening at home, with what is happening here in Saudi. The LHR-RUH flight I was on turned out to be the second last, Saudi closing its borders on 14 March. Heathrow terminal 4 was very quiet except for the Saudia check-in desks which were besieged with Saudis heeding their government's advice to return before international flights stopped. All passengers had to complete a self-declaration form, including contact details (and seat number) and hand them over at immigration. I am now in a mandated 14-day self-isolation period and am working from "home". This is compulsory for ALL expatriates returning to KSA from ALL countries. Fortunately I can work from home without too much disruption. All mass gatherings have been stopped. The only shops open are supermarkets. All schools and universities have been closed for the last two weeks, and will remain closed for the foreseeable future. Restaurants/coffee shops are open only for deliveries i.e. no sitting in. All leisure facilities (gyms, pools, salons, barbers etc.) are closed. Hospitals are open (as you would expect) but are starting to fill with people with symptoms. And I am just hearing (not yet confirmed) that the Saudi government has just instructed ALL private companies to close for two weeks. I was pretty cynical while back in Enfield and thought most European governments had over-reacted. Now I am not so sure and am nervous that the UK's response is not sufficient. This virus may spread fast and we need to protect the elderly. It hasn't taken hold in KSA to the extent that is has in the UK, but the difference in measures the respective governments are taking is striking. As for completing this season - I'm more worried about my mum and dad. I echo your closing comment.

Agree with Theo re the first half during which we dominated possession, scored an excellent goal, yet could have gone in 1-2 down at half time! Second half we didn’t play as well but made several clear cut chances which we didn’t put away. Thought Ikoje looked very promising, linking up well with Bricknell - if we had been more clinical with our finishing we should have got that all important second goal to ease any nerves. The shape and balance of the team looked good. The only change I would have made would have been to bring Ken Charles on for Bricknell earlier in the second half. Youngs was my man of the match and Della Verde threatened each time he had the ball going forwards. Muleba had a good game at right back though will regret the unnecessary tackle that gave away the first half penalty. With our goal difference considerably lower than those teams already in the play-off positions, we need a run of wins now. Saturday against Worthing will be a proper test of our credentials.

Disappointing performance last night. The starting 11 looked strong on paper but we never got going. Too many aimless balls out of defence, constantly handing possession to Lewes. On the few occasions when we played the ball out from the back on the ground, we looked threatening but, apart from the first 15 minutes or so, there simply wasn’t enough movement off the ball. Having said that, I thought Ken Charles worked hard (I thought the incident Andy H mentioned in his post was aimed at another player). Billy had an off night. Ryan Blackman has his critics and his recent red cards have been disappointing, but I think our midfield is stronger when he starts. I hope he gets the nod on Saturday. This squad is good enough to compete for the play-offs but we can’t afford many more dropped points like last night. But we’re still in the mix which is no bad thing in early March.

I saw the teamsheet on Twitter before falling asleep (don't misinterpret - purely time difference). On paper, the starting 11 wasn't as strong as against Cray which made waking up to this result all the sweeter! We're so inconsistent I genuinely have no idea how we're going to play these days. It must drive the management team absolutely up the wall. But important we praise the team when they turn in a performance like this. Now for Mr. Leese to bottle up whatever magic was sprayed around the dressing room last night, seal and re-spray this Saturday for the Hornchrch away game. Good luck!!!!!!!

Woohoo!!