Enfield v Hornchurch Play Off Semi

[Raingod]

So the big day is almost upon us and I'm really excited ... brings back memories of Dulwich in 2017 but also the heroics v Grays in 2012 - 10 years ago!

I am feeling confident, predicting 2-0 to the Town ... and a Cheshunt upset meaning we face them at home in the final ..

[The Crowing Cockerel]

THIS kind of occasion is precisely the reason we formed ETFC in June 2001. Our little club has come a long way since that dusty, roped-off pitch in Brimsdown. The thought of a play-off semi-final for a spot in The National League taking place IN ENFIELD with around 2,000 fans in attendance was completely and utterly beyond my wildest dreams 21 years ago, and yet here we are.

Very proud of the people who had the courage and passion to put this club together.

Delighted for the players and management who have had an incredible season - the best in the history of the club.

No reason we can't go all the way! Come on Town!!!

[Benjrider10]

Good luck to all involved with ETFC for the play-off semi-final against Hornchurch tonight!! Really hope we make it through to the final …..

[littlehampton]

 

My bag is packed, my hotel is booked, and I will shortly be leaving the south coast for my 100-mile drive to the QE2 Stadium, to support The Town in tonight's play-off semi-final.

This is a massive occasion. we have had a brilliant season, chalked up some great results, and now we have the chance to cap it all with a place in the place in the play-off final, and promotion.

Andy Leese, his football management team, and players, have done fantastically well to get us to this stage, and tonight we face opponent's who we have already played and beaten twice this season.

We have home advantage, and we will be playing in front of our biggest crowd of the season. Home support will be electric and will have a great influence on the outcome. Our support against Bognor last Saturday was amazing. Well done guys !  Let's have more of the same tonight, and really raise the roof in support of our players, who will be giving their all to deliver the result we all want.

Good luck tonight everyone, see you there.  Let's hear it for our guys.  ' COME ON THE TOWN '
 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

15 hours ago, The Crowing Cockerel said:

around 2,000 fans in attendance

Over 1,000 tickets sold already. The place is going to be bouncing!!

[Tom S]

Frustratingly I won't be there. To misquote from Airplane "I chose the wrong week to contract Covid". At least there's no danger of my dropping and smashing the camera before kick-off like I did at Dulwich.

[seemgee]

Right here we go....

McDonald, Muleba, Kirwan, Cass, Bray, Gyebi, Kiangebeni, Maja, Cunnington, Faal, Youngs

Joseph, Taaffe, Connolly, Della-Verde, Sayoud

 

everything crossed, lucky underpants etc. Good luck Town

[seemgee]

1-0 Gyebi 39 mins

[seemgee]

HT Town lead 1-0

it is 1-1 in the other semi

[seemgee]

1-1 55 mins

[seemgee]

2-1 Faal 56 mins

[seemgee]

2-2 87 mins

[seemgee]

Nooooooo   2-3 90 mins

[seemgee]

Town down to 10 men Maja red card deep into injury time.

Cheshunt have won 3-2

[seemgee]

Thats it FT 2-3

att 1948

[4wembleyfinals]

Great crowd. But utter disappointment in conceding 2 goals against in 3minutes. What went wrong???

Too early for recriminations but I hope we will start planning for next season straight away so as to keep the momentum going.

Finally congratulations to Cheshunt who I now fancy will do it again on Monday. 

[Theodopolous]

The atmosphere made up for a poor game on a dreadful pitch … any football was impossible…. Joke defending was our downfall as it has been on numerous occasions… of course players are responsible for their performances but again I ask what was Nathan doing… this was happening in front of him in front of goal as a senior player he has to be more vocal … losing was bad but missing out on a promotion playoff with Cheshunt is pretty sick…. Missing out on promotion isn’t the end of the world… travelling longer distances with the probable relegation battle is not that appealing as Cheshunt or Hornchurch will find out… when we are ready it will happen…..

[Rebel without a clue]

Disappointing that we couldn’t see out the last few minutes we started to sit deep after we went 2-1 in front the defence was quite solid for most of the game,it wasn’t the most attractive of games again we were guilty of playing too much hoof ball, the referee didn’t cover himself in glory tonight he made many strange calls throughout the game, good luck to cheshunt in the final Hornchurch are not the best of teams. 

[andyetfc]

On 26/04/2022 at 22:44, The Crowing Cockerel said:

THIS kind of occasion is precisely the reason we formed ETFC in June 2001. Our little club has come a long way since that dusty, roped-off pitch in Brimsdown. The thought of a play-off semi-final for a spot in The National League taking place IN ENFIELD with around 2,000 fans in attendance was completely and utterly beyond my wildest dreams 21 years ago, and yet here we are.

Very proud of the people who had the courage and passion to put this club together.

Delighted for the players and management who have had an incredible season - the best in the history of the club.

No reason we can't go all the way! Come on Town!!!

Post and rail around the dusty pitch with the orange fencing put up and taken down every game before the fencing and stands went up. Never a rope.

[Sweetnicker]

1 hour ago, Theodopolous said:

The atmosphere made up for a poor game on a dreadful pitch … any football was impossible…. Joke defending was our downfall as it has been on numerous occasions… of course players are responsible for their performances but again I ask what was Nathan doing… this was happening in front of him in front of goal as a senior player he has to be more vocal … losing was bad but missing out on a promotion playoff with Cheshunt is pretty sick…. Missing out on promotion isn’t the end of the world… travelling longer distances with the probable relegation battle is not that appealing as Cheshunt or Hornchurch will find out… when we are ready it will happen…..

Here you go again Theo how about giving us a bit of praise for beating the team with the best home record in the league. Whoever wins out of us the Hornchurch i'm pretty sure both sides will be ready for the challenge, you however will have to wait and you would love to have the opportunity, admit it you are gutted.

[Sweetnicker]

2 hours ago, 4wembleyfinals said:

Great crowd. But utter disappointment in conceding 2 goals against in 3minutes. What went wrong???

Too early for recriminations but I hope we will start planning for next season straight away so as to keep the momentum going.

Finally congratulations to Cheshunt who I now fancy will do it again on Monday. 

Thank you much appreciated  and it will be a tough game

[dwhe]

4 hours ago, Sweetnicker said:

Here you go again Theo how about giving us a bit of praise for beating the team with the best home record in the league. Whoever wins out of us the Hornchurch i'm pretty sure both sides will be ready for the challenge, you however will have to wait and you would love to have the opportunity, admit it you are gutted.

 How about going to your own forum to gloat .... oppps sorry I forgot you cant.

[Albury_Walker]

2 hours ago, dwhe said:

 How about going to your own forum to gloat .... oppps sorry I forgot you cant.

Nobody is gloating matey. The job still isn't done yet . Bad luck Townies that must of been gutting to have it snatched away at the death like that. To be honest I was looking forward to a final against you lot . Hornchurch are a team that blows hot and cold and are a bit like us in that respect but still a tough nut to crack . I'm sure you'll be there abouts next season .  

[Theodopolous]

7 hours ago, Sweetnicker said:

Here you go again Theo how about giving us a bit of praise for beating the team with the best home record in the league. Whoever wins out of us the Hornchurch i'm pretty sure both sides will be ready for the challenge, you however will have to wait and you would love to have the opportunity, admit it you are gutted.

Amazing results you have had…. Gutted to miss out Monday but certainly not gutted to miss out on promotion… it’s all about big fish small ponds or small fish big pond … even our amazing support would drain if we we were losing regular…. the challenge will be exciting but that will soon wear off ….

[The Crowing Cockerel]

Bitterly disappointed as luck dictates that these opportunities only come round every few years. That being said, whilst Town could've snatched it, the team with the better players won. I would venture to say that Hornchurch's budget is significantly larger than Town's, and it shows when you can bring on the likes of Sam Higgins - and don't seem to miss the incredibly unfortunate loss of Tom Wraight. Hornchurch's 2nd and 3rd goals were really very good. I fancy that both Hornchurch and Cheshunt have enough in the way of finances (at present) to be mid-table National League South sides - Hornchurch's squad is certainly good enough on paper already. At this point in time I would worry about Town struggling on the pitch in Step 2. With attendances up this year and 2,000 people attending the Play-off Semi, things do seem to be on the up for Town. Some consolidation, astute signings and a Cup Run to swell the coffers, and we might just be ready for the National League.

As I said at the beginning, there was a large slice of luck which saw us through to the play-offs, and it will be no mean feat to get there again next season. I fancy the likes of Bishops Stortford, Lewes, Folkestone, Horsham, Kingstonian, Cheshunt/Hornchurch will be very strong once again. Plus there will - and need to - be changes made to the Town squad. Will Mo stay? If not, where are his 30-40 goals coming from? Can we hold on to Jake Cass? Can we find a decent couple of centre-halves? (Gyebi and Bray worked hard, but the latter was at fault for the Hornchurch opener, and there were some dicey moments which demonstrated why we've conceded so many this season).

Now we have a chance to reset, I would much rather Town didn't continue with the hoof-ball tactics next season (except when absolutely necessary). 

Time for a breather before we go again!!!

Up the Town!