Town 0 Hendon 1

[Pavagrotti]

It was good to see a crowd of 174 at this preseason friendly.

 

Lots of promise up front from Panayiotou, Jason Nash and Raphael Mwafyuma. Even Fenn getting up for a header!

 

David Allen appears to be exploring the possibilities of taking on the Clarkee role. Not quite the clarkee swagger but I liked some of his moves.

 

Lots of reasons to be cheerful, but not a Hendon team as good as good as the one we faced in the MSC final. Based on today I see a mid-table Hendon finish. Town will be competing and giving other ESL teams headaches!

[lovely stuff]

A strong defencive display....Fenn's best game so far.

 

Where's Brotherton,Everitt,G.hall....are they still with us???

 

Ground wise, It's nice to see that there will be some sort of structure behind the goal....I heard it will be a small 'covered terrece'???

 

Pitch-wise ,apart from the gaolmouths, the pitch dosn't seem to have improved since last season.

 

 

[Lee_R]

I agree that it was an impressive defensive display. The midfield was also strong, but I was a little dissapointed we didn't have more shots on goal. We held them in the first half, and it was only an excellent goal that seperated the two teams. By the way, what was the Hendon player's celebration about? He seemed to be aiming something at the Enfield Town bench, as he ran half the pitch to celebrate in front of them.

 

All in all, we should be extremeley strong when the league campaign starts, and some teams will be in for an absolute thrashing (with no disrespect intended).

 

The ground is coming along very nicely, and I can't wait for the 150 seater stand to be built. As soon as the fencing is completed, the pitch will improve dramatically as all the kids etc that use the pitch won't be able to get on it anymore.

 

Roll on Cheshunt.

[Ginger]

Quote:

lovely stuff said:

Where's Brotherton,Everitt,G.hall....are they still with us???

Pitch-wise ,apart from the gaolmouths, the pitch dosn't seem to have improved since last season.

Several players are on holiday, JR for one. Not sure where the others were but as far as I know they are still with us.

The pitch could do with a good watering. Other than that I think it should survive a bit better this season as there are fewer teams using it.

[Rodders]

Quote:

LR said:

All in all, we should be extremeley strong when the league campaign starts, and some teams will be in for an absolute thrashing (with no disrespect intended).

I agree LR that we looked reasonably good in Defence and Midfield.
I think that can only be strengthened with the returns of Rids, Brad Brotherton and Grahame Big Ginger Geordie Hall.
I am still concerned about where our goals are going to come from.

We gave a good account of ourselves against a pretty good Ryman side which was not too far short of their 1st team (or so I am led to believe)
Well Done town boys

I think we are going to find winning the ESL again even tougher as there a number of teams who have been splashing a bit of cash about and building new teams, Ilford and Basildon to name but two.

Lets not forget Concord Rangers who are a fine side and always give us problems. There are plenty of teams who are up for taking the title this time.

I know we can't judge too much by the friendly results thus far.

I realise this may sound a bit pesimistic but I do believe we are going to be a strong side in the ESL, also due to the departures we have had and new faces coming in, other teams will maybe not be as wise to us as perhaps they were last season.(I hope)

But I cant help being a little concerned that we have lost some good players and some valuable expirience in the side, and that is in no means meant to disrespect or offend any of the players who remain and the new boys coming in.

All the above is purely my opinion of course and we will just have to wait and see what happens when the Season kicks off.

Heart says we will win ESL with no problem
Head says we can do it but it will be a very tough fight with many other teams improving and all wanting to take the title from us.

Roll on the New ESL season.

[Normans Wisdom]

Bradley Brotherton is with the England boys in Portugal. Graeme was at training on Thursday.

 

Pitch-wise the pitch is 50% better than before. It has been weeded and new grass seed grown. Okay not a patch on Bishops Stortford I grant you but still starting to look and feel better.

 

Teams in contention at the end of season - us, Concord Rangers, Basildon, Sawbo (dark horses) & Ilford. I reckon we will make it tough for ourselves if we don't sort out and settle in the strikers.

 

[Bananabob]

Morning all........

First of all......Well done to the lads....not just for narrowly losing but for being able to compete in that heat...!

Couldn't agree more with the striker situation.....

Who am I to say but why doesn't he start with the big greek fella "Pani" up front...rather than introducing him at half time....?

In my opinion Peter U'Tos, Kevin Riley, Dave Allen are all pretty similiar...whilst Pani offers something more physical....

 

I understand that Grahame Hall will be starting against Cheshunt......

Back three to be Snowdon,Fenn & Hall.......

 

Rodders...dont forget Romford....They have added some very experienced players to their side....

 

 

Cheers

2 Weeks to go........I am slightly worried about the goals situation....but then we wont be playing Ryman Prem or 1st Div teams......

 

[Rodders]

Quote:

Bananabob said:

Rodders...dont forget Romford....They have added some very experienced players to their side....

You are quite right Bananabob, this was merely an oversight on my part apologies to any Romford fans I was not dismissing you.

Romford will almost certainly be a threat.

A valid point about the fact we will not be playing Ryman Prem/Div 1 teams, however We do need to sort out strikers, I think Pani and U'ski would be an interesting partnership to start with.

I am a little worried but am placing my trust and faith in JC and the boys to come up with the goods cometh the time.

Cheers
Rodders <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

[SteveR]

I thought you guys put up a decent performance, were definitely stronger at the back than in the cup final a few months ago. Looks like you're gonna miss Danny Clarke though.

 

Good to see the building work has started, hope you have another successful season on the pitch.

 

We were some way short of full strength - there were three trialists fielded along with three of our four new signings so far, and none of last season's back four were playing.

[Ginger]

SteveR,

I thought that your goalscorer had a good game, along with several others. I hope you're right about not being at full strength, that 'Stortford XI that we played two Tuesday's ago looked very lively.

Good luck in the Ryman this season.

Where do you reckon you'll be this time next year, Conference or Conference Two?

[SteveR]

I'll be disappointed if we're not in the new regional conference - am hopeful of a top six finish - championship is a bit further away however.

[Colin, Germany]

Quote:

SteveR said:
We were some way short of full strength ... none of last season's back four were playing.

Our strikers still did not get many chances, and most of those were towards the end of the match. Some of the Essex Senior defences will be not as strong as the Hendon 'makeshift' defence. So the ET's will certainly score goals in the coming season. The big question is whether we will be good enough to retain the championship, and I expect that the competitiveness of the EESL will again be such that we will know the answer pretty late in the season again.