Enfield Town v Ebbsfleet Utd

[seemgee]

McDonald, Hatton, payne, Thomas, Weatherstone, Wilson, Mubiayi, Youngs, Bricknell, Faal, Brown.Bampoe

Ibe, Ford, Bawling, Livigs, Esan, King, Gardiner

[seemgee]

Ebbsfleet  lead in the first minute

Edited December 14, 2019 by seemgee

[seemgee]

27 mins Town 2 down

[seemgee]

Bricknell has his penalty shot saved 0-2 35 mins

[seemgee]

HT 0-2

[seemgee]

FT Town go down 0-2

att 417

[MTHead]

Clearly a team not at the races knocked out without an whimper. Tactics inept, players out of their depth and some clearly not trying hard enough ! Ebbsfleet won this at a canter, I’m not sure any if their defence broke swewt. Our season is close to being over if things  don’t change and change quickly. 

[Richard Katemon]

No doubt we were second best today but that’s no disgrace against a full time side from two divisions above. 
Another land mark achieved our first ever appearance in the FA Trophy. 

[Wildlife rescue]

MTHead were you actually at the game.

Think it's fair to say our game plan went out the window after the early goal and then Billy's penalty miss could gave changed everything,Go in 1-2 at half time and who knows,and also remember missing key players of course didn't help 

But we lost to a better,fitter well organised team of full time players but take nothing away from our boys who didn't disgrace themselves and took us to the furthest we have been in the FA Trophy.

Proud of you guys.⚽️⚽️

 

[andyetfc]

I was at the game and am sorry to say but I agree with MTHead. Yes, the first goal in the first minute didn't help, but the more professional team did win at a canter. I know that some people will talk about the fact that the opposition are full time,  but we had one shot on goal in the first half and that was the penalty. I heard nothing from the bench to change the game in our favour and although the performance improved in the second half, ETFC really didn't trouble the opposition that much.

If the budget issue comes up again, then is it not time to start looking outside the box in order to generate more income. Can a club like ours operate at a higher level with the current constitution in place?

[4wembleyfinals]

There it is again that word, ORGANISED, used by WR. But is any body listening??? It certainly doesn't not apply to us. Who ever we have in our squad I am afraid it will always be used under the current management. But then I have been saying this ad nauseum for the past 3 Seasons. Who ever you play from what ever division you need to have a game plan. If we had had one we would never have been knock out by Chichester in the FA cup.   

[Barney]

Conversely, we very much had a game plan against Braintree... and it worked well. I'm not defending the performances of late, as some of them have been pretty bad by all accounts, but at times this season we have played some decent stuff and I'm not sure it's altogether fair to ignore these performances and jump on the management as soon as we have a bad run. Yesterday was always going to be tough against a side two steps above us, and fair play to Andy and the players for delivering two decent cup runs and getting us as far as they did. For me the next few league games are key in terms of restoring confidence, starting to play like a team again and hopefully stringing together some results.

[AnfieldTowner]

Disappointing yesterday as we were never really in it after conceding the goal inside a minute. We're certainly going through a bad patch at the moment but its only lasted 2 or 3 weeks and this group of players has played some good football at times before then. They need to get a bit of confidence back, particularly in front of goal.

The positives to take are that we could have folded to a much heavier defeat in that second half but the players worked hard and never gave up. The reality of a better organised, bigger in stature and fitter (fully professional) side was just too much for us. Whilst we wouldn't have deserved it, a scored penalty (instead of a save) and Billy's spectacular effort going in (rather than hitting the bar) could have got us a draw so we weren't a million miles away and the players can be proud of that.

Hoping for an improved result on the road at Worthing before the derby games against Haringey and Potters Bar over Christmas and the New Year.

[Wildlife rescue]

10 hours ago, andyetfc said:

I was at the game and am sorry to say but I agree with MTHead. Yes, the first goal in the first minute didn't help, but the more professional team did win at a canter. I know that some people will talk about the fact that the opposition are full time,  but we had one shot on goal in the first half and that was the penalty. I heard nothing from the bench to change the game in our favour and although the performance improved in the second half, ETFC really didn't trouble the opposition that much.

If the budget issue comes up again, then is it not time to start looking outside the box in order to generate more income. Can a club like ours operate at a higher level with the current constitution in place?

Any ideas Andy where we could start generating money,it must be very difficult and frustrating I should imagine.

[MTHead]

Kingstonian thumped Woking therefore is possible to beat higher level teams despite being part time etc.. My point, and , yes WR I attend most matches (, home and away ) is that we need to have a team and tactics which can compete at a higher level on occasions such as these, but this requires a stability and consistency that good organisation and good skill sets are blended with passion and effort . We have seen precious little  evidence of these essential attributes over the past few weeks.. We have come up short against better teams in the league, we have been fortunate to gain points from some games where we were clearly second  best. My point is, that we need to regroup and improve if we are to maintain our push for playoffs, if we carry  on doing what we have been doing, we will always get what we a we’ve already got- and average team in a poor league. If we are content with the current situation and are convinced that this is a matter of form, injuries and bad luck, I fear that we will be death for finishing the season about 15th ish. If we are not then something must change - and soon 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2019 by MTHead
Heading rather than death, last para

[4wembleyfinals]

Spot on MTH, realism at last!!! Can't wait to see the responses to your remarks. Unfortunately I expect them to be the same to those which like minded supporters as yourself get when voicing similar comments. It would nice if for once someone ,in a position of authority, took notice of your post seriously and acted accordingly. 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

3 hours ago, MTHead said:

Kingstonian thumped Woking therefore is possible to beat higher level teams despite being part time etc.. My point, and , yes WR I attend most matches (, home and away ) is that we need to have a team and tactics which can compete at a higher level on occasions such as these, but this requires a stability and consistency that good organisation and good skill sets are blended with passion and effort . We have seen precious little  evidence of these essential attributes over the past few weeks.. We have come up short against better teams in the league, we have been fortunate to gain points from some games where we were clearly second  best. My point is, that we need to regroup and improve if we are to maintain our push for playoffs, if we carry  on doing what we have been doing, we will always get what we a we’ve already got- and average team in a poor league. If we are content with the current situation and are convinced that this is a matter of form, injuries and bad luck, I fear that we will be death for finishing the season about 15th ish. If we are not then something must change - and soon 

 

 

I agree. I think we're nailed on for 15th at the moment.

[Barney]

20 hours ago, 4wembleyfinals said:

Can't wait to see the responses to your remarks. Unfortunately I expect them to be the same to those which like minded supporters as yourself get when voicing similar comments. It would nice if for once someone ,in a position of authority, took notice of your post seriously and acted accordingly. 

Just following up on this one as it's confused me a little: I'd be interested to know specifically what type of responses you're referring to - all I've seen of late on here is supporters expressing increasing levels of concern around our recent form, lack of cover and general play. Admittedly some are slightly more glass half full than others (myself included), and are still willing to give the management the benefit of the doubt based on how well we played this season until a month ago.

We also know, as it has been mentioned on a number of occasions, that we aren't going to get any kind of official response on this forum - we've been there and done that in the ESL days, and it led to all sorts of issues. I would honestly suggest that anyone wanting to discuss the current predicament should seek out a board member, or one of the management team at the next game they attend and have a constructive discussion about the direction of the squad/club. I'm pretty certain that the board/management are fully aware of our dip in form, and are as concerned as the fans are.

Edited December 17, 2019 by Barney
Typos etc.

[4wembleyfinals]

Exactly what I expected Barney!!!  Although you put your argument in a more measured way and your opinion quite succinctly it is still the same as those put forward by others over the past few seasons. But much more scathingly .

The questions have been asked. I acknowledge that the Board responded to some extent by making more money available for better quality players to be acquired. However, the team manager still stuck to his playing dogma, which to many nullified any progress made by the aforementioned action. 

For my part I will still being going through my same old superstitions before each match, as in my own playing days, hoping they will bring a win. 

Regarding our differences we will have to wait and see what the outcome is at the end of the season. Actually secretly hoping that your views will prove me wrong.

Edited December 17, 2019 by 4wembleyfinals

[The Crowing Cockerel]

It kind of feels as if we've plateaued. Barring a significant influx of cash (from reaching R3 of the FA Cup, some wealthy members of the fanbase dying off and leaving us everything) or the acquisition of a talented new manager who can work miracles (in the style of Brad Quinton), we seem destined to loiter around mid-table in the Isthmian Premier League for the foreseeable future. There is, of course, no shame in this given the fact that we came into existence just over 18 years ago. But I would like to think that as a club we should aim high. Afterall, many of us came to associate Enfield with being at the very pinnacle of the non-league game. I would like to see ETFC locking horns with the likes of Barnet on a regular basis, and reaching FA Trophy finals. I want an ambitious club with an ambitious board, and an ambitious manager. Have we reached as far as a fans-owned club of our size can go?