(Middlesex Senior Cup 3rd round ) 4th February 1998

Enfield (0) 1, 1 Fitzgerald 52
Hayes (0) 1, 1 Francis 90

A visit from the upstarts who pinched our Conference place. Hayes made their first visit to Southbury Road since clinching the Isthmian Championship with the slenderest of margins. Indeed, when Gary Fitzgerald popped up with his first ever goal for Enfield, the predictable chant of 'we've got our one goal back' was heard to echo around the stadium (att 166 - the chairman won guess the crowd...).
Enfield were denied a place in the semi-final on the say so of a Mr. Singh, who saw fit to add on what was estimated as an extra six minutes of injury time to allow the Hayes equaliser before blowing up just seconds after the restart. Thanks - we all wanted that extra thirty minutes of standing in the cold, mate! Or was it just a coincidence that there happened to be a BARNETT running the line? Hmmm. Needless to say that the rest of the game degenerated into referee baiting, and with the game undecided in extra time, the circus now moves to Church Road for the next thrilling installment.

Footnote George Borg made an appearance at this game and was quickly spotted having a word or two with Paul Moran, who is said to be on the transfer list after failing to agree new terms with the club.

(Ryman League Premier Division) 7th February 1998

Sutton United (0) 0
Enfield (1) 5 May 25; Darlington 53, 57, 90; Fitzgerald 90

Enfield handed out a football lesson to Sutton United with this, a breathtaking (and satisfying) five goal blast against the league leaders. Sutton United were simply blown away in the second half, and could even afford the luxury of fielding Leroy May in goal as Pape had a head wound attended before coming back on again near the end.
Enfield dominated in all areas. It was expected that the hosts would come out with all guns blazing and take the initiative, though the truth was that they never got the chance. The chances came thick and fast: ping pong in the Sutton defence as a shot blazed over the bar, and May getting the ball under his feet from a Darlington cross when it looked easier to score. Even then Cleevely nearly let the ball slip through his grasp and over the line.
Enfield finally took advantage of their chances when May converted from a corner. Meanwhile, at the covered end of the ground, silence was deafening. There's nothing like quieting the home crowd from the start, eh?

Contender for man of the match Steve Darlington increased Enfield's lead when the ball fell kindly at his feet. He swiveled, then fired past Cleevley. Cue mass celebrations behind the goal. Minutes later, and Darlington put the game beyond dispute as he fired high into the net on the hour mark.
Beyond dispute? Well normally yes, but then Pape had to be led from the field with a head wound after some lengthy treatment on the pitch. May took over between the sticks, and dealt with a couple of corners (or at least kept Sutton at bay) before cheers marked the return of Pape. This spurred Enfield on to greater heights, and despite a minor blip when Sutton clipped the bar, and a little misunderstanding with the local constabulary and a section of the crowd regarding the noise coming from the back of the stand.... all was well. In injury time Fitzgerald did the unthinkable and scored for the second successive game, missed an absolute gift of a goal when he really should have scored, and then Darlington wrapped up a second half hat trick to record the best performance of the season and our best away victory in the Isthmian League since the bad old days of Roberts at Bognor Regis Town.

(Middlesex Senior Cup 3rd round replay) 10th February 1998

Hayes (0) 0
Enfield (1) 1 Darlington 8

After spending half an hour in the cold last week, watching extra time and cursing at the referee for even allowing all that injury time, the last person that I wanted to see was Mr. Singh trotting out with a smug look on his face for this return fixture. Sad to report that for this fixture it was the hapless stewarding, and not an incompetent referee that stood out. Enfield had the majority of the chances and the possession. Steve Darlington caught out Meara - taking time out from his annoying stretching exercises - to flap at a 25 yarder that had beaten him well before deciding to make an attempt at stopping it. Hayes rattled the post towards the end of the half, but otherwise did little to test Andy Pape
Leroy May looked to have set up a second goal at the start of the second half, dispossessing a defender in the box and then cutting in before bringing off a fine save from the keeper. Moran also went close with a lob that dipped the wrong side of the bar, to set up another attempted Fantasy Ball Boy point behind the goal
Meanwhile, two bored kids sat on the perimeter wall. Attempting to liven up their sad lives, both saw the opportunity for a laugh at the same time a steward arrived to move them on and the play arrived in the same corner of the ground. With Singh shouting at them, one ran onto the pitch as the other grabbed the ball that had gone out of play, and dribbled in along the touchline before shooting meekly at a bemused Meara. All very sad, and if this did not deserve an ejection from the ground, surely a variety of assortments chucked from outside Hayes' corrugated iron stand should have seen these idiots out on their ear. Not so... Enfield's reward for this victory is a place in the semi-finals, away to Hampton.

(Ryman League Premier Division) 14th February 1998

Enfield (0) 0
Chesham United (1) 1 Lawford 25

What a load of old cobblers. Was this the same team that won so convincingly at Sutton United only a week previously? It surely was! Talk about going from one extreme to another. On this basis, Chesham United are championship contenders, though I doubt you will get many takers on their chances, let alone staying out of the bottom three.
Chesham had by far the better of the chances. After going close after only a couple of minutes, they took the lead halfway through the first half when Lawford beat Pape from distance, and followed this up shortly afterwards with another close effort that just shaved the crossbar. Enfield's only response came due to a keeper mishap when Darlington rounded the keeper and, at a wide angle, crossed for May, who failed to get the finishing touch.

In an atmosphere that closely resembled a morgue, Enfield were to only test keeper only twice more before the end of the game. The best of these fell to Terry, who rattled the crossbar after being given the opportunity by Williams. There really wasn't much to write about at all. After the Lord Mayors Show...

(Ryman League Premier Division) 21st February 1998

Enfield (2) 3 Darlington 43, 53; McGrath 45
Walton & Hersham (0) 0

Normal service has been resumed. Gary (I nearly wrote George!) must have read the riot act, for this was by far a better performance than last weeks diatribe against Chesham. (Wow, I must have been reading the Enfield Independent there). There will be no gushing poetic phrasing here though, and no - I have not seen Enfield's last 1,000 games, nor claim to have and then ask 'who was that player?';'Oh, only Paul Furlong.'
Steve Darlington looks to be "in the zone". Bet that's not the headline eh? But it is certainly is the case right now. Darlo ran up another two goals this afternoon to make it six in four games. What was so pleasing about today's efforts were that he had to outpace the opposition before scoring. None of the Leroy tap-ins for him! The first of his goals came in the closing moments of the first half as he went on a run that ended with a shot that beat Preddie, who appears to have struck up a rapport with our ever demanding fans. It's not usual to see a smiling opposition keeper. Howell take note! McGrath added a second moments later via a header make it 2-0