Recap
Chesham again produced a late show to turn this game around and maintain their unbeaten away record this season. This was an eventful game and most of the discussion afterwards was about the performance of the referee and the three penalty decisions. Chesham used the same squad as for last Tuesday’s win over Chippenham, with Avan Jones, Jack Cawley and Omar Rowe starting in place of Bradley Clayton, Alex Lafleur and Callum Adebiyi.
Enfield came into the game in the relegation zone and both sides made a cautious start. Steve Brown glanced a header wide of the near post following a Jack Cawley long throw, then at the other end Sam Youngs headed over the bar from a long cross by Alfie Tuck. Chesham came close when an Omar Rowe corner was headed on by Mitchell Weiss ad Connor Stevens’s shot was blocked on the line. However Chesham did eventually take the lead just after the half-hour when Connor Stevens ran into the penalty area on the left only to be given a solid shove from Sam Youngs. Although it might be considered a soft penalty the referee had little option but to give it, and Jack Cawley blasted the spot kick into the net. Shortly before the interval Enfield were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position, but Harley Mills’ shot was comfortably saved by Ben Goode.
Enfield manager Gavin Macpherson was shown a red card for arguing with the referee as the players came off at half-time, but his team were level within two minutes of the restart. Lennon Peake’s left-wing corner was flicked on and Jake Hutchinson headed in at the far post. At the other end Omar Rowe hooked the ball straight at keeper Rhys Forster following a long throw, but the home side took the lead shortly afterwards thanks to a terrible penalty decision. Harley Mills attempted to cross from the left, the ball hit Avan Jones on the arm and the referee pointed to the spot although Jones was only a couple of yards away and had his arms down by his side. Youngs converted the penalty and Chesham needed to regroup. Samson Esan had a shot deflected wide, then midway through the half Chesham made a triple substitution which turned the game around. Bradley Clayton crossed from the right and the ball came to Joe Grant who mishit his shot with only Forster to beat. Eventually Chesham equalised with ten minutes to go, when the ball was crossed back into the area following a right-wing move and Connor Stevens drove it into the net. Chesham were in control of the game and Alex Lafleur broke down the left and shot but his effort was beaten away by Forster. However in the next minute the home defence failed to clear a Jack Cawley long throw and in a mad scramble the ball hit Sam Youngs on the arm on the goal-line. After the earlier handball decision at the other end the referee had little option but to award a penalty and show Youngs a red card. Jack Cawley again converted from the spot for Chesham’s winner. Enfield came back and sub Harry Ottaway had a shot which was deflected behind for a corner, but Chesham ultimately saw the game out without any alarms