Division One South East

Enfield Town 1 v 1 Harlow Town Ladies

Report courtesy of Harlow Town Football Club

A GOAL from Chloe Bassett was enough for a point on wednesday night as the Hawks drew with Enfield Town, despite a dominate performance from start to finish writes Aaron Moore.

Both sides looked to make a bright start to the game, with the Hawks looking more dangerous as they took control of the game, but the hosts defended well to limit the chances. The best chance of the game came in the 6th-minute as the Hawks were awarded a penalty as Georgia Box was brought down in the area. Chloe Bassett stepped up but saw her effort hit the post before the ball ricocheted off the goalkeeper and was cleared away from danger.

Despite the penalty miss, the Hawks continued to come forward. A couple of crosses were aimed towards the middle, but dealt well by Town before Ash Deacon looked to curl the ball into the top corner, but her effort was just wide.

The hosts had found themselves in the Harlow half and took the lead against the run of play. A ball was fired in and took an unfortunate touch off Millie Stacey, taking it beyond Zara Wickert. Enfield held their lead for just six-minutes before the Hawks found themselves level. Amy Nash floated a free-kick into box before Billie Brooks touched it beyond the keeper and Chloe Bassett finishing off the move as she fired home. The Hawks were almost in again a couple of minutes later as Nash looked to provide again, but her cross was cleared.

There was a chance for the Towners as a scramble in the Harlow box saw Wickert make a good save before the ball was cleared, but it was Harlow who continued to dominate. Billie Brooks looked to get her head to a set-piece, but the keeper managed to punch the ball clear before Deacon fired towards goal, but saw her effort fly wide of the target. Chloe Bassett made a good run and crossed the ball to Amy Nash, but the latter weren’t able to pull it back to Amy Jacobs, who waited in the middle.

Just before the break, Enfield were reduced to 10-women as Mollie Kmita picked up a second yellow card and her marching orders after another challenge on Ellie Manning, but the sides went into the break level.

The second half started with the same dominance from the Hawks as they looked to make their women advantage count. Jacobs had the ball in the back of the net in the opening minutes, but she was flagged offside before Box looked to have a shot, but she couldn’t quite get the right contact and her effort was comfortably held by the keeper. Chloe Bassett twisted and turned away from a defender and looked to get her cross over towards the far post, but no one was close enough to tap home before Enfield had a rare flurry forward as they looked to break, but Millie Stacey was over quickly to snuff out the danger.

The Hawks continued their pressure as they looked to seal their first win of the season. Ellie Manning looked to get her head to the ball, but it was just out of reach, before Bassett looked to feed the ball to Georgia Box, but it was cut out and Enfield looked to attack. The efforts of the home side was well saved and just wide before they had another chance a couple of minutes later, but it was into the side-netting.

Olivia Fraser lined up a shot from the edge of the box, but her effort was just wide before the Hawks continued their constant pressure into the final 10-minutes. A good ball was whipped into the box, but Box couldn’t quite get her head to the ball, before Enfield kept the Hawks at bay as time ticked away. The hosts had looked to win in with a couple of minutes to play as a shot was fired towards goal, but it was well held by Zara Wickert and the points were shared at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

Speaking after the game, manager Dean Perrett said, “I can’t fault tonight’s performance against a team that has been in this league a long time. I can’t be more proud of the shift the girls have put in and we dominated the game, but I don’t think we took it to them enough when they were down to 10. We had chances, but I’m proud of the girls for coming here and taking a point.”