North London Zone Football - 3rd Enfield/133rd London vs. 2nd Enfield (10th February 2007)

This day featured matches in both leagues, with the 2nd Enfield both returning to the Company league and defending their title in the Senior league. As a big pile of snow was the first thing to greet us in the middle of the nearest football pitch, we made a quick decision to decamp to the far pitch, where there was considerably less snow to move before the match (a quick snowball fight sorted that issue out)! First up was the Company match, where both teams were level on points so far this season, on a total of one each. Something had to give, unless of course it was a draw!

This seemed unlikely when the match got underway, as the 2nd Enfield were forced to play with only five boys, against a full team of nine. The game featured Owen from the 3rd, who had already been elevated to the status of team captain after not many matches! While the performances going into half time were fairly even, BB football is always there to surprise you, and the final score was 8-2 in favour of the 2nd Enfield.

Moving into the Senior league, playing against the team sitting at the top of the table is always daunting no matter what level you’re at, and given that the 2nd had so far lost no games this season, compared to our total of two, on paper it was looking like a one sided match. Nevertheless, the match got underway and again featured an appearance from Owen, as well as a debut appearance from Andrew, playing in goal and defence respectively. Despite the odds, the 3rd and 133rd were the first team to score, and eventually went into half time with a 2-1 advantage. Soon after the break the score increased to 3-2, still in our favour thanks to an own goal from the 2nd (something which doesn’t happen very often!). Despite the odd on-pitch altercation, the score soon became 4-2 with a matter of minutes to go, and despite some words of distraction from a certain opposing Company Captain, the team was holding on before seeing the score brought back to 4-3.

The two minutes of time that was supposed to be added on to the end of the match seemed like it had gone on for about four times as long, and everyone that wasn’t wearing a yellow shirt was hoping that would be it. Soon enough it was, and the team had recorded their third victory of the season and in a row, and against the league leaders no less. This in turn did the 10th and 11th Enfield a bit of a favour, as they have the chance to turn their three point deficit into nothing.

This didn’t matter to us, and congratulations were due all round for a well earned victory – here’s hoping the form can be carried through for the final league game of the season against the 10th London, and the upcoming cup match against the 10th and 11th Enfield!

Written by Tom Boorman