Enfield Town promoted after sensational play-off final win

The Towners beat Chatham 3-0 in the Isthmian Premier Division Play-Off Final to seal promotion to National League South for the first time in the club’s history, reports James Cracknell

Enfield Town FC have won promotion to the second tier of non-league football for the first time ever after a sensational 3-0 against Chatham in the Isthmian Premier Division Play-Off Final.

Second half goals from Bernie Tanner, Marcus Wyllie and Lewis Taafe capped an incredible performance in Kent to send the 400 travelling Towners fans wild. The full-time whistle was greeted with a pitch invasion as the triumphant players were hoisted onto shoulders and smoke from blue flares filled the sky.

Towners boss Gavin Macpherson – who only arrived at Enfield Town one year ago – hailed the achievement of the team and dedicated the win to the club’s founding chairman Dave Bryant, who died in March. Dave’s family were among those travelling to Kent to witness the greatest moment in the club’s 23-year history.

Enfield were considered underdogs for the game as the away team and with Chatham finishing one place above them in the league table, but still fancied their chances following the excellent semi-final win against Wingate and Finchley five days ago.

Chatham Town were going for an incredible third successive promotion and enjoyed support from around 2,600 of their fans at The Bauvill Stadium. While the weather was atrocious leading up to the 3pm kick-off, with pouring rain for hours and even a thunderstorm warning being issued by the Met Office, the stadium’s plastic pitch ensured there was no danger of the game being called off. In any case, the sun decided to make a welcome appearance shortly after kick-off.

The Chats started the game strongly and created the first chance after five minutes, Khale Da Costa blazing over the bar from close range after a low ball in. The home side continued to dominate the early period of the game, with forward Jamie Yila looking particularly threatening for Chatham on the left side.

After soaking up the early pressure, the Towners began to carve out some opportunities, including a Sam Youngs header that looped over the bar. But it was still Chatham creating the more dangerous chances and they came close to scoring on the half-hour mark, with Town keeper Rhys Forster making a great save down low after racing off his line. 

Enfield had the better of the latter stages of the first half with a flurry of attempts on goal but none of them really troubling Chats goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney.

Chatham will have felt frustrated not to take a lead into the half-time break given the chances they created and, much like in Enfield Town’s semi-final, they were soon made to pay for it. 

A Joe Payne long throw-in directly created the winning goal on Wednesday and the left-back’s grenade launcher was again involved in the first Towners goal at Chatham, which came just two minutes into the second half. After the ball arrived in the box and a first Enfield shot was blocked, a second opportunity fell to Bernie Tanner on the edge of the box, and the defender rifled a low shot into the far corner to spark delirium in the away end.

All of a sudden, the Towners were on top, and Chatham looked rocked. The away fans were out-singing their Kent counterparts and it was Enfield who again had the ball in the net six minutes after their first. Wyllie’s goal was disallowed for offside, however, in what seemed a very close call by the linesman.

Chatham remained in the game and had two shots well saved by Forster, the first low down after a shot came in from a corner routine and the second a fantastic reach to tip a long-range driven shot over the bar.

The Chats would soon rue the near misses as Enfield Town doubled their lead on 70 minutes. Sam Youngs did well to create space and find Ollie Knight in the box, whose shot was palmed down by the keeper and into the path of Towners top scorer Wyllie, who tapped home to spark wild scenes of celebration from the fans behind the goal.

Town could begin to dream, but there were still 20 minutes to see out. While it might have been easy at this point to sit back and defend the two-goal lead, Enfield threatened to score a third. Youngs and Knight both had attempts at goal but couldn’t find the target. 

Chatham began to look desperate, sending up keeper Beeney for a corner as early as the 82nd minute. Their last real chance to get back into the game came when star man Yila collected a cross-field ball out wide, jinked past four Towners players, but blazed over the bar from inside the box. 

Five minutes later, Town’s play-off triumph was sealed by substitute Lewis Taafe, sparking more jubilant scenes in the away end. The 3-0 scoreline reflected another very special second-half display.

As the ref’s whistle blew, Towners fans streamed on to the pitch to celebrate the finest achievement since the country’s first fan-owned club was formed in 2001. The celebrations continued as the players were presented with the Isthmian Premier Division Play-Off trophy in front of their adoring fans – it was a moment to savour for all involved.

Before the game many Enfield fans felt frustrated at missing out as the club were allocated 400 tickets by Chatham instead of the expected 600, but as the team bus arrived back at The Dave Bryant Stadium on Monday night, there was a chance for everyone to enjoy the moment with a night of raucous celebrations with the play-off trophy at Butler’s Bar.

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The Towners’ season is not over, however, as the club’s European adventure continues in Italy later this month with the climax to the Fenix Trophy.

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