WOODLEY UNITED fell to an away defeat in the Combined Counties Division One with a 4-2 defeat to Enfield Borough.
A promising opening start by United was undone in the fifth minute when poor defending allowed Richard Ennin to receive a pass and shoot past unchallenged against Ethan Giles.
Woodley responded immediately to cries of a penalty when Ben Tegg’s shot hit a defender’s arm but play was allowed to continue. Borough were quick on the counter attack with Giles using his feet to block a one on one effort and then making a full length save in the 19th minute to deny the hosts a second goal.
However, Enfield did double their lead five minutes later when a shot rebounded off Woodley’s cross bar which saw Rinidie Lokilo-Imponge react first to head home unmarked.
United did well to withstand a period of Enfield pressure that saw a free kick go wide, a goal disallowed for offside and Lokilo-Imponge heading wide.
During this period, the visitors best effort saw Callum Betts shoot wide from the edge of the penalty area on the turn from an Ayo Roberts cross.
The deficit was reduced four minutes before half-time when Roberts headed inside the far post from a Tahir Carmichael corner.
However, when Carmichael was punished for a foul two minutes later, Ennis was able to restore the two goal advantage from close range. Green was then required to tip the ball over his cross bar a minute before half-time from a long range shot.
The second half saw a United change of formation which nearly brought dividends when Betts raced clear of the defence before passing to Caleb Lucas who fired over the crossbar, which was followed by the same player shooting wide when well placed in the 51st minute. However, the promising start was undone when a misplaced pass was intercepted by Lokilo-Imponge to beat Giles one on one for Borough’s fourth.
United survived a free-kick rebounding off their crossbar before Ben Anderson saw two shots saved by Fin Rushton from distance.
The game began to open and played end to end with Lucas and Anderson causing problems and it was no surprise that Anderson scored United’s second..
Roberts did well to clear a shot off Woodley’s goal line late in normal time before Anderson headed over from a Ryan Smith in stoppage time followed by Giles again using his feet to good effect to block a shot in the game’s final moments,
Woodley United: Giles, Whight, Carmichael, Monteiro (Reid), Richardson, Birkett ( Roberts), Lucas, Tegg, Betts (Larkins), Anderson, Smith Sub not used: Hudell
Goals: Richard Ennin (2), Rinidie Lokilo-Imponge (2), Ayo Roberts, Ben Anderson
