LOWFC Preview: Enfield Town (H)

Orient host Enfield Town this weekend in what will be their first home league fixture since September.

Last Time Out

The O’s defeated Phoenix Sports 4-0 at the Mayplace Ground to progress to the semi-finals of the Isthmian Cup.

Sophie Le Marchand bagged two before half time to give her side a comfortable advantage going into the second half.

Hayley Barton added a third eight minutes after the break to put the tie beyond any doubt, before Le Marchand completed her hat-trick in the 74^th minute to put the gloss on a fine performance for Chris Brayford’s side.

Orient will now face Billericay Town in the next round as they look to retain the trophy they won last season.

The Opposition

Enfield currently occupy 4^th place in the FAWNL South East, one position and one point behind the O’s, although Orient do have a game in hand.

They come into this one on a run of four consecutive wins, having recorded convincing league victories over both Norwich and Cambridge United either side of the Christmas break.

Much like the O’s, their most recent fixture saw them reach the Isthmian Cup semi-final’s last week with a 1-0 win away at Ashford Town (Middlesex)

Katherine Long and Beth Lumsden are their side’s top scorers this term with ten each and they’ll be hoping to add to their tally at the Mile End Stadium on Sunday.

Previous Meeting

The last meeting between the sides came back in September as the two played out a 1-1 draw at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

Barton opened the scoring for the O’s in the 12^th minute when her in-swinging corner evaded everyone and made its way past Grace Brooks in the Enfield net, before Nuala McKevitt prodded home to secure a point for the home side.

Pre-Match Thoughts

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s fixture, vice-captain Le Marchand emphasised the importance of this one, as her side look to make up ground in the race for the title.

“With just one point between us and Enfield, Sunday’s league game is likely to be a highly charged and fiercely competitive affair. We also sit five points behind league leaders Wimbledon, but with two games in hand, so winning and putting pressure on them at the top is absolutely paramount to us.

We go into Sunday’s fixture hoping to replicate some of the free flowing, attacking football that we showed during the Isthmian Cup quarter final. With such a wealth of attacking options available to us, we probably should have scored even more than the four goals that we did, but what was really pleasing was to keep a clean sheet, something that we are very much looking to repeat again on Sunday.”

Coming to the Game?

The match takes place this Sunday February 2^nd at the Mile End Stadium. The ground is just a ten minute walk from either Mile End or Limehouse stations and kick-off is scheduled for 2:00PM.