City earn hard-fought Enfield point

City secured a hard-fought point this afternoon in a 1-1 draw against Enfield Town at Dave Bryant Stadium. Jordan Alves’ free-kick just before half-time gave the Romans the lead before Youngs deservedly levelled for the home side with 13 minutes left.

New manager Darren Way named an unchanged side for a fourth successive match but it was the North London side who enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges. They found clear-cut chances hard to come by though, the closest they came when an Ollie Tomlinson clearance was charged down and the ball looped over Harvey Wiles-Richards only to rebound off the bar into the relieved keeper’s arms. City’s only real threat saw Brad Ash just fail to get on the end of Alves’ 9th minute free-kick but the latter broke the deadline three minutes before half-time. Joe Raynes was tripped around 20 yards out and Alves’ drilled a low free-kick into the corner of the net.

Enfield continued to enjoy the upper hand after the break but Wiles-Richards was still largely untroubled in the Romans’ goal. Just before the hour mark City almost doubled their lead as Scott Wilson made space in the box only to see his shot deflected narrowly wide – although the referee awarded a goal-kick. City’s resistance was broken on 77 minutes when Leonard’s cross was fired home by Youngs at the back post. Moments before the equaliser Ewan Clark had returned to action for the first time since September but despite this, and the introduction of new loan signing Mitch Beardmore and Alex Fisher, City couldn’t force a late winner, although the latter almost disposed Town keeper Forster in the final action of the game.