Enfield Town 0, East Thurrock United 4
RYMAN One North leaders East Thurrock stamped their passport as title contenders with this consummate performance, brushing aside the challenge of Town and earning an ovation from both home and away fans after the final whistle reports The Essex Enquirer.
The home side, buoyed by an emphatic midweek win at Sudbury set off with an aggressive tempo and an early foul by one time Rock Rudi Hall on Reiss Gilbey showed their intent to knock the visitors out of their stride.
However, East Thurrock refused to be bullied and gave notice of their attacking endeavour when Kye Ruel crashed a shot from distance against the crossbar after just five minutes.
Hall’s second tough challenge, against Ruel on eight minutes, brought him a caution but didn’t disrupt Rocks’ flow and they took the lead on 16 minutes with players queuing to get on the end of Gilbey’s incisive ball into the box, with Kris Newby stepping up score from close range.
A rare moment of uncertainty in East Thurrock’s defence on 23 minutes saw Hall spurn the chance to score when his glancing header from Michael Bardle’s cross drifted past the upright when he ought to have done better.
And within a minute it was the net at the other end that rippled as the home defence went into retreat as Stanley Muguo broke forward and though it looked as if his angled cross had evaded everyone, Newby stole in at the far post to strike the ball home from the most acute of angles.
Four minutes later Rocks might have grabbed a third when an impressive surge from Joe Keith saw the ball delivered into the danger area and both Neil Richmond and Newby had chances to force it home but were crowded out by a desperate defence.
Enfield were struggling to cope with East Thurrock’s pace and precision and captain Andy Jones was booked for dissent after Max Cornhill was brought to ground on the edge of the box and ref Ian Crouch awarded a foul. Enfield were more concerned with disputing the decision than defending the situation and Cornhill quickly took the free kick, curling a shot beyond keeper Rob Blackburne. Mr Crouch, who hadn’t whistled but had given assent to Cornhill to take the kick “in his own time” gave the goal and then gave yellow cards to Adam Wallace and Dan Forward as Enfield protested.
Town were clearly unhappy with the ref, when perhaps they should have been questioning their own form and commitment and they found themselves a fourth goal down going into the break when Newby took his league tally for the season to 14 and completed his hat-trick with a simply sensational run two minutes before half time, leaving three defenders trailing before smashing the ball low and hard across the despairing dive of Blackburn into the net.
It was an individual goal of the highest quality and Rocks’ leading marksman celebrated by dedicating his hat-trick to his grandfather and keen supporter Mick, who is currently battling illness.
The second half saw Rocks take up where they had left off and in the early stages Gilbey forced a fine one-handed save from Blackburne.
A scoring opportunity came and went in a second for Town, who were unable to capitalise on a goalmouth scramble, before the ball broke swiftly at the other end to Richmond who unluckily saw it run beyond his control.
And on the hour Enfield had another opportunity but Rocks keeper Richard Wray proved himself equal to substitute Jordan Lockie’s close range, angled shot.
At the other end a free-flowing Rocks move involving Ruel and Max brought a great goal-line clearance from Dave Kendall.
Rocks, who hadn’t had a player booked for six matches, finally saw a player in the ref’s notebook when Muguo was cautioned for his latest in a series of niggling fouls and, within a couple of minutes he was joined, somewhat unjustly by Steve Sheehan, for a foul on the edge of the box spotted by the linesman, but not Mr Crouch who nevertheless seemed to want to balance the books in terms of yellow cards.
On 66 minutes Blackburne produced a fine save to deny Cornhill and, as Rocks moved through the gears, chances came and went in quick succession, perhaps the most notable being a missed opportunity from Richmond from barely a yard out.
The striker is having something of a torrid time in front of goal but he deserves enormous credit for frequently being in the right place at the end of attacks and it can only be a matter of time before he delivers some telling blows.
In the closing minutes Rocks really turned up the pace and laid siege to the home goal. They had the ball in the net but were denied by an offside flag, then Cornhill finished a stunning individual flick, turn and volley with a stupendous effort that crashed against the crossbar and deep in added time a header by sub Steve Harrison came back off the post.
Though they couldn’t extend their margin of victory the closing minutes were triumph for Rocks who drew huge applause and praise from the home fans, as well as their own travelling contingent, as they pressed home their credentials as promotion contenders.
