Epping 1

Enfield Town 2

(Cherry Red Books semi-final)

ESSEX SENIOR league outfit Enfield Town were made to work hard to book their place in the final, as a brave Epping side put on a spirited performance against their more senior counterparts.

A record crowd of 450 fans turned out at Epping's Stonards Hill ground and they witnessed a game in which the visitors should have walked away with ease.

Town got off to a great start and raced into a two goal lead within five minutes. The first came from Daniel Alleyne, after the impressive Daniel Clarke had wriggled away from two challenges to squared the ball for him to slot home.

Moments later Clarke caused further problems when he squared the ball across Epping's six yard box, and following a deflection that both keeper Luke Kingston and Lee Webber attempted to clear, David Allen was able to nip in and bundled it home from close range at the far post.

Things didn't get much better for the home side five minutes later when the team, who were already missing leading scorer Tommy Brinkman, then saw his replacement Adam Sontag limp off.

Despite staring down the barrel of a thrashing, Epping dug in and battled hard to win territory but were unable to fashion many clear chances.

Epping came out in the second half determined to compete and set about their visitors, forcing a series of corners in the first ten minutes.

Their breakthrough finally arrived on the hour, when Danny Bates who was having an increasing influence on the game, was upended by Bradley Brotherton in the penalty area.

While the defender was lucky not to see red for the challenge, Epping captain Steve Poole made sure it was fully punished with a goal as he coolly slotted his spot kick past Town keeper Andy Hall.

It was then game on as the home side created a string of chances that saw Enfield endure 15 minutes of pressure before managing to again impose some authority on the game.

Epping almost went into dreamland as the game drew to a close, when Danny Bates chased a back pass and outstripped the defender, only to have the ball nicked off his toe by the brave Hall at the last.

Complemintary Epping manager Ian Corner said: "Well done to Enfield Town some of their football was excellent to watch and I think their extra quality and experience coupled with our injuries made it a bridge too far for us.

"This cup run has been fantastic for our club, we've gone about four rounds further than we'd have expected and made a few quid for the club."