Enfield.............................2

Bishop's Stortford...........1

(Ryman League

Premier Div)

THERE was little to get excited about at Southbury Road on Saturday as Enfield did their best to throw three points away against struggling Bishop's Stortford (Pat Cunneen writes).

Despite controlling the game from start to finish, they were wasteful in front of goal and needed a last-minute header from Steve Darlington to settle things.

Stortford had arrived with only one thing on their minds: to grind out a draw that would have given them a vital point in their quest to beat the drop into division one of the Ryman League.

The E's first tactic was to try and play their way through the masses, but all too often, their passing let them down.

They eventually went ahead through an untidy goal after 18 minutes. Darlington let fly with a stinging shot which brought a fine save from Gavin King. The ball fell straight at the feet of Richard Dunwell, who made no mistake from close range.

At this stage, the home side were completely dominant but could not break through again before the break.

In the second half, the weather began to play its part, the pouring rain making things difficult for the players and officials alike.

It was the referee's decision to book Steve Terry after 70 minutes which led to Stortford's equaliser. From the resultant free kick, a melee broke out in the Enfield box which ended with Dave Greene poking a header past Andy Pape.

The equaliser shocked Enfield into life and, after substitute Darren Annon had come close with a blistering drive, they were finally able to claim all three points thanks to a header from Darlington in the dying seconds.

The E's travel to Sutton on Saturday and have another away league game on Tuesday against Carshalton.

ENFIELD: Pape, Southgate, Protheroe, G Cooper, Terry, Jones, Penn (sub: Annon, 77min), Bentley, Darlington, Dunwell, Deadman (sub: S Cooper, 68). Sub not used: Alleyne.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.