MATCH REPORT | Hemel Town 3 - 0 Enfield Town

Written by Ollie Heathcote

Hemel Hempstead Town 3 (Matthews-Lewis 24, Vilhete 29, Rowan 62) Enfield Town 0

Hemel Hempstead Town secured a convincing 3-0 victory at home to Enfield Town on a bitter evening at the Focus Community Arena.

Whilst kick off to the game was delayed until 20:30 due to a local power outage, goals from Millar Matthews-Lewis, Mauro Vilhete and Charlie Rowan’s first goal for the club ensured a comfortable victory in a game filled with dominance for the home side.

It was a quick start to the game by the Tudors, who worked the ball well into promising areas. This was shown as Samuel Adenola had a variety of crosses into the area, with Joe White unable to convert in the eighth minute with a toe poked effort into the gloves of Hubert Graczyk. Whilst a lot of the first half proved to be a physical battle between the two teams, Hemel continued to threaten the Enfield goal with a powerful effort from George Williams forcing a Graczyk save to push the ball away from danger.

Whilst the lack of goals proved to be a key difference in previous results, the Tudors silenced the critics with a breakthrough in the 24th minute. A fantastic ball over to Joe White forced another save by the Enfield goalkeeper, as Millar Matthews-Lewis tapped home into an empty net to give the Tudors the lead. Just five minutes later, the advantage was doubled as Matthews-Lewis was played down the right channel, before passing the ball to an unmarked Mauro Vilhete.

The winger was able to fire his close range shot high into the net to make it 2-0, with the hosts in control of the first half. Whilst Enfield did push towards the end of the half, a couple of efforts were unable to find the back of the net which proved to be the final action of the first half.

The second half proved to be like the first, as the Tudors remained in control of the game. The home side continued to keep possession of the ball well whilst also retrieving possession well when they did not have the ball. Whilst chances proved rare in the opening 15 minutes, the Tudors were able to make it 3-0 in the 62nd minute. A free kick from George Williams found the foot of Matthews-Lewis who shot straight at Graczyk. However, the goalkeeper palmed the ball straight into the path of Charlie Rowan who poked the ball in on the rebound.

Six minutes later, Enfield had their first opportunity of the second half through substitute Lamar Reynolds. After receiving the ball on the edge of the area, he curled his effort wide of the mark. Adenola continued to be a key part of the action for the Tudors as his left footed shot curled wide of the post. Despite the constant pressure from the hosts, the Towners did have attempts at goal, with Olly Davis curling his free kick straight at Michael Johnson.

The closing stages of the game saw Enfield have their best attempt of the game, as a corner found the head of an unmarked Henry Hawkins. His close range header landed on the roof of the net before a Sam Youngs shot from the edge of the area proved to be a simple save for Johnson. The Tudors did have attempts of their own with Adenola’s shot taking a deflection to divert the ball behind for a corner, which proved to be the final action of the game.