Enfield 2, Bognor Regis Town 1: Rocks' unbeaten run comes to an end

Jason Prior celebrates with Sorre Nilsen after his goal. Picture by Roger Nash

The Rocks eventually went down 2-1 after having opened the scoring on 25 minutes with another Jason Prior goal. But a quick response from the lively home side saw them pull two goals back.

The build up to the game could not have been worse for the visitors as traffic congestion on the M25 meant that the kick off was put back to 8pm, with some of the team not arriving until 45 minutes before the start with matters being compounded by the absence of key players Harvey Whyte and Alfie Rutherford through illness.

Bognor looked sluggish during most of the First Half, which is not surprising given the number of games they have been playing and is was very much against the run of play when a breakaway by Rocks midfielder Snorre Nilsen saw him slot a great low pass to Jason Prior who at his second attempt, managed to score.

However, the lead did not last long when the lively Corey Whitely equalised for Enfield when he latched onto a clearance from a corner to fire low into the Rocks net. Four minutes later, the home side deservedly took the lead when captain Mark Kirby fired in following a rare defensive error following an Enfield free kick.

Bognor came out in more determined mood at the start of the second half and took the game to Enfield. Craig Robson came on for Daryl Wollers in the 50th minute and just after this, Jason Prior nearly equalised from a free kick which took a deflection, but Nathan McDonald in the home goal just managed to save. Bognor were pressing which meant that the game was very open with chances falling to both sides, but Sami El Abd had a real opportunity to level things up but his header from a few yards out went straight to the home keeper. Near the end, Enfield should have extended their lead, but Harry Ottaway could only blaze over the bar from just 10 yards out. On 90 minutes plus, El Abd for Bognor once again found himself free close to the Enfield goal but could only fire straight at the home keeper.

Clearly Bognor will be disappointed to have lost their unbeaten record, but they certainly battled hard and tried to play the flowing football for which they are rightly famed. They still have games in hand and although they have a string of difficult games coming up, there is still everything to play for.

Rocks line-up: Grant Smith 2. James Crane 3. Daryl Wollers (sub. 16 Craig Robson 50 mins) 4. Doug Tuck 5. Sami El-Abd 6. Chad Field 7. Snorre Nilsen (subbed 73 mins for 12 Alex Parsons) 8. Dan Beck (subbed 70 mins for 14 Gary Charman) 9. Jason Prior ( c ) 10. Ollie Pearce 11. Brandon Joseph-Buadi: Subs not used: 15. Stuart Green

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