Attendance: 612

Match report by Ben Austen

It’s back to back defeats for the Stones as they surrendered a half-time lead with goals coming from Enfield skipper Sam Youngs and familiar face, Lamar Reynolds on a chilly Tuesday night in North London.

TJ Bramble nearly gave us an early lead when John Gilbert cut the ball back across the box but his shot was deflected wide of George Barrett’s post. It then became a bit more settled with both sides restricting each other to clear cut chances. Reynolds who we knew would be a constant danger tried to cut outside of David Sesay before scuffing his effort wide.

There were some promising counter attacks with Deon Moore leading the first one as he drove forward with Dajon Golding and Antony Papadopoulos either side of him. Moore opted for the shot which was down the throat of Barrett who managed to hold onto the ball.

Reynolds should probably have put Enfield ahead when he was played through on goal. Nathan Harness did manage to spread himself well and make the block but the ex-Stone somehow managed to put the rebound wide.

It proved to be costly as on the counter, Papadopoulos played a curling ball round the right for Jephte Tanga who timed his run superbly before unselfishly squaring it for Moore who was able to take a touch and pass into an open goal from 5 yards out.

In a series of corners where George Fowler had a very good claim for a penalty turned down by the referee, Riley Court nearly hit a stunning second as he cut inside before unleashing a shot from outside the box which for a second looked to be heading towards the top right hand corner but was just inches wide.

At the start of the second half, the Stones could so easily have made it two in the opening seconds as Tanga laid the ball for Gilbert who looked destined to score but for a stunning low save from Barrett to keep the North London side in the game.

Their resilience was rewarded when the Stones couldn’t deal with a dangerous cross and despite Harness’ best efforts to keep out the initial effort from Youngs, the Enfield skipper was able to pounce on the rebound from close range for the equaliser.

The turnaround was complete just eight minutes later when a low cross fell to Youngs who on the turn, saw his shot denied brilliantly by Harness but it was inevitable to Reynolds would have his say as he scored the rebound from six yards out.

The final twenty minutes played out fairly comfortably for Enfield as the Stones struggled to create anything in the final third and it will have left supporters feeling frustrated. A big performance will be needed on Saturday against Salisbury to restore some smiles around The Gallagher.

Enfield Town: Sam Youngs 63’, Lamar Reynolds 69’

Maidstone United: Deon Moore 41’

Enfield Town: 1. George Barrett, 3. Nino Adom-Malaki, 5. Xavier Benjamin, 8. Sam Youngs (C), 10. Lamar Reynolds (9. Tommy Wood 87 mins), 11. Billy Leonard, 14. Bayley Brown, 15. T’sharne Gallimore, 18. Cian Dillon (12. Oliver Davis 60 mins), 19. Adam Thompson, 23. Joe Kizzi. Subs not used: 13. Adi Connolly, 2. Avan Jones, 7. Ollie Knight, 16. Ruaridh Donaldson, 17. Eli Ackason.

Maidstone United: 1. Nathan Harness, 2. David Sesay, 4. Lexus Beeden (22. Teo Kurtaran 89 mins), 5. George Fowler (C), 6. TJ Bramble, 7. Jephte Tanga, 9. Deon Moore (3. Leo Hamblin 71 mins), 10. John Gilbert (23. Hamzad Kargbo 71 mins), 12. Dajon Golding (14. Kweku Lucan 78 mins), 17. Riley Court, 20. Antony Papadopoulos. Subs not used: 13. Lenny Holden, 19. Ruben Carvalho, 21. Malachi Mbogba.