You may have had enough of these reports referring back to Ware’s injury problems. Repetition can be a little trying but even if you discount Herbie Townsend, whose absence is sufficiently long term for it not to be of immediate consequence, there were still three first team regulars missing from the line up for this game. Add to that Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo whose total of five yellow cards (some brought with him from his time at Cheshunt) meant he was suspended and it was clear that Paul Halsey still has a problem putting out a team that can challenge in the league.
The solution on this afternoon of winter chill, with a wind blowing up the pitch and bringing with it occasional rain in a fine spray, was to concede possession and territory up to the final third and rely on break outs from defence. It was a policy that was nearly undone right at the start of the match when a deflected shot hit the Ware cross bar. As it turned out that was the closest Heath came to scoring in the rest of the match.
At the other end of the pitch there was much reliance on Theo Ofori to exploit his speed and skill to out run the home defence. He lived on the edge, hanging along the back line of the Flackwell defence ready to chase any balls sent up for him. Inevitably there were plenty of times when he was given offside at least one of which was something of a surprise to those keeping a close watch on his positioning.
There again Ofori was waved on from what did look like an offside position and might have scored. He took the ball down the right, came in to the penalty area, rounded the keeper but saw his shot cleared from the line by a backtracking defender. Had he scored it would have been a great goal, as it was Reece Beckles-Richards was left to “suggest” that the ball should have been passed to him in a better scoring position.
Ware’s top scorer needn’t have worried. A fresh break after 34 minutes which Beckles-Richards initiated from near the halfway line saw Ofori onto Jay Rolfe’s through ball. Outpacing a defender he turned to find Beckles-Richards in the penalty area after he’d made rapid progress from his original involvement. The number nine took Ofori’s pass and shot past the diving Henry Upstell for the lead before going to Ofori to acknowledge his assist in the goal. All’s well that ends well.
Ofori was also tackling back when the demand rose, as it did towards the end of the half when Ware had their backs to the wall. When that happened the defence rose to the challenge mostly keeping the home side at a distance.
Shots were attempted but too often went wide and when they didn’t Max Woodford was there, once making a good block with his body at the expense of a corner. And the corners came in with regularity but were cleared with equal regularity though not without the thought that surely sooner or later Heath would surely get an equaliser. As a measure of the difference in approach to this game, Ware didn’t have one corner in the whole match.
As the game wore on Ofori was withdrawn. He’d done his bit and possibly welcomed the rest. This changed the Ware approach and meant that we saw more of Rechan Esprit who, whilst not chasing forward and back as Ofori had done, made his presence felt. Not least when he took the ball forward, evaded defenders and came in close to goal. His shot though was driven just wide of the post when he looked likely to score.
Mostly though this was a game of the Ware defence and against Flackwell’s attack. As in the first half there were close calls but mostly the home side were restricted to long range efforts whilst anything more penetrating was dealt with by Woodford. It was Ware’s second clean sheet on the trot.
Coming on in the second half was new signing Jack Taylor who had played against the Heathens last Saturday in his sixteenth and last appearance for Enfield. Injuries may remain a problem but Halsey continues to look for players to fill the gaps.
Line-ups and cards
Ware: Max Woodford, Gabriel Ward, Josh Okotcha, Sami Moutawafiq, Jay Rolfe, Jack Grosvenor (C), Rechan Esprit, Max Granville (Jack Taylor 72mins), Reece Beccles-Richards (Josip Jevdic 91mins), Theo Ofori (Gabriel Chapps 63mins), David Sota. Unused subs: Freddie Higgs, Andrew Bennett.
Yellow card: Max Granville 62mins.
Flackwell Heath: Henry Upstell, Ryan Avery, Lewis Patrick (Medo Konte 87mins), Lewis Pegg (C) (Harry Mepham 87mins), Callum Mapley, Sean McGuinness, Nnaemeka Anyanwu (Jamie Ayres 77mins), Matty Ayres, Juwon Akintunde, Jack Shakespeare, Lucas Wynn (Eli Grant 72mins). Unused sub: Ben Stallard.
Yellow card: Lewis Patrick 64mins.
