Enfield Town capitalised on their second-half pressure to edge out our Under-21s on Tuesday night.
In a well-contested pre-season friendly at Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, just down the road from our Training Centre, we deservedly made a breakthrough via captain Reiss Russell-Denny in the run-up to half-time after Lamar Reynolds had given the hosts the lead.
But with wholesale changes made at the break, we found ourselves on the back foot at times in the second period and paid the price just beyond the hour mark when one of Town's trialist players restored his side's advantage. Reiss Elliott-Parris saw a late attempt cleared virtually off the line by defender Ethan Cann in the closing moments, but in truth we struggled to impact the game enough in the final third and it remained 2-1 to our near neighbours.
A healthy crowd packed into the ground as usual for this popular pre-season fixture, which has become a tradition in recent years, and in the first half those in attendance witnessed youngster Luca Williams-Barnett produce a bright performance, often driving into space and playing some clever passes out into the wide areas. After Reynolds blasted wastefully wide for Town early on, it was Williams-Barnett who set up Oli Irow to poke a shot just past the post under pressure for us, but we came unstuck with a long ball down the pitch mid-way through the first period as Tommy Wood flicked a header on for Reynolds, who slotted beyond Sam Archer one-on-one to put his side in front.
Williams-Barnett again threatened, getting to the near post on the left and knocking a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but unluckily for us there was nobody in position to convert. Nevertheless, we persisted with our attacking play and levelled five minutes before the interval when Russell-Denny picked the pocket of Ruaridh Donaldson, ran through and fired routinely past goalkeeper Rhys Forster to equalise.
Williams-Barnett and fellow Under-18s attacker Tynan Thompson were the only players to stay on for the second half as coach Wayne Burnett made nine substitutions at the break, but within seconds of the restart we were in trouble as Town substitute Harry Ludovica was brought down in the box and won a penalty. The same player stepped up to take it, but smashed it against the crossbar.
We weathered the hosts' pressure in the next phase of the game but struggled to impose ourselves at the other end, Elliott-Parris' header from Dan Batty's right-wing cross flying wide of the near post as we conjured up a rare attempt at goal. Seconds later, though, with 61 minutes on the clock, we fell behind once more after a fine solo effort from Town's trialist.
We almost grabbed another equaliser 12 minutes from time when Batty caused problems for substitute goalkeeper Adi Connolly, who was committed in the middle of the box, but when Elliott-Parris latched onto the loose ball and fired towards the empty net, Cann made a vital block to keep the hosts in front. Bayley Brown nearly added a third for Enfield Town in the closing stages but, even in defeat, there were some individual plus points for us on the night, with the new Premier League 2 season looming large.