3:21pm Wednesday 3rd April 2013
By Adam Newson
After taking six points in the past week, Enfield Town are “almost there” in their battle against Ryman Premier Division relegation according to Towners manager Steve Newing.
Enfield completed a 1-0 victory over Leiston in difficult conditions on Monday thanks to a solitary goal from captain Mark Kirby.
They had been beaten 2-1 on Saturday by Bury Town but a 2-1 surprise victory over Kingstonian the previous Wednesday means the threat of relegation has been eased.
Newing has maintained for many weeks that if his side could reach 44 points they would be “very unlucky to go down”. They are now just three points off that target.
“I would say that we are almost there,” Newing said. “You never know what can happen in football and I wouldn’t say that we are safe until it is mathematically confirmed.
“However, we have given ourselves a really good chance and some of the sides below us would have to go on incredible runs of form in order for us to drop into it.”
He continued: “I am pleased with the three points from the two games over Easter but we probably played better in the game against Bury Town, which we lost.
“The conditions against Leiston were difficult because of the wind. But over the 90 minutes we did create good chances and got the goal.”
With survival almost assured, Newing has set his side a target of reaching 50 points by the end of the campaign.
With six games remaining over the next month, it is certainly an achievable goal and would be a fine way to round off their first season in the division according to the Towners boss.
“I would like us to get to 50 points, which is what I have told the players,” he said. “We have had a strong second half of the season because after the first 21 games we only had 18 points.
“We actually slipped into the relegation zone at that stage but came out of that with a win in our next match.
“Maybe we were a little bit naive in the first half of the season but in the next 15 games we have claimed 23 points and that is enough to be a comfortable mid-table side.
“The aim at the beginning of the season was to stay in the league though. We have nearly done that. So it will have been a good first year in the division.”
A busy run of fixtures for the Towners begins tomorrow (Thursday) as they travel to Hampton and Richmond Borough and then they face an away trip to Harrow Borough on Saturday.
“Hampton are in mid-table and have nothing really left to play for this season,” Newing explained.
“That sometimes can be a good thing though. It gives some teams a freedom to play as they have no pressure on them to get a result.
“Due to a few injuries and a couple of players being unavailable, I will only have a squad of 16 players to choose from and for some of them it will be their fourth match in eight days.
“So that will be a challenge for us and then we have a match against a Harrow side who have not secured their position in the division.
“It will be a battle for us and we will need to put in a good display if we are to get a result there,” Newing added.
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