AFC travelled to Enfield Town’s new ground the Queen Elizabeth ll Stadium in this League Cup tie hoping to avenge the Ryman League defeat of two days previous.

It was the managers’ intention to play a side containing mainly players who have not featured regularly, however these plans were thrown badly disrupted when a number of player became ‘unavailable’ due to a variety of reasons!

In the end there were eleven players on the pitch, with two regular players as substitutes joined by the managers’ sixteen year-old son and two ‘missing’ men.

The new ground has a great pitch with stands around the outside, but inside the running track, but with the main stand someway back making view from a distance somewhat difficult. The various facilities will be good once they get over the initial teething problems.

AFC lined up in what for them is an unusual formation 3-5-2 with Henshaw, Dalby and Darg at the back, Emmanuel, Shinn, Sam Clarke, Docker and Wareham in the middle with Howell and Lorimer up front.

Darg was soon in the action with a couple of clumsy challenges and he had to be spoken to by the referee who told him to calm down. Lorimer and Docker both produced runs against an Enfield vastly changed from the previous game with only one of their starting eleven on the pitch at the beginning of the match.

Darg seemed to be relishing his role at the back and went on a couple of surging runs through the home defence. Docker put in a good cross that Lorimer was unable to control the ball. In the nineteenth minute Dave Wareham crossed for the opening goal. It was deep and looked to be going out over the goal line but Howell did well to head it back across the goal and there was Jon Docker to fire home his first goal for the club. He became the club’s 105th scorer.

Enfield came back and Darg had to be alive to head clear a cross from Bardle, before they replaced Allen with Lockie. The substitute was soon in action and Adam Dalby did well clearing his shot.

AFC should have increased their lead on thirty-two minutes a Shinn corner found the head of Darg but he somehow got under the ball. Enfield replied and Cato was forced across the AFC area and was wrong footed when he shot.

Enfield had the ball cleared of the line from a corner when Emmanuel got in the way of Lockie’s header. Shinn then put in a good cross field ball that found Docker and he in turn crossed into the Enfield box but Howell was just unable to capitalise.

In stoppage time Danny Gay did well when he got down low to save a shot from Cato to send AFC in at the break in the lead.

Half time; Enfield Town 0 AFC Sudbury 1

There was an early change for AFC with Howell going down with a back injury and physio Kim Sayers treated him before James Baker replaced him on forty-nine minutes.

Enfield then had three good chances with Bardle, Ailey and Johnston the players involved. The AFC team seemed to be becoming a little slack and giving the ball away on too many occasions, as on fifty-seven minutes when Henshaw lost the ball and Bardle went through to be thwarted by a good save by Gay.

Bardle went off and Hammant took over before Johnston shot over. Baker had a chance for AFC from a free kick but it went over at the near post. Enfield then had their best chance when Johnston found Cato but Gay was alive to the situation and stood up well to deny him. The AFC keeper then found the same player coming at him and this time he went down well to save.

The visitors increased their lead on seventy-two minutes. Danny Emmanuel was brought down on the right hand side and Shinn’s free kick was headed home powerfully by Darg, his first since his return.

Enfield’s Johnston crossed from the left and Gay rose well to punch away conceding a corner. Docker went off with seven minutes to go and the previously injured Robbie Martin came on for him.

AFC saw out the remaining time to take them though to the Fourth Round of the League Cup on a damp chilly night in Middlesex.