Men's First Team
Isthmian League Premier Division Sat 9 September Queen Elizabeth II Stadium
Enfield Town
2
Bognor Regis Town
2
2-2

Bognor could easily have come away from north London with three points and Blake was convinced his team deserved the spoils but, in fairness, a point for each side was about right in a fabulous feast of football played in sweltering heat at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

Blake shuffled his pack after the disastrous defeat against the Hillians. In from the start came Lucas Pattenden, Dan Gifford, Harvey Whyte and Tobi Ogundega, on loan from Sutton United. Sam De St Croix dropped to the bench. Missing were Kieran Douglas, who was with his wife who is expecting a baby, and the injured Ben Anderson — and from the off the selection looked to have a decent balance to it.

The visitors were on the front foot from the kick-off in front of 560 shirt-sleeved fans and after just 14 minutes Jasper Mather made it 1-0 with a fierce shot following great hold-up play from Gifford. It was no more than the Rocks deserved and with slick passing and attractive patterns of play it seemed as if they were in with a decent chance for an away day victory.

But the hosts, unbeaten in their league campaign so far, brought the score level at 1-1 when Sam Youngs headed home on 23 minutes from Oliver Knight’s ball.

Yet Blake’s charges soon took charge again and both Mather and Jasper Pattenden hit the post before half-time.

Again, it was the visitors who started smartly after the break and Joe Rabbetts stayed cool and calm to slot between Rhys Forster’s legs to make to 2-1 on 52 minutes as he latched on to a perceptive ball down the line.

Enfield played their part in an entertaining affair and chances came and went for both outfits before Bognor were undone by another headed goal. This time James Richmond cashed in on poor marking and an inviting ball in to the box from that man Knight and the close-range header gave keeper Ryan Hall no chance.

As the game reached its climax, Gifford — who wasn’t alone in working tirelessly all game — missed a glorious chance to nod the visitors in front from sub Brad Lethbridge’s cross from the left but he couldn’t connect.

Both teams deserve massive credit for delivering a superb 90-plus minutes in incredible heat and Blake was delighted to heap praise on his players, although he was adamant the Rocks should have departed with three points.

He said: “We asked for a reaction and got just that and I thought overall it was a great display and one which could have easily — and probably should have — given us all three points. But they are a good side and respect to them.

“We’ve drawn three games now that I think we could have won but that’s football. We are not far off at all and we go in to next week’s game, another tough one at Cheshunt, confident that we can continue to grow and get better and better.”

Bognor Regis Town: 1 Ryan Hall, 2 Harvey Whyte, 3 Joe Rabbetts, 4 Calvin Davies, 5 Tobi Ogundega (Danny Howick 67′), 6 Craig Robson, 7 Lucas Pattenden, 8 Matt Burgess, 9 Dan Gifford, 10 Jasper Mather (Dan Smith 89′), 11 Isaac Olaniyan (Bradley Lethbridge 80′). Subs: 12 Dan Smith, 14 Bradley Lethbridge, 15 Danny Howick, 16 Tommy-Lee Higgs, 17 Sam De St Croix.

PIC: TOMMY McMILAN