A SECOND-HALF header from George Smith was enough to secure Maldon and Tiptree a hard-fought 1-0 win against Enfield, writes LEE WITNEY.
Following the defeat at the hands of Bury Town, Jammers boss Liam Bailey made three changes to the starting line-up as he looked to freshen things up with a heavy schedule on the horizon, with Frankie Edwards, Louie Remi and Shane Temple coming in.
It took 16 minutes for either side to register the game's first effort, with Enfield’s Callum Taylor putting a free-kick wide.
Maldon’s first opportunity came with 25 minutes played from a corner, which was well won by Smith.
Temple connected with the resulting set-piece having done well to get free of his man, but could only side foot the ball wide.
The outstanding moment of the game came with just over half an hour played, thanks to a sensational save from Enfield keeper George Edgeworth.
Harry Phillips' free-kick was cleared as far as Remi who forced the ball goalwards only to be denied by a seemingly stricken Edgeworth, who threw himself towards his own goal and sensationally clawed the ball away.
Within minutes of the start of the second half starting, Maldon were ahead thanks to Smith’s 17th goal of the season.
Phillips wickedly swung in a free-kick and found Smith at the back post, with the in-form marksman heading home to the delight of the travelling support.
The Jammers nearly doubled their lead with 55 minutes gone as Remi's free-kick was cleared only as far as Harrison Chatting on the edge of the box.
Chatting let fly and was unfortunate to see his effort just shave the crossbar and go over.
Enfield nearly equalised just before the hour when Frankie Franz slid the ball through to Bates who raced through on goal, but put his effort wide of Luca Collins’ goal.
Remi nearly made the points safe with 15 minutes to go, but he sliced the ball wide at the back post with the goal at his mercy.
The relief among the Maldon contingent to see the assistant had raised his flag for offside was palpable.
Edgeworth was at his best again to deny Phillips in the dying moments, diving away to his right and throwing up a hand to keep out a fierce effort from the Jammers’ playmaker.
There was one last scare to overcome, and it was a big one at that as Collins came to collect a seemingly harmless ball, only for it to bounce over him and towards goal before he recovered and pawed the ball away as the points were finally secured.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here