Enfield Town struck early on to record a narrow 1-0 victory against St Ives Town in a pre-season friendly.

Ryan Blackman scored the only goal of the game after just eight minutes to seal another positive result for the visitors.

Two trialists took to the field for Town alongside a strong line-up that included Lewis Taaffe and Marc Weatherstone.

The goal was the first real action of the game and came when Sam Hatton whipped a dangerous cross into the area that was superbly met by Blackman to notch the opener.

St Ives made a quick response though and almost drew level when a wicked delivery from the left just about evaded everybody, much to the delight of Town keeper Nathan McDonald.

The hosts then got away with one as a Town trialist was sent through on goal before being wiped out by the goalkeeper outside the area. However, the referee only deemed it to be worthy of a yellow card, and Taaffe fired the resulting free-kick off target.

Another narrow escape ensued for the Saints as their clearance rebounded off Taaffe into the path of a trialist with just the keeper to beat, but the linesman was quick to raise his flag and nip any attack in the bud.

Enfield’s final chance of the half fell to Blackman when he was trusted with a free-kick on the edge of the box, but it was well tipped over by the St Ives keeper to keep the half-time score at 1-0.

A string of substitutions at half-time saw Sam Young, Sam Bantick, James Potton, Nathan Livings plus a host of trialists enter the field for the visitors, adding more vital pre-season minutes for the squad.

Ten minutes after the restart Town should have extended their lead, but the home keeper somehow managed to keep them at bay with numerous saves after a mighty scramble in the penalty area.

The visitors saw out the final half an hour without their manager on the touchline, with Andy Leese shown a red card by the referee after a lengthy discussion surrounding a challenge on one of the players.

However, despite some awkward moments, Enfield held on to take the win and preserve the clean sheet as well.

There was, though, some disappointment for Town last week as they lost for the first time this pre-season, 3-2 at home to Hampton & Richmond Borough.

Marc Weatherstone volleyed Town in front after just eight minutes when a corner was flicked on by Bantick, and the lead was doubled before the break when a trialist raced through to slot past Alfie Jones.

However, Hampton & Richmond stormed back after the break as goals from Matty Whichelow, Zak Joseph and Tyron Leathwaite turned the game on its head.

Enfield now face two more games before their season opener, facing Tottenham Hotspur under-23s this Wednesday and Royston Town on Saturday, both at home.