Julio Enciso smashed in from 30 yards to make the scoreline between Town and Everton at Goodison Park 2-1 to the home side at half-time, Beto and Dwight McNeil having scored earlier on for the Toffees.

Town made two changes from the team which lost 3-0 at Newcastle last weekend with Omari Hutchinson and Conor Chaplin returning to the side.

In manager Kieran McKenna’s 150th league game in charge of the Blues, Hutchinson was back from his hamstring injury wide on the right with Ben Johnson dropping out following his red card at St James’ Park.

Chaplin made his first start since the Newcastle home game in December as the number 10 with Enciso moving to the left-sided role and Jack Clarke dropping to the bench.

Kalvin Phillips was back also among the subs after his achilles issue, as was Axel Tuanzebe, who was rested last week. Jens Cajuste was also again among those on the bench, as was ex-Everton defender Ben Godfrey and youngster Somto Boniface for the third game running.

Everton made two changes with Abdoulaye Doucoure out of the 20 and Jack Harrison among the subs and McNeil and Carlos Alcaraz coming into the side. Summer Blues target Armando Broja was on the bench, as was Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who was back after a hamstring injury.

Ahead of kick-off the home support displayed tifos and gave the teams a ticker-tape welcome as they took to the field in what had been declared ‘Supporters Day’ with the match the penultimate fixture at Goodison Park.

Once the game got under way, with the Blues in their rarely worn Burgundy second kit, Liam Delap, with Everton another of the many clubs reported to be interested in signing him this summer, burst forward from halfway in the fifth minute after a loose pass but slipped over as he shot from the edge of the box having failed to look up and spot Enciso in space to his left.

On seven, Jacob Greaves, again at left-back, did well to put a foot in to intercept McNeil’s ball through to Beto and was caught late by the Guinea-Bissau international’s studs, however, referee Lewis Smith failed to spot the foul.

From the corner, Jarrad Branthwaite headed back across the box but Beto nodded weakly to Alex Palmer.

In the 14th minute, with the Toffees well in control but with the game having the lack of intensity typical of an end-of-season dead rubber, Beto looped a header well over.

Town broke down the right a minute later, Hutchinson squeezing over a low cross which Delap tried to heel-flick towards the far corner but the England U21 international was unable to make significant contact.

The Blues briefly began to see more of the ball and in the 21st minute Hutchinson struck a shot which cannoned out to Enciso on the left of a defender but the on-loan Brighton man shot well over.

Three minutes later, Nathan Patterson shot straight at Palmer when in space on the right of the area with the Toffees again putting Town under pressure.

On 25, Iliman Ndiaye’s shot was blocked, then with the Blues failing to clear their lines, Beto almost played in Alcaraz with a flicked header.

But home fans only had to wait another minute for a goal with the same two players combining. Alcaraz crossed from the left and Beto headed across Palmer into the far corner having found space between Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess.

Three minutes after the goal, Delap and Jake O’Brien clashed in the left corner at the Town end and both were booked.

Within a minute, Delap had collided with Branthwaite as they went for a bouncing ball with the Everton defender left on the ground and the home fans calling for a red card. Referee Smith decided otherwise, although spoke to the Town striker, and VAR agreed.

Morsy joined Delap in the referee’s book on 33 for a foul on Ndiaye, then two minutes later the Toffees increased their lead.

McNeil, out of almost nothing, unleashed a shot from 25 yards from out towards the right which seemed to catch the motionless Palmer out as it beat him to his left, either due to a deflection of Burgess or just the curl on the ball.

Enciso shot into Jordan Pickford’s arms in the 37th minute, then two minutes later had an even better opportunity, taking the ball into the box on the left but scraping his shot into the side-netting when he should have scored.

But a minute later, the Paraguayan international did bag his second goal for the Blues, and what a strike it was.

The 21-year-old brought the ball forward a few paces centrally before smashing a 30-yard effort which beat Pickford and struck the underside of the bar and nestled in the net.

Town had looked down and out at 2-0 and it looked like a case of how many goals Everton might score, but suddenly the Blues were back in it.

And from an Enciso corner in the 44th minute, they weren’t too far from a second, the ball falling to Dara O’Shea, who stabbed ahead to Greaves on the edge of the six-yard area but the ex-Hull City man was unable to get in a clear shot at goal with his back to goal.

That was the last action of a half which had started slowly following the pre-match festivities, as perhaps wasn’t a surprise with neither team having much to play for.

But the first Everton goal and Delap’s clashes with Everton defenders upped the atmosphere and the tempo of the game.

The Toffees’ second goal seemed to have settled the game and put the home side on their way to a comfortable win, but Enciso’s excellent strike - although he will feel he also ought to have scored his effort a moment or two earlier - breathed new life into the Blues and the match.

Everton: Pickford (c), Mykolenko, Branthwaite, O’Brien, Patterson, Gana, Garner, Alcaraz, Ndiaye, McNeil, Beto. Subs: Virginia, Keane, Calvert-Lewin, Harrison, Chermiti, Young, Broja, Coleman, Iroegbunam.

Town: Palmer, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Morsy (c), Taylor, Hutchinson, Chaplin, Enciso, Delap. Subs: Walton, Phillips, Cajuste, Luongo, Hirst, Tuanzebe, Godfrey, Clarke, Boniface. Referee: Lewis Smith (Preston). VAR official: Paul Tierney.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

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