Burnham Ramblers 1 Harwich & Parkeston 2

Thurlow Nunn League Division One South, Saturday April 16th

I was over at Leslie Field on Easter Saturday to see goals from Declan Kama and Joe Boreham-Knight hand Harwich & Parkeston victory over Burnham Ramblers and severely dent the hosts chances of a playoff spot in the process.

The hosts had occupied the final play off spot in the division and had spent a lot of the season inside that top five, however a devastating 4-2 loss at Halstead Town last time out had seen the Humbugs replace Ramblers in that final spot, but Ramblers knew that a win today of any kind would see them go back above Halstead on goal difference with one game remaining for both on Monday, leaving things in Burnham's hands.

Anything less than that though and Halstead would be in the driving seat going into Monday's season finale in the division, and it would not be an easy task for the hosts today as they were up against a Harwich side who on their day are a match for most in the division, and they had beaten Halstead a few weeks ago too, and came into this contest after ending a run of two losses with a thumping win over Coggeshall United.

Saying all that though the hosts should have been confident enough to get the result they needed here, their form prior to that loss at Halstead was very good, six games unbeaten, five wins and netting ninteen goals in those games too, whereas in the same period Harwich been very up and down, netting big wins against Newbury Forest, Cornard United and Coggeshall United, but suffering heavy losses to Holland, Wivenhoe Town and AFC Sudbury Reserves.

So, would Burnham take control of this encounter and ease the nerves that were apparent around the ground and amongst the home side, well sadly this never really happened and hosts certainly looked nervous and this really affected their performance somewhat, but also the visitors snuffed out most of Ramblers play and really did not allow them to get a foothold on the ball.

And seven minutes before the break disaster for the hosts arrived when Harwich got their noses in front when a cross from the left took a deflection off a defender and was heading towards the far corner, but just before it got their Kama was on hand to help the ball over the line just to make sure and give his side the half time lead.

The hosts cut a very frustrated outfit as they trudged off down the tunnel and into the dresssing room, no doubt a few choice words and frank discussions were had, they needed to find some sort of spark to turn this one around as they needed the three points so desperately, but Harwich had other ideas and continued to put in a very decent showing, frustrating and stifling anything Ramblers wanted to try and achieve.

Things got worse for the hosts with just under fifteen minutes remaining when Levi Griffiths was shown a straight red card after a high challenge which left his opponent with a very swollen left eye, it was certainly a dangerous challenge although clearly not intended so many were surprised to see the red card brandished, but maybe the referee felt he had no choice but it certainly appeared it would not be Ramblers day.

This was confirmed with 89 minutes on the clock when Harwich doubled their money to seal this contest when after a free kick, which by the way should have been awarded the other way in my view, was swung into the box by Steven Polley and found Boreham-Knight to nod a downward header into the corner and cap a fine performance from the visitors.

There were still several minutes of stoppage time to follow though, and six minutes into this Burnham won a penalty after Adebolu Adeyemi was brought down just inside the area, and Samir Ali stepped up to convert the spot kick but sadly for the home side it wad far to little to late, and soon after the referee blew to end proceedings meaning back to back defeats for the hosts at the absolute wrong time of the season.

It all means that Halstead will clinch the final play off spot if they avoid defeat at home to Coggeshall United, whereas Burnham will hope they lose that one and they win at Cornard United on the final day on Monday, it's not over yet as they say but Halstead are favourites to claim it now you would think. Still whatever happens it's been a superb season from the hosts and after a few tough years at the club they are now certainly heading in the right direction once again.

Harwich will welcome newly crowned Champions Ipswich Wanderers to their Royal Oak ground for the final game of the season on Monday, they can certainly build on their last two outings and try and end the season with three straight wins and end the campaign by handing the Champions a rare loss, that's surely something they can aim towards no doubt and finish their season on a high.

Full time Burnham Ramblers 1 Harwich & Parkeston 2