Basildon Town 3 Burnham Ramblers 2

Eastern Senior South, Wednesday 3rd August

I was over at Rookery Hill for another Eastern Senior South contest on a beautiful evening and saw a brace from Rhys Fatt help Basildon Town maintain their 100% start to the season after victory over Burnham Ramblers in Corringham.

This was Town's first season in Senior football, and they got that off to a magnificent start at the weekend when thrashing Tower Hamlets 5-0 at Rookery Hill, but this was surely going to be a tougher test against a Burnham Ramblers side who also got their campaign off to a superb start when beating Frenford 3-0 at Leslie Field on Saturday.

A rather average opening to this game exploded into life in the 20th minute when Town got their noses in front as a free kick swung in from the right by Ryan Scougall found player boss Marcus Bowers, and he managed to knock it into the path of Fatt who charged onto the ball before rifling a powerful effort past George Arran Rae in the visitors goal.

And that seemed likely to be the only goal of the first period, that was until Ramblers found a leveller a minute before the break when Adebolu Adeyemi struck an effort at goal which took a sizable deflection, wrong footing keeper Matthew Knight, and nestling into the net, meaning the teams would go into the half time break all square, it sure was a tight affair, which had been expected prior to kick off.

The game though ultimately was decided in a two minute spell just past the hour mark as Town took control and seemingly seal the three points, taking the lead in the 63rd minute when Scougall turned goal scorer this time when his effort took a huge deflection, wrong footing Arran Rae and find the net, and then two minutes later great work by Billy Hutchinson down the right saw him drive into the box, fire across goal, and after that cross had come off a defender and cannoned off the bar, Fatt was quickest to react to plant the loose ball with his head into the net to make it 3-1.

The visitors didn't give up though, and made the last fifteen minutes or so interesting when they pulled one back in the 76th minute after Shemarie Perkins-Palmer burst through and fired a decent effort past Knight to make it 3-2, and now Town suddenly had to dig in somewhat to preserve their lead and the points.

The hosts though did manage to see the game out and keep their opponents at arms length to make it two wins from two and continue their perfect start to life as a Senior club, whereas for Ramblers it was a first defeat of their campaign, both are in league action at the weekend, Town travel to Wingate & Finchley to take on Enfield Borough, whilst Ramblers host St Margaretsbury at Leslie Field.

Full time Basildon Town 3 Burnham Ramblers 2