Burnham Ramblers 4 Coggeshall United 1

Thurlow Nunn Eastern Senior South, Tuesday August 3rd

My first competitive midweek game of the 2021/22 season saw me over at a familiar setting of Leslie Field for a Thurlow Nunn Eastern Senior South match up between Burnham Ramblers and Coggeshall United.

Leslie Field is one of a very limited number (it may even be one of only) senior grounds I have played on (playing for Witham side Valley Green back in 1993 against a Burnham side which we lost 4-3!!!) and back then it had only just been opened, so I have always had good memories of the place, even if we lost that game!!!

It was a gorgeous evening by the crouch too, and a healthy crowd took their place in the stands to see if their side could build on their brilliant 5-0 success over Cornard United at the weekend, whereas the visitors were looking to bounce back from a disappointing 1-4 reverse at home to Wormley Rovers in their opening match on Saturday.

The visitors actually started the brighter, and fired a couple of decent efforts over the bar and sent another one wide of goal, this all in the opening ten minutes or so, however Ramblers found themselves ahead with their first real attempt on goal in the 17th minute when a lovely ball from skipper Charlie Brewer released Adebolu Adeyemi, and the striker rifled a brilliant effort into the roof of the net.

This seemed to settle the hosts down and they doubled their lead just before the half hour mark when great desire from Haziz Kone down the right saw him wiggle into a position to square a ball across the box and find Said Issa who ran onto the ball and fired home from close range, it was good play from both but not the best defending it has to be said.

And three minutes before the break Ramblers looked to have put the game out of The Weavers reach already when after a poor punch from their keeper found Brewer just outside the box, the hosts skipper set himself before firing back past the keeper and beyond two defenders into the net, and Burnham were well on their way to another big home win.

Could the visitors mount an unlikely comeback? Well, they did pull a goal back nine minutes into the second period when the hosts failed to deal with a long bouncing ball, and eventually saw a decent ball whipped into the six yard box where it was swept home from close range, and then there was a time where the hosts became a sloppy and had Coggeshall found another goal, it may have become very interesting.

Ramblers though kept their opponents at arms length and never really looked in danger, and with ten minutes remaining sealed the points when Kone, who had been superb in this game and looks a real decent player indeed, saw a blocked clearance fall to him in the area, and after cutting inside a defender onto his left foot, he fired a super finish inside the near post to cap a fine performance from him and his side.

Things seem to be on the up at Leslie Field, a side buzzing with confidence, and a club that seem to have good vibes coming out of it, it's good to see after what has been a tough time for them over the last few seasons, they sit top of the pile after two games, not a bad start eh?

For The Weavers it's two 4-1 defeats to start the season, not what they would have been hoping, but it's only two games so plenty of time to get it right as they say.

Full Time Burnham Ramblers 4 Coggeshall United 1