In this replay of the FA Trophy Preliminary round, goals appeared particularly hard to come by despite the 1-2 score line. Having drawn the first and original game 1-1, both sides were hoping that it would be second time lucky. Burnham brought a strong side to Chestnut Avenue led by captain Paul Brett, as both sides battled it out to earn a place in the next round.

The game started with a particularly high energy about it, with both teams looking to open the scoring early on. The quick, energetic play however meant that the formations of the starting XI’s were hard to tell as both Burnham and Northwood looked to be pulled out of shape by the other side. With a goal on everyone’s agenda it was the long ball that appeared to be the popular move in the first few minutes. Everyone was chasing down long, lofted passes which very rarely ended up in a good enough position for either side’s strikers to make anything happen.

In an unattractive opening few minutes there wasn’t too much to be cheering about. One of the rare moments that showed a sparkle of something else came when Northwood’s striker, Leon Osei, worked his way into the Burnham box following some skilful play only to be denied by Chay Morris in the opposition’s goal.

It wasn’t long, however, until both sides began settling into the game and playing some more flowing football. Northwood continued to threaten the Burnham area but the next real chance came through Burnham midfielder, Joe Chandiram, whose header was stopped by the crossbar. Northwood took full advantage of the attacking position that Burnham had gotten themselves in and mounted a counter attack immediately. The move climaxed with a deflected shot from Leon Osei which bounced past the unprepared goalkeeper.

The move appeared to give Northwood confidence as they began to produce more attacks on the Burnham goal. Romaine Walker, playing as part of a three man frontline, worked himself into a number of shooting opportunities but never managed to find the final touch.

After Burnham had taken a moment to accept being 1-0 down, they began to take the fight back to Northwood. With nothing to lose they pushed on forward and created a good amount of their own chances on goal. Ryan Bird had a number of opportunities but he failed to convert them as most were off target.

Northwood began to play a more counter attacking style, but were denied during a three on two break by the referee calling play back for a free kick rather than playing advantage. The free kick was hit straight at the goalkeeper and it appeared to be another wasted opportunity. Both sides continued to create chances but the finishing touches were always left to be desired and the remainder of the half was played out at the same score line.

Burnham bought on Jordan Lumsden over half time in place of captain Paul Brett, in an attempt to find the part of their game that had been missing before the break. The opening minutes of the second half appeared as unsettled as the opening minutes of the first half, with both sides desperate to create opportunities.

The drama grew when, not long into the second half, the Northwood goalkeeper, Mark Britt, attempted to charge down the ball outside of his penalty area. Having mistimed his tackle, Britt dived at the opposition’s feet and rather than catching the ball he only caught legs. The clumsy challenge could have been treated with nothing less than a red card and Mark Britt was given his marching orders. Northwood replaced their absent goalkeeper by bringing on back up Mitch Swain for one of the three strikers, Douglas Kisuule.

The loss had an immediate impact on the game with Ryan Bird scoring a quick header following a Burnham free kick. With the game all square emotions began running high. Small tussles for the ball began turning into pushing and shoving and tackles began flying in left, right and centre. Both sides were really fighting for the win, with Burnham sniffing a comeback and Northwood pressing to regain their lead.

Northwood began to look the stronger of the two sides as they worked a number of chances to take the lead straight back. Leon Osei earned himself a great opportunity to put Northwood back in front and score his second of the game, but having taken the ball round the goalkeeper he then failed to score into an open net from a matter of feet.

A tired looking Northwood side battled on, but it was in vain as it was Burnham who eventually netted the winner. In the final five minutes Burnham’s Yash Romeo hit the ball straight into the back of the net following a rough scramble in the Northwood penalty area. The late goal combined with the intensity of the fixture resulted in more late drama. Following an argument between a number of both clubs players Northwood’s Danny Power received his second yellow card of the night and the red swiftly followed, putting the team down to just 9 men. The argument didn’t stop there as Burnham striker Ryan Bird got too involved and was also shown a red card by a referee who had by now lost control of the players.

When the final whistle eventually went a dejected Northwood slowly wandered off the pitch. Having given away a 1-0 advantage over a 10 man Burnham in the original game, they then lost the decisive replay in a bad tempered match. While the score was kept reasonable, the behaviour on the pitch seemed the main story.

Report by JAMES WILLIS

Photos by James Brown