Saturday November 7^th 2009 ZAMARETTO LEAGUE DIVISION ONE MIDLAND

BURNHAM  1 LEIGHTON TOWN 1

A rather scrappy game saw Burnham maintain their unbeaten league record, but they had to fight hard to do so. Fielding an unchanged side they had their defender Dave Tilbury booked in the 3^rd minute after a foul on Anton Goss. The defences of both sides gave little away and the keepers had a relatively quiet afternoon. Burnham was awarded a couple of free kicks on the edge of Town’s penalty area and from one of these Will Dunlop headed narrowly wide. The first action from the keepers saw both smothering shots within thirty seconds of each other, firstly Town’s Lee Clark came out to thwart Dean Papali and at the other end Burnham keeper Paul McCarthy did likewise as Ben Gallant bore down on goal. A good cross from Burnham’s Terry O’Connor was headed onto the upright by Ryan Bird, and Bird was just wide after a good move between Paul Coyne and Papali. The visitors went ahead on 28 minutes when a corner on the right from Goss was not cleared by the Burnham defence and as the ball ricocheted around their area, an attempted clearance appeared to strike the legs of JAMES MCNULTY and the ball just crossed the line. Leighton now enjoyed a good spell as Burnham gave the ball away too frequently and Gallant was put through but was muscled out by the home defenders as he tried to create space for a shot. Burnham weathered this and as the interval approached, O’Connor put in a telling cross, which Bird just failed to get on the end of. The equaliser came in the 45^th minute, Leighton conceded a free kick, which they hotly disputed, just outside the area on the right. Stuart Swift delivered a precise ball to the far post where Burnham skipper PAUL BRETT dived to head into the net. Town started the second half well, Dan Walker broke clear but hit his shot straight at McCarthy, then Ben Porter tried his luck from long range to no avail. Burnham then enjoyed a decent spell with a fine move down their left ending with Ben Hudell delivering an excellent cross to the near post where Bird put the ball the wrong side of the post. Town  had their Assistant Manager Peter Clifford, who was a sub but on the bench, red carded for dissent. Porter again had sight of goal but hit a firm shot wide of the mark  The visitors finished the stronger with Craig Kench having their best chance, although right at the death their keeper had to dive at the feet of Bird to keep the scores level.

Man of the Match   Will Dunlop  of Burnham

Entertainment 3/5