Evo-Stik Southern Division One Central                                                   Saturday 5^th November 2011

AFC Hayes 2

Burnham F.C 2

There were plenty of fireworks at Farm Park in a cracking league fixture.

Burnham were in need of a good performance and started well.  Ryan Bird joined Kieran Knight upfront with Ashley Smith operating behind the two on the left and the combination looked dangerous straight away.  With Matt Seedel holding the midfield extremely well with Lee Togwell, it allowed the trio to push very high up the pitch and it didn’t take the Blues long to break down the nervous Hayes defence.  A typical Ashley Smith run down the left resulted in his cross being dropped by keeper Simon Grant straight to the feet of Kieran Knight, who tapped in from close range to give Burnham the lead in the 10^th minute.  Burnham started to dominate and scored a second in the 23rd minute.  Bird, the provider this time with a brilliant cross from the left flag, which found the unmarked figure of Knight once again who smashed it past Simon Grant.  Burnham deserved their two goal lead.  Having already been harshly booked in a previous 50/50 tackle, Ashley Smith was shown a second yellow card before half time for dissent.  He was furious at not being awarded a free kick on the edge on the box when he was blatantly pulled down.

 Ten man Burnham needed to make a change, and indeed Amade two at half time.  Martin Stone replaced the injured David Reading with Chris Robinson and Kieran Knight with Kevin Mealor, leaving Ryan Bird upfront on his own.  AFC Hayes came at Burnham in the second half for the first time in the match, putting the extra man to good use, and in the 52nd minute pulled a goal back when Matt Woods headed in Lewis Achoa's cross from the right.  Now back in the game Hayes sensed Burnham's anxiety and piled on the pressure, as Burnham's only attacking outlet was Ryan Bird, who was working tirelessly upfront.  This was the case for the majority of the second half and Hayes equalized after a string of brilliant Jamie Jackson saves. A last ditch defensive block was eventually smashed in by Matt Woods from just inside the box and to Jamie Jackson's left, who got a fingertip to it but could not prevent Hayes from equalizing in the 62^nd minute.

 Burnham had to dig deep to earn a draw but showed great character and fighting spirit to hold on.   The Blues will feel disappointed they didn’t win the game. Ashley Smith's unfair dismissal completely turned the game on its head, at a point when Burnham were by far the better side and in complete control of the game.  A good performance from Burnham.

 By Ben Fisher