Burnham have done their homework on Stormzy and Zaha backed AFC Croydon Athletic

Credit: Glenn Alcock

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Burnham may not have won in six Combined Counties Premier Division North matches; however, boss Ben Murray believes there’s plenty for the Blues to be optimistic about this season.

The side may have slipped off the coattails of the league’s promotion hopefuls, however, Murray can’t fault the effort and application of his players in recent weeks.

Late goals have cost them crucial points in 2-2 draws against Egham Town and North Greenford United, while they were beaten 3-2 in dramatic and controversial circumstances by Flackwell Heath at the weekend.

These results have seen them slip down the standings, however, six of their 10 matches so far have come away from the 1878 Stadium – a logistical result of the ground share agreement they currently have with Southall.

That’s meant the Blues have been on the road more than Murray would have liked this campaign, but he’s seen plenty of promise in their performances and was happy with the character they showed to pushed Flackwell all the way on Saturday with only 10 men.

He’s hoping that in time, and with more matches to come on home turf, the Blues can demonstrate they’re one of the best sides in the division and push back up the table.

They currently sit ninth in the standings ahead of a home game against AFC Croydon Athletic – the team owned by rapper Stormzy and former Premier League footballer

Wilfried Zaha – in the FA Vase on

Saturday, 3pm kick-off.

“I can’t fault the lads at all, I think our character and style of play has been good,” said Murray. “We’ve stuck to our plan in games. We’ve played an awful lot of away games in a row. Our fixtures have been impacted by Southall ground sharing with us, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s just been a lot of away games in a short space of time and it will be nice to have a few home games because we know we can do the business on our pitch.

“Considering the games, we’ve had. In the Risborough game, the North Greenford game and now the Flackwell game, we’ve conceded in the last minute. That’s unfortunate, I don’t think there’s any theme within that or we would have acted on it. It’s just the way the games have gone.

“We’re an attacking style team, and we showed that even with 10 men on Saturday. We want to showcase our style of play and it’s just been unfortunate that we’ve conceded those goals at that time.”

On the FA Vase game against Croydon, Murray added: “Yeah, it’s a big game for us. This is the first proper home game we’ve had in six or seven weeks. We’re buzzing about that. It’s a great opportunity. Croydon will be a tough team and they’ve had a lot of backing financially from Stormzy. We’ve done our homework on them so we’re looking forward to it.”