Fabian Driffill hopes to nail down place in Flackwell Heath's starting XI

Fabian Driffill. Photo: Glenn Alcock

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Striker Fabian Driffill staked his claim for a starting place in Flackwell Heath’s promotion drive this season after scoring twice in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Burnham at Wilks Park.

The forward has struggled to nail down a starting berth in the side this season, a result of being injured and unavailable alongside the form of new signings Marcus Mealing and Jethro Odumosu.

However, with Mealing and Odumosu both unavailable on Saturday, Driffill grasped his chance with both hands, scoring twice in the first half to put the home side on course for their eighth victory of the season.

The path to all three points wasn’t exactly smooth, with the hosts falling behind early on, before being pegged back to 2-2 by their visitors in the second half, Anas Igozouln grabbing both of their goals. Burnham were also reduced to 10 men in the first half when Ryan Murad was shown a straight red card for a late lunge on Heathens’ keeper Jack Brooker. However, the home side kept plugging away and Driffill’s second half replacement, Abdel El Jalaoui grabbed the winner in the final seconds of the game.

Reflecting on the game afterwards, Driffill said: “It was competitive, no doubt. It was a match we really wanted to win after our defeat on Tuesday.

“I feel like the boys played well today, apart from the start of the game, but the boys dug deep, and we got the three points which is good.

“Obviously, it’s nice to score goals. I haven’t scored goals for a while, which is quite annoying. I was injured for a little bit, and then away which stopped me from getting in the squad, but hopefully those goals will help me get back into the squad.

“You could hear how much it meant to both sets of fans. They obviously wanted to win it as much as us. They didn’t get the result so it’s one of those days for them. But, like I said, we’re focusing on trying to get promoted this season. We’ll take each game, week by week and try to get as many points as possible.”

Driffill scored again as the Heathens advanced past Holmer Green in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup on Tuesday night. Ayres side came from behind to win 3-1 and set up a home tie with Slough Town in the third round.

While Flackwell currently sit third in the Combined Counties Premier Division table after Saturday’s win, defeat sees the Blues drop to ninth in the table. They now turn their attention to FA Vase action, with AFC Croydon Athletic the visitors to the 1878 Stadium on Saturday.

Flackwell host leaders Rayners Lane at Wilks Park on Saturday.