Burdon’s instant impact

There’s nothing quite like the local lad scoring a last-gasp winner to get the crowd going.

Luke Burdon delivered on Monday, five minutes after coming on, as Ashford beat East Grinstead 2-1 at Homelands.

Manager Tommy Warrilow is committed to giving youngsters a chance and Burdon, who started Saturday’s goalless draw at Corinthian, is determined to make his count.

“Luke’s another local lad who’s done really well,” said Warrilow.

“He deserved his start on Saturday and then he’s come on Monday and popped up with the winner.

“He’s learning his craft and it’s important for people to see if you’re good enough, you’ll get a chance.

“Me and Luke talk a lot, he knows he’s got to work hard and hopefully he’ll keep progressing.

“Mamadou Diallo’s another one. He came in for an academy trial and basically we asked him to come back and train with the first team.

“He’s come back from Portugal and is living in Ashford now. It’s not about being young, the bottom line is are you good enough? If you are, you’ll get chances.”

Ashford worked hard for their point at Corinthian and showed character to beat East Grinstead after Tommie Fagg’s first-half opener was cancelled out by an 88th-minute penalty from Troy Walters.

The Nuts & Bolts remain unbeaten in Isthmian South East and performances will only improve.

Warrilow said: “Saturday was a tough game. We defended well but we never got into any rhythm.

“We had to deal with the way they set up and fair play to them. They play to their strengths and on the day we didn’t create enough.

“It’s a valuable point bearing in mind Corinthian are new to the league, they started well at Hythe and they’re an unknown quantity. You can see why they’re going to upset a few teams.

“Monday was much better, we should have come in at half-time out of sight.

“We’ve given away a cheap penalty with two minutes to go but showed great resilience and character to carry on and get a 90th-minute winner.

“We’ve started with seven points out of nine, and the boys haven’t hit their stride yet, so we have to be pleased.”

Goalkeeper Tyler McCarthy has played the last two games after signing from Carshalton to replace the injured Luke Carey.

Carey suffered a triple elbow fracture in last week’s FA Cup defeat by Chatham, with no date set for his return.

Warrilow said: “I tried to get him in the summer, along with Jordan.

“We don’t know how long Jordan will be out, and we don’t want to rush him back, so I didn’t want to just settle for anyone. We know what we’re getting with Tyler.

“It’s good to get him on board. When Jordan comes back, they’ll be competing for the shirt.”

Ashford are without a game this weekend.