Burnham lacked their usual intensity in defeat to ‘effective’ Ascot United
Ben Murray admits Burnham lacked their usual intensity in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Ascot United, a result that dropped them from top of the table to fifth in the space of a few hours.
The Blues headed into the clash at the Racecourse Ground at the summit on points difference from their hosts, however, goals from Brendan Matthew and Ollie Harris earned Ascot a deserved victory. Oliver Bishop scored a late consolation from the spot for Burnham, but the Yellamen were able to close shop in the closing stages.
Next up for the Blues are two more away games, at second placed Reading City on Saturday and 17th placed North Greenford United on Tuesday, with Murray targeting a couple of positive results to keep Burnham in the promotion hunt.
“Saturday wasn’t a good game at all,” said Murray. “We had a few illnesses and injuries but there are no excuses as it was the same for the opposition. They didn’t allow us enough time to play football and we made two silly mistakes for their goals, but, overall, it was a fair result just about.
“Intensity wise we just couldn't get going which is frustrating as we've been playing so well.”
He added: “As soon as they scored their second goal, they changed their shape and went more defensive. We could have had a penalty half an hour earlier than we did, but they also had a penalty which they missed.”
The result takes Ascot a point clear at the top with a record of 10 wins and one draw from their 11 games so far, however, Murray stopped short of labelling them the best team in the league. They are, however, an effective side who’ve shown the most consistency so far this season.
“They’re effective at what they do,” said Murray. “I don’t know who the best team in the division is to be honest.
“You would expect it to be them and at home they’ll be hard to beat. They’re effective but they’re not the best footballing side or the most physical side, but they’re strong at set pieces and they have experienced players who serve them well so fair play to them.
“We're in a tough run of games. We go to Reading City away on Saturday and the North Greenford on Tuesday.
“If we can get six points from those two matches, we know we’ll be very much in the hunt, so these games are very important to us. Not being top takes the pressure off us and I'm happy for someone else to deal with that for the next few games.”