The Manor entertained Burnham for this ESL game and it soon became apparent that many of their players were really feeling the effects of the tough match that they had playded against Enfield 1893 on Tuesday night. With a very small squad Manager Kevin Durrant was unable to make many changes .The game was played pretty direct by both sides and indeed these were the right tactics as the pitch was very hard and so getting the ball down and passing was not really an option.

Neither side managed to fashion anything of note in a dour first half. After the interval the Braves replaced a tired Joe May with Courtney Linton and also took off Jerry Nkrumah and Joe Nightingill to give them some respite before the Manor's final game this Saturday away to Bowers & Pitsea.

Chances again were few and far between in this half and when the visitor's did have a strike on goal, Manor's keeper Nick Wilson made an excellent save . Shortly after this Courtney Linton got into a great position to meet a cross from the promising Tony Hadley but was unable to generate sufficient power with his header to beat the Burnham keeper.

A disputed throw-in proved to be the undoing of the Braves as when the ball came in the defence allowed the visitors striker too much space and his shot came off the post to hit the Manor keeper on the elbow and somehow squeezed into the net. This unlucky own goal proved to be decisive and the Manor lost by 1-0. In fairness neither side really deserved to win and a draw would have been a reasonable outcome for the Braves.

The 4 games played in 8 days took its toll on the players and was a big ask by the Essex Senior League of the Manor men. Other sides have also found this cramming of games too difficult at the end of the season, questions need to be asked why the season cold not have been put back a week. Manor Manager Kevin Durrant said " I feel sorry for the lads as they put together a spirited second half performance and I felt they deserved something from the game.

Man Of the Match

Richard Simpson - Assured Performance

The Manor's next game is away to Bowers & Pitsea in the League on Saturday 25th April 2009, kick-off at 3pm.eam:

Steve LAMBERT: Jason FOX, Kieran KING; Jamil SYLLA, Joe ELLUL , Liam ALLEN; Junior YIADOM-KONADU, Fabio JESUS, Manley BROWN (Captain), Jakovo Odasi-Ulkueku, Liam MULCARE.

Substitutes: Tom QUERRY, Alinani MOUNTER , Alan EAMES, Beckley LOUKMAN, Antonio YOTOV, Ricardo AMADO.