Over 1,000 fans pour into Stag Meadow to watch Windsor & Eton take on Burghfield

Windsor & Eton 0, Burghfield 0

Windsor & Eton hit the woodwork three times as they missed the chance to pick up a victory in their first home Thames Valley Premier League fixture on Saturday.

Over 1,000 spectators poured into Stag Meadow to see Matt Angell’s men take on Burghfield this afternoon and were quick to snap up a cold drink and a good view of the action under the warm sunshine.

In a first half dominated by Windsor, Sam Knight registered the first shot – a tame effort which the Burghfield ‘keeper was able to save comfortably.

Isaiah Chase-Kelly exhibited his pace on the right wing in the 15th minute, bolting after the ball and laying it off nicely to Dobbs before the defender was denied the chance to shoot by a man in blue.

The home side had the ball in the back of the net after 20 minutes, but disappointedly the offside flag was up, as an overeager Chase-Kelly slid in Knight who finished with aplomb.

Knight came close to opening the deadlock moments later with a lobbed effort before Burghfield’s number nine had brief possession in Windsor’s box.

The visitors’ number two was alert to clear a shot off the line in the 32nd minute and Windsor substitute Ben Anderson was strongly stifled by the opposing stopper soon after.

As the opening 45 minutes drew to a close, Knight struck the post with a cool effort following some impressive football down the right side of the pitch, and Anderson rattled the frame of the goal himself next as he, maybe too casually, went to tap home a low ball across the box.

Burghfield came out after the interval with renewed optimism and called George Armstrong into action early on, the ‘keeper forced to hit the deck in order to save a shot.

Windsor’s defence had a lucky escape next as one of the visiting side’s wingers got the better of Elliott Dobbs before he launched the ball out of play in the 64th minute.

Chances thereafter were at a premium with the ones that arose for Windsor either squandered or comfortably dealt with by Burghfield’s ‘keeper.

In the final 10 minutes of normal time, Dobbs missed from close range, Anderson and Beech nodded wide, and the ball clipped the post.

“Burghfield came here with a plan today. They sat back in numbers, we found it quite hard to break them down and when we did break them down, we missed the target, hit the post, or we fluffed our shot,” said Windsor & Eton boss Matt Angell.

“The boys tried their hardest and I am really proud of them today. I expect them to get better and better as the season goes on. We have only been together for five weeks after all.

“Having the community behind us, having that many supporters behind us today was absolutely fantastic and I hope they enjoyed what they saw. The boys huffed and puffed and didn’t quite get the result we were after but I don’t think it will be long until we pick up a win.”