IT has been a mixed start to the football season for Burnham Ramblers but now manager Keith Wilson is looking forward to the FA Cup.

Ramblers began their Essex Senior League season with a 3-2 win against visiting Enfield 1893 on Saturday.

But that was followed up with a 3-1 defeat away at Bowers and Pitsea on Tuesday night.

But this weekend they have a break from league action when they travel to Cockfosters in the extra-preliminary round of the FA Cup.

Wilson said: “We have got Cockfosters in the cup on Saturday.

“There are about 412 games before the final but it’s the FA Cup and it has that bit of extra spice to it.

“We don’t know anything about them.

“It’s away from home – naturally we would have liked to have been at home.

“But we are going to go there and give it a good go.

“At the end of the day there is a little bit of money to be gained from it.

“If we could get a good cup run going then that is a big thing for a club like us.

“If we could get £5,000-£6,000 out of it then it would help with our finances.”

Burnham Ramblers lost out 3-1 to Bowers and Pitsea in the Essex Senior League on Tuesday night.

Bowers took the lead through Rob Whitnell who slid the ball home on three minutes after Burnham failed to clear the ball.

But the visitors came back strongly with Bradley Nobbs shooting over.

Bowers then went close again through Ross Adams and Tom Hine but they were well saved by Louis Goodwin-Green in the Burnham goal.

The home side created a number of chances before half-time but Goodwin-Green was in fine form.

But Ramblers couldn’t hold out as a scramble from a corner saw Goodwin-Green make a fine double save but Whitnell nipped in for his second.

Whitnell then had a chance to make it 3-0 from the penalty spot after the break but his effort went wide.

But it was Charlie Kirby who was next on the scoresheet to pull a goal back for Ramblers.

However, Bowers made it 3-1 through Luca Frankis to secure the win.

Wilson said: “To be fair they played to their strengths and got the ball forward quickly.

“I have no complaints about the score.

“We came back into it in the second half, Charlie Kirby had a good game all night.

“He had an easier chance than his goal to make it 2-2 bur couldn’t take it.

“They were wobbling and I think if we got it back to 2-2 we would have won.

“But Jake Long, who had a great game all night, made one mistake and they came back and scored.

“You know that as a team have been together for 18 months and we have been together for six weeks.

“We need to work on a few things, we will be back in training tonight and we will go on from there.”

Wilson wasn’t at Burnham’s opening-day win against Enfield but was happy that they opened their account with a win.

He said: “I wasn’t at the game but the reports I have had from Dave and John, who took the match for me weren’t the best.

“No disrespect to the opposition but they weren’t the strongest.

“We have a lot of young lads and in their first competitive match I think a few of them froze.

“But they always say a measure of a good side is to win when you haven’t played that well.

“We will have to wait and see if it turns out that we are a good side.

“But a win is a win.

“And you always want to win your first game.

“It will be a boost to the team and hopefully help to build some team spirit and some camaraderie.”