BURNHAM Ramblers boss Keith Wilson was delighted with his side’s opening pre-season salvo.

The Essex Senior League Leslie Field side began their campaign with a match against visiting Ryman League division one north Tilbury on Tuesday night.

And it was a successful start with a 2-0 victory at Leslie Field thanks to two first-half goals from Charlie Kirby.

Wilson said: “It was a great start, two goals and a clean sheet.

“But let’s not get carried away – it was a pre-season game and there wasn’t any points on offer.

“But, saying that, there were lots of positives from the match and lots of things we can work on for the new season.

“There were pleasing signs and I think I have found a couple of real gems in the summer.”

Despite a number of sides already having games under their belts, Wilson is unconcerned and is focusing on his own plan for the upcoming season.

And the 2-0 win against Tilbury has shown things may be moving in the right direction after their relegation from the Ryman League last term.

Wilson said: “Tilbury had their chances and we had to make a number of really good saves.

“But Charlie scored two goals, he did his best to miss the first one but the second was a good header from a set piece.

“Things have been going well in pre-season with good numbers.

“Other sides have played two or three games before us but I am not bothered about that.

“The lads have worked really hard in pre-season and they have broken the back of it.

“I have a fair idea of how many minutes I want each player to have over the next five games.

“I am only going to take 18 players per game – I don’t think there is any point in just giving players 20 minutes on the pitch.

“I had ten to 12 players not involved on Tuesday night but everyone is going to get a fair crack of the whip.
“We had a triallist game against East Thurrock last Tuesday week, we lost 1-0 but it was more of a training game to give the lads a run out.
“The first real test was this Tuesday night and a lot of players haven’t really played together before.
“We have another big test on Saturday when we host East Thurrock.
“We had a big turnout from local people to support us on Tuesday which was great to see.
“Hopefully we can have similar numbers on Saturday and get a few more people down.
“It is just a case over the rest of the friendlies that the players are ready for the start of the season on August 8.”