Shyon's show: Dennis leads Burnham to FA Cup victory over rivals Holyport

Burnham’s match winners, Shyon Dennis and David Bamidele. Credit: Burnham FC

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Burnham 3, Holyport 2

In a cup tie blessed with brilliant goals, Burnham’s Shyon Dennis scored a couple of crackers to help guide the Blues through to the preliminary round of the FA Cup at the expense of local rivals Holyport on Saturday.

The Blues have begun their season well, coming from behind to beat Reading City 3-2 with three late strikes in their first Combined Counties Premier Division North clash on Wednesday evening, and they carried that momentum and goal scoring form into Saturday’s cup tie against Port, winning by the same scoreline at the 1878 Stadium.

Burnham now progress to an away match at Ardley United in the preliminary round of this famous competition on Saturday, August 16.

Dennis certainly caught the eye as he showed off his exceptional skillset on Saturday.

His first goal came in the seventh minute, latching onto a header from Jordan Brown and outstripping the Port defence before steering the ball coolly beyond the visiting keeper.

The visitors drew level with an impressive strike of their own in the 72nd minute, Amari Dumont curling home a brilliant free kick from the left edge of the penalty area.

This though, was Dennis’s day, and he won the match for Burnham with two impudent pieces of skill. First, in the 81st minute, he collected the ball on the left touchline, showed his full range of skills as he managed to weave his way past two Holyport players before hammering the ball across the keeper and into the top corner.

Shyon’s second goal for Burnham’s 3-2 victory in the @EmiratesFACup yesterday pic.twitter.com/ltCU6UoAVL

— Burnham Football Club (@BurnhamFC1878) August 3, 2025

Then, less than a minute later, he picked the ball up in a similar position and drew the foul from his marker in the area as he looked to race through on goal again. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and David Bamidele gave the keeper the eyes as he slotted into the bottom right-hand corner.

There was still time for Ramon Rose to volley home a second for Port in the 97th minute, another wonderful strike to cap off an entertaining tie, but it came too late to save Holyport in this season’s competition.

Goals! Burnham’s three against Holyport | Emirates FA Cup EPR 2025https://t.co/dr86q8gra6

— Burnham Football Club (@BurnhamFC1878) August 2, 2025

In contrast to the Blues, Holyport were well beaten in their first league match, going down to a 5-1 home defeat against Wokingham Town in a match which saw Port reduced to nine men following the dismissals of Alvin Walters and Gerson Dos Reis.

Port had taken the lead at Summerleaze through Liam McVicar’s 19th minute strike before it all went badly wrong.

Burnham’s Shyon Dennis and Bamidele both spoke to the club following their match winning exploits on Saturday.

“The first goal was a long ball into Jordan, and I’ve gambled, he’s won the flick on, and I was through on goal and have put it away. It was a good finish,” said Dennis.

“It was a good goal to get in front, and it gave us a bit of momentum. The second goal, I received it in the middle, and I was driving at their full back. I chopped back and made it into the box and had a shot. I thought the second goal was really good because it shows what my game is all about. All the one v ones and the tricks.”

Bamidele added: “It’s a big privilege to play in this tournament at my age. Coming off the bench, the gaffer told me one thing - ‘kill the game’.

“Shyon did his thing and won us the pen. So, from the moment the pen was won, I had one thing in my mind. Kill the game. When I walked up, I had a smile with the keeper, there were a bit of mind games. I practice these set pieces. I have my usual run up and I guided it into the right, easy. It was a really good experience playing in the FA Cup.

“I looked at the ball. I looked at the keeper last minute, but my eyes were on the ball.”