Graham Malcolm hailed striker Dan Burnell after the front man fired Flackwell Heath into the final of the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy final.

The Reds manager watched on as Burnell bagged a brace to help defeat Milton United at Wilks Park on Tuesday evening, with Joe Blount also getting on the score sheet as the Heathens joined Windsor in April’s final.

Highworth Town had also been unable to stop the marksman on Saturday as he scored all four goals in a 4-1 win which left his manager under no illusions as to how important he has been to the team.

“He’s phenomenal, he’s a goal scorer – that’s what he is,” said Malcolm.

“He is the one player, the Aguero for Manchester City, the player you look to. He’s someone that’s better than goalscoring and I think that’s where it gets lost a little bit.

“People just think he scores goals, he’s much better than that. He links the team well, he gives us a new dimension and we’re grateful to have him.

“He didn’t join us until October, but he’s way into the 30s already and the way he’s going he could become the Hellenic League top goal scorer, which is a great feat in itself. He’s only played 15 league games, we’ve played 26 and he’s five behind the leading goal scorer.”

Reaching a cup final is great reward for Malcolm and his team, who are currently 19 games unbeaten in the Hellenic Premier Division and chasing down leaders Highmoor Ibis whom they are ten points behind having played seven games less.

The Heath boss described his side’s form as “nuts” and he is keen to see the team continue their remarkable run until the end of the season.

He said: “I was told the other day that we’ve played 44 games this season and we’ve lost three. One in the FA Cup which you don’t expect to win, one in the FA Vase and one league game. It’s ridiculous.

“It’s a credit to them all that they manage to keep churning out win after win, or getting a point when other teams are after them all the time.

“They’re churning out the results. We’re not brilliant all the time, far from it, but we churn them out week in week out, and it’s a credit to them.”

Fixture congestion would now appear to be Flackwell’s biggest enemy on their run-in with nine matches scheduled on their calendar to be played during March.

“It’s been our problem all year, but we’ve coped with it so far,” he said.

“We’ve got another eight or nine weeks and we’ll try to cope with it as well. If we can carry on coping with it then we will get what I think the club deserves.”