TWO unbeaten sides met in Burnham and Minehead looked under par as suffered their first loss of the season.

They took the lead in only the third minute when Rob Vickers found Branden Simsek and he ran in on goal and slotted the ball home with aplomb.

A head injury to a Burnham forward appeared to blunt their effectiveness up front, and without ever playing at their top level Minehead bossed the game with the home team looking to score on the break.

On 25 minutes, a good delivery from a free-kick by Dan Vickers saw them increase their lead when a defender headed into his own net.

There didn’t appear to be any way Minehead could throw away a two-goal advantage, but just five minutes before half-time Burnham halved the deficit.

The second half saw Minehead still having the majority of the play, and Toby Waghorn provided some lively play on the right, but a combination of missed chances and poor defending resulted in Burnham moving 3-2 ahead with two more goals.

The last 15 minutes saw more pressure from the Blues but it was too little too late.

If they are to maintain a title challenge, they will have to play better on Sunday at the Rec when they host Priory Pumas from Weston-super-Mare for the first time.

Minehead U18s: Jack Harding, Jake Hill, Dan Vickers, Toby Morris, Tristan Hawkins, Branden Simsek, Callum Barnfield, Rob Vickers, Samir Abraham, Sam Bruford, Olly Jones, subs Toby Waghorn, Jack Evans (both used).