Accrington Amateurs 4 Burnley Belvedere 5

IS Kiko Rodriguez the most dangerous man in amateur football?

That was the question I was left asking myself after this all-action performance from the beefy Belvedere hitman.

Now you could take the meaning of dangerous in either two ways.

Dangerous as in scoring goals (which he does plenty of) or dangerous as in being able to terrify anyone who comes near him.

And on this display Kiko is definitely dangerous on both counts.

For between having running battles with the opposition, his own teammates, the referee and even is own manager, Rodriguez scored two towering headers to help guide championship-chasing Belvedere to a remarkable victory.

The first goal showed everything that is good about his game when he controlled the ball on his chest, volleyed it out wide to Shaun Crorken then met his cross with a magnificent header.

But a two-footed challenged on Shaun Charlesworth, when he launched himself from about six feet away, showed the bad side.

That provoked a mass shove and push affair with Charlesworth and his brother Mark turning on the big striker. It was like two terriers against a Rottweiler! Rodriguez first began to get a little upset when Belvedere gave up their lead and then trailed 3-1 and 4-2.

The impressive Shaun Bannister drew Accrington level when he beat the offside trap to race through to score. Then the home side took a surprise lead when Shaun Charlesworth's long free kick was met by Billy Stewart who rose to head home.

It went from bad to worse for Belvedere after the break when persistence paid off for Lee Bickerstaff who had a shot blocked and a cross charged down before he found Bannister who scored with a diving header.

At this stage Belvedere were their own worse enemy as the arguing and finger pointing among them stopped just short of total mayhem.

But their eventual win was largely down to the dogged determination of skipper Keith Gilbert. It was by no coincidence that when Belvedere were all but down and out, Gilbert was having a stinker. However he showed he was made of stronger stuff and took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Belvedere pulled a goal back through Stuart Dutton but Amateur's, who were playing like title contenders themselves, regained their two-goal advantage when Willy Arbuckle crossed for Mark Charlesworth who volleyed home. That just prompted Gilbert to become even more determined and that was underlined when - with his back to goal and despite the close attention of two defenders - he managed to turn to fire home.

It was that man Rodriguez who drew the sides level when Amateur's keeper Steve Eccles, who was having a superb game, lost the flight of the ball and the striker took advantage to head home.

Clearly delighted, Rodriguez roared his approval into the face of Amateur's Arbuckle who nearly jumped out of his skin!

By now there was only going to be one winner. Gilbert hustled and harried Stewart out of possession and Paul Crorken picked up the lose ball to feed Ian Gade who lifted the ball over the advancing Eccles.

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