North
West Fashion Show
Bolton 1 Burnley 1
Report by Firmo
As opening days of the season go, this wasn't
a bad one. 5,000 or so Clarets roared their team on in a game which suggested we could
live comfortably in this division. I was proud to be one of them, watching from the
stratospheric heights of row RR, wearing Chairman Barry Kilby's coat.
The story is one you should be familiar with
by now. Having criticised it, its owner challenged me to wear it should we rise into
division one, and a story as good as this one just had to come and pass. So it was that I
found myself feeling incongruous in Walthamstow at 7.30 in the morning and flapping from
pub to pub in Manchester some hours later, swathed in acres of thick and heavy best
Peruvian baby llama wool. The day hadn't got any less surreal with a pre-match photo-shoot
with Mr Kilby outside the space age structure of the 'Reebok' stadium. It's an opening day
I'll remember more than most. Thankfully, and much to Barry's disappointment, it wasn't as
hot as forecast, and in fact was one of the coolest opening days I can recall. The Bolton
fans on the train told us we were going to get stuffed, but the Chairman seemed to think
we might stand a better chance than a lot of people gave us credit for.
So it proved, with the teams starting evenly
matched. We were kind of 3-5-2, with Crichton, then Cox, Davis and Thomas at the back,
Briscoe and Weller as 'wing backs', a midfield three of Ball, Cook and Mullin and Cooke
and Gray up front. Hey, I’d predicted ten out of eleven of the team right. Little was
on the bench. Looking at that team, it strikes me that most of them have experience at
this level or above, and it showed. Possession was shared.
Crichton, however, was clearly suffering from
jitters. He made a hash of his first test, missing a cross that should have been an easy
take, and didn't do much better from a long range shot that he got two hands on but didn't
hold. A worry.
Bolton started to make passes and find players
around the edge of the box. They also seemed to have an extra man in the centre of
midfield. It's clear that both Ball and Cook can pass and Mullin push forward, but there's
some lack of pace there. During this part of the game, Bolton always seemed to have that
option of using the gaps here to keep the move going. Our three defenders, too, found it
difficult to keep their shape. In contrast, I felt that, when we got forward, we were a
little predictable, and short of options close to their area. We passed well enough, but I
remember thinking, we need someone to take a couple of touches and try to beat a man.
When Bolton were on top they scored. It was a
curious goal. A smart passing move saw Rankin break into the box with Cox, having an
uncertain game, needing to stretch to make a challenge. Their man fell, and we thought
we'd heard a whistle. Bolton played on and stuck the ball in the net, then ran through a
display of celebration. We all screamed for a penalty. Another odd moment, this. It won't
be often that you'll hear an away end demanding that a penalty be taken against them. We
should have known that a whistle happy ref like W C Burns would never have played on, and
accordingly Bolton were hauled back for Frandsen, a Blackburn reject but the game's
dominant force in the first half, to put it away. For a few seconds, we were happy about
that penalty. Then we decided it was a harsh decision.
It became a question of hanging on until half
time and hoping we could make some changes. The side we'd sent out had emphasised defence,
and now we were chasing the game, we needed a Plan B. Not that there weren't some
positives from the first half. Weller was excellent, tough, fast and determined, a man
playing like he was making up for lost time. He looked like the player we once thought he
might be, and having lost a large chunk of his career, would have been a revelation to
many. I hope people get off his back now. Briscoe, as well, looked the part. That might be
those two positions sorted. Apart from Crichton, my other worry was Cooke. There's bustle
and aggression, but he never looked like he was going to score. He was booked for
retaliation and, we thought, liable to get a second one if he carried on that way. It
would be great if he made the step up, but it will be interesting to see what happens when
Payton returns.
We steadied the ship, but I was grateful to
get to half time. Davis had a chance with a header, but he put it more than a fraction
wide. The photographer had been detailed to take some snaps of the coat in action, as it
were. We talked and he said he'd like to get one of a celebration if we scored. Neither us
of could see it happening, though. In a pessimistic way, I could only see Bolton getting
the second and killing the game.
Fortunately, Ternent had other ideas. While we
were squeezing ourselves into the ludicrously limited amount of space under the stand,
deciding not to join food queues - the 'Reebok' is typical of new football grounds, nice
to look at on the outside, all breezeblocks and cut corners on the inside - Stan was
sorting things out. To acclaim Little started the second half, on for Mullin.
He made an impact straight away, setting off
on a run which culminated in a lob at goal. Little was excellent, and with Weller down
that side too, Bolton just couldn't do anything about it. Glen played like he was quite
keen to get on with this first division thing, and if he was only going to get half a game
he was going to make it count. He ran at them, beat them and kept the ball. It was a
brilliant reminder of what he can offer. On this evidence, he might make the step up. That
said, how often will he have the space with which he started the half? People might get to
know about him quickly and start to mark him. Bolton worked out that they should do this
eventually, but of course that just gave more room for Weller.
We looked like we were going to score. Cooke
could have done it, but when he received the ball unexpectedly he just couldn’t react
with the speed required, and when the ball then fell to Gray his soft chip was way wide.
It was a simple enough goal when it came. From a throw, Weller fed Little, who produced a
perfectly weighted cross, for Gray to meet and head in with power. The Burnley support,
one quarter of the crowd but making all the noise, went absolutely barmy. I forgot about
the photographer and lost it for the first time since May.
This was the live game on Radio 5, apparently.
It must have sounded fantastic.
We could have won this game, we really could.
Burnley were the better side before and after the goal. A casual visitor, pressed as to
which side had just come up from the second, would have said the team in white. Maybe it's
essentially the same game in this division. Maybe it's not that difficult to survive in
this division after all. Oh, I know it's early yet and there will be tests and setbacks
along the way, but if we play as well as this, if we pass and move like we did in the
second half, if Paul Cook keeps finding the range of his passing and getting the ball to
Little's feet, as he did here, and if Little keeps taking players on, and if Briscoe and
Weller keep getting up and down those wings, and if Ball holds the centre and Davis holds
the defence, and if Payton comes back soon, and if Crichton plays like the April Crichton,
we might be alright. We've got some good players, and we can play a bit, and that already
makes us better than the last version of Burnley to face this division. And, on this
showing, that cliché about having a bit more space and a bit more time in this division
might be true.
Branch came on for Cooke. Fair enough for
Cooke to leave, as he hadn't been in the game, and although I don't mind the former fop
these days, I don't think Branch possesses the striking instincts to play up front. He did
get the ball in the net once, but had already been called offside.
Bolton continued to look rattled. There are a
notoriously flaky side prone to self-destructing - how many semi-finals do they get to? -
and you could see why here. They started falling out with each other, and I have never
seen a team put the ball out of play while not under pressure as many times as they did.
It was good to see that John O'Kane was as crap as ever. He was taken off.
Bolton got back into it towards the end, with
the substitutions proving effective. Crichton pulled off one good save followed by a great
reaction save from the rebound as he lay on the ground. More like it, but balanced by the
moment he came running far from goal and, after an interminable conversation with Cook
about what he should do next, played it straight to the feet of a Bolton player.
We attacked, the ball broke to Bolton and they
counter attacked with real pace, but Cox changed gear, won the ball and played it forward
for a counter-counter attack. A late goal for Bolton would have been wholly undeserved. It
was good to see Davis ordering about his defence to ensure this wouldn't happen. My heart
was also warmed when Frandsen, who'd epitomised Bolton's disintegration by fading from the
game in the second half, broke into the box, fell, and was booked for diving. A satisfying
moment.
If finished and we sprinted out to catch the
17.02 away from the sticks and back to civilisation. We were buggered if we were going to
hang around a 'retail park' a minute longer than strictly necessary. A run in that coat
was a real achievement, and for the first time that day I felt very hot and bothered. But
I was happy. The train was rattling through the countryside to beer. And Burnley were
looking like they could cope in this division.
I think I'll need to find a bloody good dry
cleaner, mind.
Team: Crichton,
Cox, Davis, Thomas, Briscoe, Weller, Ball, Cook, Mullin (Little 46), Cooke (Branch 56),
Gray. Subs not used: Armstrong, Jepson, Mellon.
Scorers: Gray
(56) / Frandsen (pen 28).
Attendance:
20,662.
Referee: W
Burns of Scarborough (un)fair.
London Clarets Man
of the Match: Glen Little.
The home game
