Gone in
sixty seconds
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 2,
Saturday 10 February 2001
Report by Cozzo
The alarm clock jolted me into a sudden state of
wakefulness. It was still pitch black outside and the dawn chorus hadn't even started. A
squint at the clock revealed the time did indeed start with a five. Virgin have a lot to
answer for, as the 7.20 is far too early a train for any sane person to get up for at the
weekend. Slightly late leaving the flat as I had to have a shave and put on a tie. Not
normally part of the weekend routine, but I was to represent the London Clarets at the
official unveiling of the Harry Potts Way before the game. We had asked Phil Whalley to
go, as it was his suggestion at our AGM last July, but he was unavailable.
Leaving the flat late meant missing the train at
Surbiton, and at that time of the morning a long wait for the next one. By the time I
arrived at Waterloo the only safe option to make the 7.20 was a cab, so not a great start
to the day. The train left on time, but a bizarre timetable allowed 48 minutes for the
last stage from Wigan to the final destination, Preston. This isn't contingency time by
any chance, is it? Just in case we are late at Wigan there is then less of chance of the
train being more than an hour late with the extra time allowed. And so it proved: a detour
via Northampton, and we were slowly slipping behind schedule. Once more we catch the early
train from Euston and miss the connection we used to invariably make when were on the
later train.
Virgin are at pains to tell us how much better
the trains are now. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the trip up north is
taking longer than it did six weeks ago. Strangely, the return trip is getting better.
Don't they go round the same bends?
After a quick pint in the Ministry of Ale just
by the station it was down to the club to buy tickets for Grimsby and join the official
party milling around in the reception area of the Bob Lord stand. Members of Harry Potts'
family, including his widow, Margaret, plus the Mayor and some of his councillors (I
assume), Barry Kilby, Andrew Watson, Bertie Bee and various representatives of the club,
plus our honorary President Peter Pike and some of his family and representatives of each
of the supporters' clubs meant it was a pretty sizeable party. The rain had abated
briefly, but a rumour was spreading that the referee was unhappy with the pitch and was
threatening to call it off. Apparently the sixty thousand pounds worth of covers had
ripped and allowed the rain to get onto the pitch. Then word came through that the game
was on - unless there was a downpour before kick-off. Other London Clarets that I told of
this incident afterwards were astounded as, although there was a clear mark down the
centre of the pitch which looked a bit softer than the rest, at no point did anybody
consider it unplayable, even though it rained for most of the game.
We then made our way across to the new sign
outside the Park View pub opposite the ticket office. A few people had gathered round the
barriers as the rain had stopped, and after a short speech from the Mayor and Barry Kilby
in which both made glowing tributes to the great man, the sign was unveiled and the photos
taken. Jimmy McIlroy and Brian Miller were also present and I have to say that the sign is
particularly splendid: Claret writing on a white background with a blue border and a club
crest. Hopefully a similar sign will replace the Brunshaw Road sign on the side of The
Wellington pub.
What was particularly nice was Barry Kilby
spotted me in amongst everybody and came and thanked the London Clarets for coming up with
the idea, so hats off to Phil Whalley as our esteemed editor would put it.
I did get an insight into the team from Mr Kilby
(the same editor says I'm not allowed to call him Barry) and we were due to go 4-4-2 in
the absence of Mitchell Thomas. Johnrose was due to start in the midfield with Little,
Cook and Ball. After a pint in the Cafe Claret (smooth, unfortunately) I headed onto the
ground relatively early to get some pie and pies, and had a pleasant shock when the peas
were totally un-bullet like, and very mushy. A point we had complained about at the last
Meet the Board meeting! Seems the same is not true in the Longside, but progress is being
made! A rather less pleasant shock was the absence of Ball due to illness; he had been
replaced by Mellon. The bench consisted of Crichton, Mullin, Smith, Armstrong and Maylett.
The game started quite slowly and the crowd were
a little subdued. Burnley were attacking the Cricket Field end and a strong wind was
blowing across from the Bob Lord Stand, but slightly helping. Little had a great game and
was back to his mesmerising best; he produced our first chance when an Andy Payton header
was very well saved by the young Gregg, deputising for the suspended Kolinko. A couple of
early corners, and then a goal bound header from Cox was hacked away, but meanwhile at the
other end, the partnership of Morrison and Forsell was creating problems of our own as Nik
was called on three or four times to make good saves. One particular save came after
Morrison got past tackles from Cox and Davis when both should have done better, but the
ball somehow still broke for the Palace forward and his close range effort was well
blocked.
The game had now opened up and both sides were
looking dangerous. Little and Weller were linking well down the right and several crosses
were fizzed across the area, or a run into the box was followed by a pull back which
failed to find a Claret shirt. At the other end Cox and Morrison were having a real tussle
as they both tried to wrestle each other out of the way. Mr W C Burns seemed quite happy
to let them get on with it and Cox generally got the upper hand.
Palace seemed to be able to get at our last line
of defence with far too much ease and there seemed scant protection from the centre of
midfield. Lenny was anonymous all afternoon and Mellon did ok when we had the ball,
linking things up or running forwards, but his defensive work rate and tackling was far
from up to scratch. Cook was doing his best on the left, but he seemed to be struggling
with his passing and too many balls failed to find the target, but he did at least seem to
want to try to support the forwards, and when a Little cross from the right was played
behind Moore and Payton, Cook was on hand to place the ball in to the corner of the net.
Despite several other chances for both teams,
the Clarets were still one up at the interval, but the feeling was there that if we were
going to win the game we needed a second goal.
It was very cold and raining at the start of the
second half. The wind appeared to have turned slightly, and was now blowing straight
across the ground, so most of the people on the Longside were likely to be getting wet.
The pitch was soft but holding up well, and Paul Cook had been replaced by Paul Smith. The
Clarets started the half in lively fashion and had all the early pressure, but struggled
to get clear chances despite excellent work from Little, Weller and Moore. One exquisite
turn on the half way line left a Palace defender for dead but Moore chose to go alone
rather than use the better placed Payton. Payts was not at his best; the effort was there
for all to see, but the sharpness that got him to the ball first was lacking, and he was
being shrugged off the ball a little too easily at times.
The game was also getting a bit niggly. A couple
of incidents, normally involving the almost aptly named Pollock, had come close to flaring
up. He was putting himself about and the referee seemed content to let him do so, despite
having booked him earlier. In the end he was substituted due to injury. Palace were also
trying a succession of left backs in an attempt to stop Little and Weller. It wasn't
working, and a couple of cynical tackles were needed. Harrison was another lucky not to
get into more trouble with W C Burns.
Then came the turning point of the match. A
through ball, and Payton for once turned his defender, and he was in on goal. A good stop
from the young keeper fell to an advancing Claret. It was Steve Davis, of all people, and
his shot looked certain to go in, but a desperate block deflected the ball onto the bar
and it was cleared. Within thirty seconds, Palace had levelled the score. Davis was
probably still getting back when a throw on the left went to an unmarked Palace player on
the corner of the box. He advanced and squared the ball for Morrison to guide the ball
home. Remarkably similar to the goal by Wolves on New Year's Day.
If we had missed Ball up to this point, here is
where we needed him the most. Instead, Smith gave the ball away straight from the kick off
and we were under pressure immediately. Chances came and went at both ends. Maylett
replaced the previous sub Smith and Little was switched to the left. If the Palace left
back thought he was in for an easier ride, Maylett soon put him straight with a couple of
surging runs, but still we couldn't convert the numerous openings. At the other end the
defence were doing their best to give things away. Brach dallied too long before leaving
his backpass short. Fortunately, he was saved by a great tackle by NTG. A cross from the
right squirmed under Weller's foot at the back post and only a superb recovering block
prevented a goal. Only just having recovered from that, he headed back across the edge of
the box to Forsell, but thought through on goal, he failed to convert the chance.
Mullin replaced Payton and Davis then had a free
header from a corner, but cleared the bar before Palace hit the Clarets with a sucker
punch. Trying to play it out for one last attack, Maylett was shrugged off the ball. The
lanky Palace winger advanced unchallenged towards the edge of the box, before unleashing a
shot which NTG could only parry to an advancing Palace forward. Morrison couldn't miss.
With virtually no time left, that was it apart from another square ball from Mellon.
It's very disappointing that in the last two
weeks we have played some of our best attacking football of the season but come away with
nothing. The variation in the standards of individual performances were enormous: NTG,
Cox, Little and Weller (despite his two mistakes) were all excellent; Branch, Davis and
Moore did OK, but the main problem was Mellon and Johnrose. They allowed Palace too much
time in the midfield and were largely anonymous. Overall a draw would have been a fair
result, as Palace had a number of very good chances, but that doesn't help make the
journey home any better. Then again, neither do Palace fans trying to rub it in, but
fortunately, despite all the people flocking back to Virgin, we managed to get an entire
carriage to ourselves. A result at Grimsby is now very important, but Ball and Thomas
should be back.
Team:
Michopoulos, Davis, Cox, Weller, Branch, Mellon, Johnrose, Cook (Smith 46) (Maylett 76),
Little, Payton (Mullin 79), Moore. Subs not used: Armstrong and Crichton.
Scorers: Cook
(12) / Forsell (75), Morrison (92).
Attendance:
14,973.
Referee: W C
Burns of Scarborough.
Cozzo's Man of the
Match: Nik Michopoulos.
London Clarets Man
of the Match: Glen Little.
Links - the away game, the home
match in the league cup and the league cup away leg
