Do you ever get that horrible feeling of
déjà vu? Tuesday was a bit like that. Up in a rush, late in to work, then sloping off
early in order to catch the lunchtime train from Euston. Train gets in at Preston an hour
late. Yep, sounds like a typical midweek matchday. And our opponents: no less than the
mighty Fulham, looking down on us from on high. There’s only one way this can go:
another defeat. Let’s just hope they don’t embarrass us too badly –
I’m fed up with watching us lose all the time.
The feeling of history repeating itself was reinforced by a newspaper
article I happened to see en route from Preston to Burnley. Apparently, in 1901 we fielded
a "player" – an impostor – who actually had no footballing skills
whatsoever. Judging from our performances of late, this is still par for the course a
century later.
Anyway, we eventually arrived in Burnley and made our way to the ground. A
reasonable showing from the Fulham faithful, perhaps around 300 of them, maybe a few more.
What a pleasure it must be to follow a winning team. Pre-match talk was understandably
subdued, centring round Moore (a waste of money or not?) and new loan signing Gareth
Taylor (would he deliver for us?). There were a few mumblings of that desperate mantra
"our luck must change sometime", but most observers seemed to predict another
defeat.
The teams came out and I was pleased to see that Saha was not starting for
Fulham; still, Boa Morte and Hayles weren’t exactly going to be easy to deal with!
John Collins also started for the visitors, with the impressive Fernandes on the bench.
For us, Taylor and Cook started, with Mullin and Johnrose making way from the team that
had played at Grimsby. It didn’t bode well.
The match kicked off, and Fulham immediately made a good start, Goldbaek
making a long (unimpeded, of course) run and unleashing an early shot. Here we go again.
What odds on a Fulham goal within ten minutes? The referee (Mr Lodge – another
Premiership prima donna who is rumoured to be so vain as to actually use hairspray) also
started in depressingly familiar fashion, completely ignoring what appeared to be a
deliberate and blatant handball by Hayles.
Surprisingly, however, as the half progressed it became obvious that
no-one had told Burnley to follow their usual script. We were bright and inventive, and
even closing people down and getting effective tackles in. Weller was doing a sterling job
on Collins, and the Fulham front two were relatively quiet. There were even early chances
for Gareth Taylor (a shot well blocked) and Little (fleetingly one-on-one with the Fulham
keeper).
We weren’t having it all our own way, though: Clark was through on
goal after Thomas gave away a free kick, but fortunately Michopoulos was alert to the
danger and gathered safely. Collins was being allowed to get away with murder, and the
referee also seemed blind to any number of Fulham handballs. One also felt that the
quietness of Hayles and Boa Morte could only be temporary.
Trying to look objectively at the Fulham team, I felt they were missing
Coleman, their centre halves (Melville in particular) seeming to lack any pace. Maik
Taylor in the Fulham goal didn’t impress me, either. His kicking seemed decidedly
dodgy. Once they are in the Premiership, I feel they will need to strengthen in several
positions if they are to avoid instant relegation.
It was hard to see which way the match would go. Then, on the quarter-hour
mark, Weller deftly collected an awkward ball from Armstrong, surged down the right and
put in a lovely cross. Ian Moore, perfectly positioned in the box, appeared to be pulled
down. Penalty, surely? No. Only a corner – which of course came to nothing.
The rest of the half continued in seesaw fashion. Our forwards were
actually threatening, the impressive Taylor shooting just wide and having another effort
turned round the post by his namesake. On the downside, it was becoming quite a physical
game, with Fulham (the supposed purists) doing their fair share, Brevett giving
Moore’s face a boot massage, and Collins continuing to foul our midfield. We gave as
good as we got, though – a nasty clash with Lee Clark seeing Armstrong into the book.
There was one scary moment for us when good work by Boa Morte and Clark
almost resulted in a Paul Cook own goal, as his outstretched foot nearly diverted the ball
into our net. Once again, however, our Greek god was alert to the threat. Somehow Weller
managed to get himself booked (for the smallest of pushes on Brevett), but we seemed to
remain focused.
Towards the end of the half we briefly threatened, a move initiated by
Paul Cook resulting in Weller having a shot from the right that went just wide of the far
post. Another good run by Moore resulted in yet another penalty appeal. No, just another
corner. Maybe the ref had hairspray in his eyes. Then it was Fulham’s turn to
dominate – a corner well punched by Michopoulos, and Thomas dealing well with an ugly
stoppage-time ball from Collins.
Half time! The woman in front remarked that Stan should be very careful
not to do anything to break the spell. We could very possibly get a point…
Well, it had to happen. Fulham came out for the second half looking
purposeful, and we were barely into the 50th minute when the excellent Finnan
put in a superb right-wing cross that found Barry Hayles unmarked at the far post –
and Barry Hayles doesn’t miss those kinds of chances. Header. Goal. 1-0.
The next ten minutes were all about Fulham. Hayles and Boa Morte had come
to life, and we could all see 2-0, 3-0 and perhaps even 4-0 (another recurring theme,
perhaps) on the horizon.
Surprisingly, we seemed to come through our bad patch. Little had a shot
from distance that was not too far over the bar. Yet another Moore penalty appeal was
turned down; it occurred to me that Moore was having an excellent game.
However, on around 65 minutes we very nearly did go two down, Finnan
hitting the post with a cross-cum-shot. Light relief was provided by the referee, who made
a big fuss of asking Bertie Bee to move away from the touchline. I do worry about
officials sometimes.
Fulham substituted Collins and brought on Fernandes, and soon we were
under pressure again. Clark won a free kick just outside our penalty area; however,
despite two attempts (thanks, ref), we survived unscathed with Michopoulos eventually
making a comfortable save. Then we had a real let-off. Hayles went clean through –
but the referee decided he had fouled Cox on the way past! Hmm. It was right in front of
us, and I didn’t see any contact. Oh well, never mind!
Then we got a breakthrough. A truly fantastic – no exaggeration
– cross from Thomas was headed by Gareth Taylor and then put into the net by Moore!
Cue wild celebrations! Less than twenty minutes to go. Can we hold out?
I must now confess that for the remainder of the game, the quality of my
note-taking declined markedly. When Moore scored, I had somehow managed to throw my pen
and paper at the people in front of me. This wouldn’t have mattered – I soon got
them back – but then I seemed to have forgotten how to write. Probably not helped by
the fact that my hands were shaking uncontrollably. To quote one Mr Brian Smith, things
became rather blurred. However, I seem to remember – in no particular order! – a
couple of Fulham attacks, Clark foiled by Steve Davis, Riedle coming on for Boa Morte, a
shot just past our post, Davis being booked, another excellent Thomas cross...
Hang on, I’ve forgotten something. My notepad is no help. All I have
on the page is some kind of huge tick, and then a squiggle where I’ve obviously
dropped my pen again. That’ll teach me not to take proper notes! Wait –
it’s coming back to me clearly now… Ian Moore (that’s super, super, million
pound Ian Moore) plays the most exquisite ball to Little… Little – superbly
positioned – shoots. AND IT’S A GOAL! 2-1 to the Burnley!
Well, somehow I must have seen out the remaining few minutes, clapped
Little off as Johnrose replaced him, and cheered Moore as he was substituted for Mellon. I
just can’t remember any of it.
One thing I do remember is realising how my earlier thoughts had been
spot-on. There had indeed been a recurring theme to the day; perhaps not the one I’d
expected, but Fulham had lost again at Turf Moor! Let’s not feel too sorry for
them, though. This time next season they’ll be playing Premiership football. And us?
Well, I’m cautiously optimistic. Under the right circumstances (the problem lies in
defining what these are, and making them happen) we are capable of playing some excellent
football. We didn’t have a bad player out there. Gareth Taylor did well, and Ian
Moore showed the truth in the old cliché of form being temporary but class permanent.
Let’s hope we find those "right circumstances" more often from now on.
Recurring
themes