You only sing when you're
cooking!
Norwich 2 Burnley 3, Monday 16 April 2001
Report by Tommy D
It is a well-known fact that Stan's teams always seem to
finish strongly; indeed it was a great run in last year which saw us sneak into automatic
promotion on the last day. After the disastrous defeat at Ewood, Stan told the team that
twelve points from the remaining games would be enough to secure a play-off place. I would
have thought that more was required, but time will still tell.
Bank holiday weekend approached, and a vital double header
had to be played. Having slipped up at home to fellow promotion hopefuls West Brom,
drawing in a game that, by all accounts, we should have won, a win against a less than
impressive Norwich side was vital.
As we travelled up on the Monday morning, it seemed that
Norwich was a lot further away than we had first thought. Still, we had left in plenty of
time and even arrived early at about one. A trip to the local was in order and a few pints
later, packets of crisps and a burger; we made our way to the ground.
When we arrived, I couldn’t believe that not so long
ago, Bayern Munich played on this ground in a major European competition. It was TINY, and
it seemed that an over-zealous goal kick would have no problems in reaching the other end
of the pitch. It also seems that they had run out of yellow paint, as the seats in the
newer stands were painted a strange mixture of ORANGE and green!
Once again, Burnley's away presence was impressive, with the
seat allocation just about full. An unchanged side from the one that faced West Brom came
out. Looking at the Norwich side, I wondered why they were so low in the table, as they
had a number of former Man Utd youngsters, along with the impressive Welsh international
Chris Llewellyn. Stan started with 4-4-2, a recent change that seems to have worked well.
We started brightly, and Norwich seemed there for the taking,
Little, West and Weller working the right side to good effect. It was Norwich, however,
who took the lead. A nice move ended with Notman one-on-one with Nik the Greek. The Greek
god seemed slow off his line, Notman rounded him and scored.
Burnley team spirit prevailed though, and the resiliency that
we have offered all season, especially away from the Turf, won through. They fought their
way back into the game and got an equaliser through the unlikely source of Kevin Ball, who
struck a thunderbolt at goal. I tell a lie. In fact, it was a tame, low, left-foot shot,
which the keeper saved. Ball turned round in dismay and saw the fans going wild. He looked
back and started to celebrate, as the keeper had managed to let the ball from his grasp,
into the net. "DODGY KEEPER!"
We fell behind again though, on the stroke of half time. The
impressive Smith was adjudged to have fouled a player in the box, and the penalty was
given, and Smith booked. At first glance, I was outraged at the decision, but thinking
about it now, it was probably the correct one. Roberts stepped up and stroked the penalty
to Nik’s right. 2-1 at half time.
At half time, the competition to hit the crossbar was failed
miserably by all three contestants, yet one still managed to win a holiday. Could we not
have a go? I fancy the Caribbean. (It’s a good job that Weller didn’t know that
this was taking place, because he beats Crichton at this game every week!)
The team was obviously given a kick up the backside at half
time and they ran out looking up for it. Soon after the restart, good work on the right
led to a good cross which seemed to evade everyone, apart from Taylor, who got down low,
diving to head the ball in. From that point, there was only ever going to be one winner.
Norwich heads seemed down, and quite frankly, they weren’t very good.
Moore swept in the winner after some good work from Weller,
in impressive style. After that, we could have had more, but seemed satisfied just to get
the victory.
Observations from the match: We seem to play better with a
back four. Our revival after Ewood I attribute to the impressive emergence at full back of
both West and Smith, both of whom have played really well since their recall. Armstrong
has been playing bravely, putting his body where the boots are flying, and alongside Davis
is playing arguably the best football of his Clarets career. (still, Coxy should be back
soon). 4-4-2 gives Little more chances to go forward, as he doesn’t have to do his
defensive duties as much as at wing-back, and the team have benefited from this. Weller
continues to play excellently, with his high work rate being his most outstanding point.
Can’t help feeling the team is unbalanced though; all the attacks come down the right
hand side, due to the lack of a natural left-winger. Despite his goal, Taylor still does
not impress much. His touch especially was poor. Moore is growing on me. He is quick, and
seems to be playing better now that he has a bit more confidence. He also seems committed
to the cause, which is always a good thing.
The fans were in good voice as usual, having a running battle
with the home fans in the main stand. I especially liked "oooh ahhhhhhhh, it’s
Ambrosia," "you’re just a small town in Ipswich," "Ipswich in the
Champions League" and "you only sing when you’re cooking!"
A long trip home down sub-standard carriageways seemed
worthwhile after an impressive away win, particularly after coming from behind twice.
Smells like team spirit. Fingers crossed for the play-offs!
Team:
Michopoulos, Davis, Armstrong, West, Smith (Briscoe 46), Ball, Cook (Thomas 48), Weller,
Little, Taylor, Moore (Payton 85). Subs not used: Crichton and Mullin.
Scorers: Ball
(23), Taylor (48), Moore (62) / Notman (13), Roberts (38 'pen').
Attendance:
17,507.
Referee: M
Messias, presumably of Norwich.
Tommy's Man of the
Match: Glen Little.
London Clarets Man
of the Match: Glen Little.
More from this game
and the home game
