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Dingle Wonderland
Burnley 3 Preston 0, Friday 6 April 2001
Report by Patrick O'Neill

Just look at that scoreline. Doesn’t it look great? So much so I think I’ll write it again:

Burnley 3 Preston North End 0

Very satisfying – and just what the doctor ordered after that embarrassing drubbing down at Deadwood last week.

It had seemed that match reports and me didn’t mix, as the previous three I’ve done had all resulted in defeat – including the reverse fixture at Deepdale, where a terrific Ian Moore goal was to no avail as we slipped to a 2-1 loss.

Although I’m an optimist by nature, I can’t say I was particularly looking forward to this fixture. The signs were not good. Preston are a bogey side we haven’t beaten since a last minute Neil Moore header at Deepdale back in 1998 secured a 3-2 victory, and a look at the form table told me that they have won seven and only lost one of their last ten matches. Oh, and the Sky TV cameras were there, and we all know what that usually means.

The evening hadn’t started auspiciously as we had taken over an hour more than usual to drive from Colchester. A delay of almost Virginesque proportions caused by a multitude of irritating roadworks throughout the route meant that we arrived at the Sparrow Hawk parched and in desperate need of liquid sustenance. This was provided in the form of Moorhouse’s Black Cat mild – a fine Burnley ale if ever there was one, and surely a good luck omen?

The pre-match build-up on Sky was shown in the bar, and we were ‘treated’ to a second viewing of something we had been trying all week to forget – I’m sure you know what I mean. A painful experience, which was only alleviated by the appearance on screen of that well-known TV pundit ‘Rocket’ Ronnie Jepson, who talked of the ‘Gaffer’ and the ‘lads’ in that peculiar form of English that footballers use.

Anyway, to the game.

On taking up our seats in the James Hargreaves stand, we noticed the pitch was in a pretty poor condition, especially in a line down the middle between the two penalty areas. The expensive ‘state-of-the-art’ covers, which had been damaged some weeks ago, must still be out of action or severely impaired. Maybe a little compensation is in order.

The teams were duly announced and Burnley lined up as follows:

Moore Taylor

Cook Ball Weller Little

Smith Cox Davis West

Michopoulos

Subs: Crichton, Armstrong, Mullin, Payton, Maylett

The big surprise in the Burnley side was the inclusion of forgotten man Dean West, who hasn’t ‘graced’ the starting line-up since Scunthorpe last May. Injuries to Thomas, Briscoe and Branch had given him, along with Paul Smith, the opportunity to stake a claim for the rest of the season and enhance the possibility of a new contract. According to rumour, both these players are high on the list of possible summer departures.

The Preston team lined up as follows:

Cresswell Macken Healy

McKenna Rankine Cartwright

Edwards Murdock Gregan Alexander

Moilanen

Subs: Lucas, Barry-Murphy, Gunnlaugsson, Anderson, Kidd.

Clearly, Preston had been watching a video of last weekend’s match and thought that all-out attack, via a 4-3-3 formation, was the right tactical approach. I can’t say I’d disagree but it was good to see that Gregan was in defence, where it seems he has much less impact on a game.

The game started brightly, and after a few skirmishes Burnley took a surprise early lead. After a good one-two between West and Little close to the touchline, Little found himself with space to run into and, after holding off a challenge from McKenna, put in a superb low, curling cross from the right-hand side of the penalty box, between keeper and defence. Moore, who had lost his defender, didn’t have to break stride as he put the ball high and wide of Moilanen to give the Clarets the perfect start. Ian Moore must love playing against Preston, as he has now scored in each of his three games against them this season.

Within a few minutes, the erratic Moilanen came close to presenting Burnley with a gift after he almost spilled a back header from Edwards. Had Ian Moore been alert, he could have benefited.

The game began to settle and Preston began to command possession and territory but could not break down a well-organised and determined Burnley rearguard. Midway through the first half, Macken had a shot deflected over by Cox, which, had it gone anywhere else, would have left Michopoulos stranded. Shortly after, Cresswell saw his header go just over the bar, although it did look as though Michopoulos had it covered. The Preston fans, bless them, had thought they’d equalised, as the ball touched the top of the net. Close, but no cigar.

Ball‘s battle in midfield with Rankine was pivotal and, as the game wore on, it was good to see the Burnley man getting the better of it with the mouthy Rankine getting more frustrated by the minute. It was plain to see that Ball was determined to put last week behind him and he didn’t hold back from a few crunching challenges, one of which unfortunately brought him a yellow card.

After about 30 minutes, a weak defensive back header from Murdock left Moilanen sprinting to make the clearance, with Taylor bearing down on him. Moilanen made it to the ball first and managed to clear but not without a cost, as Taylor followed through and caught the lanky Finn’s ankle. It wasn’t a malicious challenge and the ball was there to be won, so he had no choice but to go for it. Taylor received a yellow card but Moilanen had to go off to be replaced by the ‘chunky’ Lucas.

With Burnley having the extra man in midfield, they always looked a threat with Little and Weller taking advantage of the extra space. Only an inability to find the final pass prevented some promising attacks from yielding more.

A corner from the right saw Lucas fumble and the ball almost fell to Cox, but Burnley didn’t have to wait long before doubling their lead. After 43 minutes a ball out to the right found West, who had to gallop to keep it in play. He somehow managed to wrap his foot around it and produce a superb dipping, in-swinging cross and Taylor, who’d got in front of his marker, headed firmly downwards. It looked a certain goal but Lucas produced an excellent save to deny him. However, the ball ran loose to the on-rushing Ball, whose low shot produced another fine save. Ball wasn’t to be denied, though, and managed to tuck the rebound away for his first goal in a Claret shirt. Cue delirium, as Hego would say.

During the Bastards game, their fans had been chanting "You’re just a town full of Dingles." Apparently, the Dingles are a family from the TV programme ‘Emmerdale’ who are somewhat intellectually challenged – but I’ve only heard this second-hand, so don’t quote me! Anyway, being unoriginal, the Preston fans had picked up on this and were using the same chant. However, it was sweet to be able to reply with "Blackpool – what’s the score?"

Preston reverted to a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation at the start of the second half with Anderson replacing Macken, and it was he who had Preston’s only two remaining efforts, both of which he blazed over the bar either side of the hour mark.

For the majority of the second half, Burnley were happy to concede possession and territory and defend in numbers. Moore was tireless in closing down defenders, Ball constantly chased and harried, Weller and Little were always a threat on the break, and the back four, including West and Smith, looked solid and composed. Michopoulos had a quiet night and relieved the tedium by bursting Preston balloons in his penalty area.

Ternent kept barking out orders to the team to play further upfield, as all too frequently we were defending close to the penalty area. In response to this, he decided to make it even harder for Preston by flooding the midfield, and replaced Moore with Mullin on 66 minutes.

On 73 minutes, Burnley made the game safe. Mullin took the ball down the left flank and, cleverly, passed the ball back inside to Cook, who had time and space to deliver a ball into the Preston penalty area. This was only half-cleared and Little, from only 15 yards out, shot low and hard past Lucas. Cue ecstacy!

Almost straight from the kick-off, Gregan produced a poor defensive header that fell to Gareth Taylor. He outpaced Murdock, and from a central position looked certain to make it 4-0, but screwed his shot wide of the post. Oh well, mustn’t be greedy. 3-0 will do.

The rest of the game gradually petered out, and our first derby win of the season was secured.

Make no mistake, this was an extremely good performance and restored a large chunk of local pride after last week. Although talk of the play-offs is probably wide of the mark, we now have a platform for the remaining seven games of the season.


Team: Michopoulos, Davis, Cox, West (Maylett 84), Smith, Ball, Cook, Weller, Little, Taylor (Payton 76), Moore (Mullin 66). Subs not used: Crichton and Armstrong.

Scorers: Moore (3), Ball (45), Little (72).

Attendance: 16,591.

Referee: A Leake.

Patrick's Man of the Match: Glen Little.

London Clarets Man of the Match: Kevin Ball.

The away game and the home game last season

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