The pride
of Lancashire
West Bromwich Albion 1 Burnley 1, Saturday 4 November 2000
Report by Cozzo
After the trauma of the previous week's trip it
was good to actually get to a game without too much delay on the train - and for the game
still to be on. The scandalously late decision to postpone the Norwich game grated,
especially when we heard the referee on the radio say that as the Norwich fans had already
set off it didn't matter that he 'gave the groundsmen and the pitch as long as possible'.
Well, Mr Laws of Whitley Bay, it did matter to us because we had phoned for cabs to get us
from Preston to Burnley, which added to the cost of our non-football day. Thank you.
In the end it was so late that the non-league
tickers amongst us didn't have time to find a game of any description. The weather was
terrible in Burnley and had been for days apparently. The blame has to lay with the club
for not alerting the referee until 12.30 that there was a problem. For example, Rochdale
had an 8.30 am pitch inspection before yesterday's game against Barnet. It may not have
made any difference, as the pitch may have been okay then, but we would have given a lot
of money for a phone call whilst somewhere near Milton Keynes that would have saved us
eight hours on the train. I'm sure it has cost the club a lot of money so they will no
doubt be looking at the problem.
Anyway, onto Saturday's game. Only a few had
braved the mid-week game against Crewe where normal service had been resumed after the
blip at Forest, so for most our twenty or so travellers it was the first game for a couple
of weeks. The now traditional (after only two weeks) gamble on the arrival time of the
train, sundry other partings of money and a read of the paper and we arrived in
Birmingham.
After a quick pint in Birmingham it was a trip
on 'The Metro' tramlink out to West Bromwich, which gets a big thumbs up for ease of use
and efficiency. There is a stop for the Hawthorns and apart from the obligatory trip
through the stadium car park on the way back to the station it was very convenient.
(Although some of our friends in the North were asked by the driver over the P.A., when
getting on at an intermediate stop, whether they had tickets. They were then told to get
off because they hadn't. Better luck next time Becko!)
I've been to West Bromwich for meetings from
work and it's not the most attractive nor my favourite place, but the bits we went to away
from the centre were pleasant enough and the pubs welcoming, and the people quite helpful
when it came to directions. In fact we were even offered a lift by some fans to the
ground, which was very decent of them, but we declined and headed for a last pint on the
way back to the metro.
Early team news was that Little was still out
with his hamstring problem and Briscoe was fit after twisting his back and missing the
Crewe game. Cooke was dropped to the bench despite his goal and Robinson, a forward we are
allegedly contemplating spending a million pounds on, didn't even make the bench.
The Hawthorns is a strange ground as the 'main
stand' on the side is actually the smallest, with the two biggest stands being at either
end. Rather like at Man City, the end we occupied was divided to allow home fans part of
the stand. That tends to annoy me because a lot of the fans stop watching the game and
start standing up and singing at the opposing fans.
The game started with Burnley kicking towards
us, and apart from a couple of throw-ins and corners the majority of the play was at the
far end as West Brom started brightly and knocked the ball about, causing the odd flutter
as a couple of last ditch blocks and tackles prevented openings. Everything seemed to go
via the long-haired, former Bolton player Sneekes. Roberts and Bob Taylor were up front
with Ruel Fox given a fairly free license in midfield.
Just over ten minutes gone, and a one-two on the
edge of the Clarets' box plays in Sneekes (I think) and Niko is forced to come out, but
for some reason he challenges feet first and after a brief skirmish the ball goes out for
a goal kick. However, as he goes to take it Niko looks in trouble and kicks the ball out
for a throw. Not sure why he did this as the ball was obviously already out of play, but
he then sits down and calls for attention. If there was one game that Paul Crichton was
destined to play it was this one. A former Baggies player, the cries of 'dodgy keeper'
started as soon as he ran on, but he got a tremendous reception from the away support,
almost as if we were trying to build him up. As it happens he had a very sound game and
did little, if anything, wrong.
Without looking very dangerous we were playing
okay. The midfield were working hard and Mellon was making some good forward runs. The
defence was coping well under pressure, although there was one mad minute where the ball
was pinballing around the box before it was hacked clear. Up front Branch was looking good
and showing the movement and pace that has been gaining him good reviews recently. Payton
was very quiet and looked a yard off the pace.
Then a moment of magic from Branch as he ran
with the ball to the edge of the box, looked like he had lost it but nutmegged the last
man and calmly placed the ball, right-footed, into the corner. Cue wild celebrations,
especially from the scorer himself.
This only serves to inspire West Brom further as
they up the pace, but the defence stands firm until Davis is forced to cynically bring
down an advancing forward. Fortunately he wasn't the last man and it's only a booking. The
tackles are now flying in and the Baggies fans are standing up and shouting at every
little incident - and the referee seems to be listening as he books Burnley players
whenever possible. Roberts is also booked for an incident at a corner that we couldn't
see. Both he and Sneekes attempt dives which aren't rewarded or more importantly,
punished.
The rest of the half passes in a blur, although
we do have our moments. The second half starts with the traditional Clarets' tactic of
giving their right back a throw-in to take. Why do we do that?
The game can only be described as a battle as it
continues from where the first half left off. Weller seems to have been targeted, as a
late tackle takes him out and the book is shown once again. Time ticks by and we start to
look more comfortable. Johnrose replaces Cook to man-mark Ruel Fox and Mullin replaces the
ineffective Payton. A cross from the left flashes across the Burnley box but no-one is
able to take advantage of Crichton's only piece of hesitancy. Otherwise his catching,
punching and kicking are all sound and we look like we are going to get another one nil
win.
The strangest sight at this point is seeing
Ronnie Jepson still warming up behind the linesman, despite the fact that we have used our
three subs. It obviously works as he gives us three or four free kicks. A cross from the
left finds Sneekes unmarked but as soon as he heads it I can see that it is going wide,
although Crichton is not so sure and dives across his goal. The look on Sneekes' face is
the realisation that he isn't going to get a better chance. Surely now we are going to do
it?
Less than five minutes left, and a Baggies quick
free kick plays a short ball down the right-hand side of the box. A missed tackle and they
are in behind us for once. A low cross to the near post and in a flurry of bodies Roberts
gets a foot to the ball and diverts it past Crichton.
It's strange now to see the players' reactions
when we concede a goal. No recriminations, no blame or finger-pointing; Briscoe and Davis
visibly trying to gee everyone up and lots of hand-clapping and shouting encouragement.
It's good to see and it obviously works as we survive a frantic last few minutes, although
there are no clear chances at either end.
Overall, not the most flowing game of football
but from the way the Baggies fans celebrated you would have thought that they had won the
game, which says a lot about how far we have come this season. We would all have settled
for a point before the game but after getting so close it's impossible not to feel a
little disappointed. The team worked tremendously hard for each other and Branch, Mellon,
Ball and Cook were all outstanding. A small step nearer the goal of safety but we are all
just taking it one game at a time and seeing where that takes us - as Stan would say.
Team:
Michopoulos (Crichton 15), Thomas, Cox, Davis, Weller, Briscoe, Mellon, Ball, Cook
(Johnrose 66), Branch, Payton (Mullin 73). Subs not used: Cooke
and Jepson.
Scorers: Branch
(23) / Roberts (87).
Attendance:
17,828.
Referee: W M
Jordan of Tring. Tring!
London Clarets Man
of the Match: Graham Branch.
The home game
