Well, 6.15 certainly stinks – but Sunday kick-offs
aren’t exactly fragrant, either. The day started at 4.30 with the dreaded alarm
interrupting my dreams of Bradford 1 Burnley 5. Despite the early start, I was quite
looking forward to visiting Valley Parade – the only new "tick" for me this
season. The other six London Clarets I met up with at Kings Cross seemed similarly
enthusiastic, if perhaps half asleep in some cases! The day seemed even more promising
when we found our special offer First Class seats (if only we travelled in such style
every week).
A smooth and relaxing journey – "More tea, Madam?" – was followed
by the obligatory sampling of various beers (or colas, in my case). The brisk walk to the
ground was quite welcome, just to burn off all the caffeine!
I always think that visiting a "new" ground is a bit like driving a new car.
Lots of cars look alike at first glance, but once inside each one looks, feels –
smells, even – quite different. Approaching Valley Parade, I wasn’t terribly
impressed. A bit tatty, perhaps, and being built on the side of a hill, hard to gauge the
size of. Perhaps a Ford Escort amongst all the shiny new executive saloon grounds that are
becoming the norm nowadays. Once inside, however, I realised that appearances could be
very deceptive. The interior was quite roomy; there was plenty of legroom, and the general
design was pleasing. Equipment standards were a bit low, perhaps – enormous queues
for the food and loos – but all in all, quite acceptable.
There was already a large Claret contingent in the ground, in good voice. The teams
came out from opposite where we were sitting, and lined up as follows:
Bradford (4-3-3): Walsh, Molenaar, Halle, Myers, Jacobs, Locke, Whalley,
McCall, Jess, Ward, Carbone. Subs: Davison, Wetherall, Blake, Tod, Makel.
Burnley (4-5-1): Michopoulos, West, Davis, Armstrong,
Briscoe, Little, Weller, Ball, Cook, Alan Moore, Ian Moore. Subs: Cennamo, Gnohere,
Mullin, Payton, Ellis.
My first thought was that Ian Cox was missing – disappointing. No-one seemed to
know why. My second thought was that we might struggle without Gareth Taylor. Still, we
kicked off and started brightly with a nice West-Little combination. The midfield seemed
up for it, Ball putting in a heavy – but fair – early tackle. A sign of things
to come however was the sight of Carbone doing his best to run into Nik after the ball had
gone. (I do admire Carbone’s skill, but – like most people, I suspect – I
detest the accompanying petulance and diving.)
During the early minutes of the first half we saw quite a bit of the action just in
front of us as Carbone and ex-Bastard Ashley Ward pressurised our defence. Indeed with
only a couple of minutes gone Davis conceded a free kick against Ward a few yards outside
the box. (Now, Carbone may be petulant, but Ward is just plain dirty. Backing in; elbows
up at every opportunity – but to the referee, of course, ever more victim than
villain.) Fortunately Carbone’s attempt came to nothing, and Ward even got his
comeuppance a few minutes later when he chased the ball into the advertising boards behind
our goal, almost going too far and ending up in with the (gleefully expectant) Burnley
fans!
At the other end of the pitch, Ian Moore was looking bright, although somewhat
isolated. The general opinion seemed to be that Bradford were tending to dominate the
midfield, with Weller in particular not looking his usual self. However, inside ten
minutes Kevin Ball had a great chance to put us in front, but headed over the bar. Still,
it gave us hope.
As the half progressed our game started to come together. We were passing the ball
nicely and more than matching the ex-Premiership team for endeavour. The two Moores were
both moving well. Our defence looked quite confident, Briscoe in particular catching my
eye with some good clearances. The only slight worry was the referee’s inclination to
shower Bradford with free kicks, particularly if Ward or Carbone happened to be involved.
With less than 20 minutes gone, things looked to be getting even better. Alan Moore
played Little in, and the latter’s shot seemed to go under the crossbar and in.
Celebrations lasted for several seconds before we realised that the "goal"
hadn’t happened. Surely Little had even wheeled away in celebration? Still, there was
no time to dwell on it, as I looked round to see Eoin Jess breaking towards our goalmouth
– fortunately, he had failed to stay onside.
The disappointment of the "disallowed" goal seemed to throw us off balance
momentarily and with 22 minutes gone Jacobs played in Ward, who found the net only to be
ruled offside. Further pressure followed with another free kick for the Bantams,
fortunately Locke wasting it. We managed to slow things down – the old hands Cook and
Ball exerting a calming influence – and Weller began to get more of the play. West
started to get forward again and put in a lovely ball that found absolutely no-one (but
would have been perfect for Taylor).
The first half drew to a close via more Bradford pressure, but (one miscommunication
between keeper and defence apart) we countered well, Nik making one fantastic stop with
his legs. Oh, and Alan Moore and Ball got booked for nothing, but no news there. As we
clapped the players off I remarked that the game would surely end 0-0.
Well, it shows what little I know! Bradford kicked off, but lost possession, and
suddenly Glen Little was bearing down on the goal to our left, shooting... GOAL! The goal
seemed to spur us on further, and we had another chance after Weller won a throw-in deep
in their half; the ball went to Little but his cut-back pass found no-one there. Bradford
seemed to sense an opportunity, and we were temporarily thrown off track. Ian Moore
resorted to diving and Little was booked as tempers started to fray.
Soon the inevitable happened and with 16 minutes of the half gone, Ward chipped Nik to
make it 1-1. Ward, whom it pains me to say was having a good game, then headed over the
bar. More frayed nerves. Both Ward and Carbone were seeing plenty of the ball (and the
grass, as lost opportunity was inevitably followed by dive. Indeed, Carbone spent so long
on the ground that although on one occasion he was seemingly fouled in our penalty area,
even the Bantam in black took no notice!)
I was sure we were about to concede another goal, and the feeling intensified a few
minutes later when a super long-distance effort from Halle hit the crossbar, only to be
followed by another disallowed goal for Ward. To add to our woes, Armstrong was booked.
With less than 15 minutes to go, Stan took off Moore (Ian) and brought on Ellis.
Then, out of the blue, we were in the lead again courtesy of another goal from Little!
Our joy was short-lived, though, as Bradford equalised almost immediately. Nik failed to
deal with a shot from his right; the ball came out to McCall, who made no mistake.
I resigned myself to a point and put the top back on my pen. Then, something quite
marvellous happened. Ellis – who had been booed by some of the Burnley
"fans" when he came on – turned Andy Myers, leaving himself with only Walsh
to beat. Showing agility and touch that belied his well-publicised 36 years, his shot from
an acute angle went under Walsh and into the net. There’s only one Tony Ellis –
and he’s ours!
Somehow we lived through stoppage time, though I’m sure the ref added some in the
hope that Bradford would score again. The journey home flew by as we enjoyed the free
drinks etc. Oh, and we also very much enjoyed the feeling of being Top Of The League!
(Top)
Hats Off!