It's heads again!
Burnley 1 Grimsby 0
Report by Pauline Pratley
Well, nothing changes – except for the awkward Friday kick-off, of course. En route to the hallowed Turf, the London to Preston train was late. The Preston to Burnley train was late. It was raining. It was cold. However, the knowledge that we were going into the game top of the league more than compensated for such minor inconveniences.
As far as match reporting went, though, things were to be a little different. Most of my previous match reports had followed the same kind of pattern. You know the kind of thing: "After twenty minutes and sixteen seconds, a sublime cross from Little (played from a position one and a half yards inside the touchline and approximately thirty yards from goal) just failed to find Ian Moore." Influenced by the club’s wish to create a carnival atmosphere, I decided to throw caution to the wind, forget the prospect of too much frantic scribbling, sit back, enjoy the game, and write the report from memory. So if, as they say, this report bears "no resemblance to actual people or events"... well, you know why!
Due to the trains’ lateness, there was just time to check in to the hotel, bolt down a pie and peas, and hurry to the ground. The atmosphere inside the ground was pretty good, and many people proudly waved scarves. The pre-match parade of Legends was excellent, and it was good to see the Grimsby fans applauding generously. I fervently hoped that the game wouldn’t prove to be an anti-climax (previous encounters with the Mariners having been somewhat less than thrilling).
As the teams were announced, we realised that Davis was missing again. In past times, this would have triggered near panic amongst the faithful. On Friday, it was barely worthy of mention – we had done pretty well with Coxy and Arthur, hadn’t we? Branch came into the starting line-up in place of the suspended Briscoe, but otherwise it was the usual suspects. The two teams lined up as follows:
Burnley: Michopoulos, West, Cox, Gnohere, Branch, Little, Weller, Grant, Cook, Taylor, Ian Moore. Subs: Cennamo, Ball, Payton, Johnrose, Alan Moore.
Grimsby: Coyne, Neilson, Broomes, Pouton, Groves, Butterfield, Willems, Allen, Rowan, Chapman, Boulding. Subs: Burnett, Smith, Croudson, Raven, Jevons.
Grimsby kicked off and I spent the first couple of minutes trying to put names to numbers. Some teams just don’t have any memorable players, and Grimsby are one of them. Also in my mind was a feeling of unease caused by my lack of pad and pen. Bizarre and complicated things were bound to happen, and I wouldn’t be able to remember any of them!
As it turned out, I needn’t have worried about new scenarios. Barely three minutes had elapsed when Little was fouled. Cook stepped up to take the free kick, and put in a lovely ball which Taylor met perfectly to head us into the lead. Now, where have I seen that before?! The goal was met by frenzied celebrations, and I felt quietly confident that a goalfest might be on the cards.
For the remainder of the first half we continued to play well. Cook was everywhere and Grant’s passing and vision was a joy to behold. Taylor, Weller and Moore all had close-range chances – one of Moore’s in particular bringing a top class tip-over from Coyne. Coxy and Arthur looked solid. West was getting forward well and Branch (in his first game back after weeks out with an Achilles problem) was doing some important defensive work. Perhaps the only disappointment was Little, who seemed to lack his usual sparkle, despite the presence of the television cameras.
Grimsby as ever were tidy and passed well, but seemed to lack any real cutting edge. However, they didn’t seem put off by our early goal, and the first half saw chances for both Allen (superbly tackled by Branch) and Broomes (denied by Nik’s legs when it would surely have been easier to score). Still, we coped fairly comfortably, and went into the break looking good for another goal.
Of course, as so often in a game with an early goal, it wasn’t to be. Grimsby came out looking much the brighter, and initially we looked determined to throw away our lead, poor marking allowing Allen a free shot which fortunately found only Nik.
The game progressed with little real incident, and Burnley seemed to have lost some of their earlier impetus. Indeed, the game was positively soporific – if I’d had a notepad, I don’t believe I would have written anything down! However, after 14 minutes, all thoughts of a quiet snooze were forgotten. Moore ran into Grimsby’s penalty area and seemed to be sandwiched by two defenders. Surely a cast-iron penalty? But no – Mr Cain decided it would all be just too much effort, and waved play on. Sometimes it would be nice to know what goes on in the mind of a referee. (Can anything pass through a vacuum?)
The remainder of the game was somewhat livelier, with chances for both sides. Branch in particular had a good chance to put us 2-0 up, but his far-post shot was well wide. Lennie Lawrence took off Allen and brought on ex-Evertonian Phil Jevons. Subsequently, Stan replaced Weller with Ball, and then Cook with Alan Moore. Grimsby – still scenting a possible point – used up their remaining substitutions, and then Stan replaced Taylor with Payton.
The tactical changes had little material effect, though, and it was to be one moment of brilliance from Little that almost put the result beyond doubt. Out of nothing, he conjured up an unsaveable shot that unfortunately hit the crossbar. Oh well – it wasn’t to be.
After the game, it would have been easy to dwell on the "penalty" and Little’s bad luck. However, spirits were generally high as we reminded ourselves that we were still top of the League – by five whole points!
On Saturday, and in an effort to provide some further details for this report, I caught up with some fellow Clarets and got their views on the game...
Q. What was the best thing about last night?
Woody: Taylor’s goal.
Patrick: Being five points clear at the end of the game.
Cozzo: The final whistle!
Q. What was the worst thing about yesterday?
Woody: My hangover this morning.
Patrick: The awful band at the Talbot.
Cozzo: I didn’t get a balti pie! They only had samples, not the real thing! (Sob.)
Q. Best Burnley player?
Woody: Grant.
Patrick: Coxy.
Cozzo: Grant.
Q. What did you think of Grimsby?
Woody: I kept wondering why there were so many referees on the pitch, all passing to each other. (If you’re wondering, Grimsby have a particularly dark away strip!)
Patrick: Danny Coyne looked good – shame about the rest.
Cozzo: They passed nicely and didn’t let their heads drop.
Q. What do you want for Christmas?
Woody: To beat Millwall at home would be nice.
Patrick: 50 points.
Cozzo: To still have a five point lead!
Team:
Michopoulos, West, Cox, Gnohere, Branch, Little, Weller (Ball, 73), Grant, Cook (Alan Moore, 76), Taylor
(Payton, 86), Ian Moore. Subs not used: Cennamo and Johnrose.
Scorer:
Taylor (3).
Attendance:
18,535.
Referee:
Mr Cain (Bootle).
Pauline’s Man of the Match:
Ian Cox.
The away match and
this game last season
