Worthington's
goes flat - again
Burnley 2 Rushden and Diamonds 3
Report by Becko
A couple of weeks ago I was thinking along these lines.
It's going to be harder to finish higher than last season, so I'll settle (as if I have
any choice in the matter) for mid-table mediocrity and a good cup run. For me, the League
Cup offered our best hope. After all, Birmingham reached the Final last season, Tranmere
the year before, and Bolton have done so in the past. Well, if we are to have a cup run
this season, then we'll have to wait until January for it to start.
It's depressing to be out of a cup competition two weeks
into the season. Let’s not take anything away from Rushden; they were very organised
and disciplined. They passed the ball well, and ultimately fully deserved their win.
Anyone who knows anything about football, i.e. not those people who think football IS the
Premiership won't be surprised Rushden won. They have money - they had been labelled the
Manchester United of non-league football. Their not unrealistic aim will be to get into
the First Division. Now they've actually done the hard part of getting into the League,
this should be attainable sooner rather than later. Having said that, they'll probably
have to play some better teams than they did last night. Is it asking too much to beat
teams from two divisions lower - at home?
So how bad were Burnley? Immeasurably, well it's hard to
gauge isn't it? Were we worse than Man City 6-0? Or Darlington in the F.A. Cup 3-2? Or
Scunthorpe in the F.A. Cup last season? Having seen all those defeats then the answer is
probably no, but it doesn't matter does it? We were bad, and that's enough.
Hindsight is great isn't it? We're always wise after the
event, and it would be easy to say Stan made too many changes. Maybe that's the reason,
but if he hadn't then people would be saying we missed an ideal opportunity to play Papa,
McGregor, Archie etc. People no doubt say he should have kept the same team as against
Wimbledon - probably the same people who say Armstrong, West and Cook aren't good enough
and are too old. So Stan can't win. Oh, and neither can the club. People moan about paying
£15. Last season the admission price was reduced to£10 for the Hartlepool and Crystal
Palace Cup games, and 3,300 and 5,800 turned up respectively, so it makes very little
difference to the size of the gate. I suggest that next season, all season ticket holders
get a 'free ticket' in their book for the First Round of the League Cup, as we're not
going to be in the competition long.
Personally, I thought it was a good idea to try some of the
squad players. In came McGregor, Archie, Ball, Mullin, Papa, and Maylett. Rested were
West, Armstrong, Cook, Briscoe (who also had a knock), Little, and I Moore. The trouble
was the team didn't look like a team. Passing broke down. There was no cohesion going
forward. No Little to prompt and probe. Some players didn't look any good. Was our
attitude wrong? Certainly late in the game our commitment seemed lacking, there was no
urgency, and it seemed as though everyone was hoping that somebody else would dig us out
of the hole.
Over the years our cup form has been poor. Even when we
were a good team, we weren't in the cup. I know we beat Derby two seasons ago, but we
don't seem to have learnt the lessons of last season. We ignored the warning given by
Hartlepool. We were 1-0 down at half time, but fortunately had Andy Payton on the bench to
come on and score a hat trick. He was conspicuous by his absence here, but I'm sure he
would have scored. Papa and I Moore don't look capable, so please Stan, play someone who
can find the back of the net. Then we went to Scunthorpe, and despite getting out of jail
at Turf Moor, we put in another inept performance. I wonder whether there is a certain
amount of arrogance when we play lower league teams. Brian Laws said after the Scunthorpe
game that the Burnley players had been taunting his team about how much money they were
paid. Here again we looked as if the fact we were there was sufficient to win the game.
Ironically, things started brightly. Alan Moore (he and
Archie were the two bright spots of the evening) crossed from the left and a diving header
was blocked by keeper Turley's legs. If we thought it would only be a matter of time
before a goal came, then we were right. A corner on the Burnley left was curled in. Six
Burnley players were in the six-yard box, four Rushden players waited on the 18-yard line,
no one saw fit to mark them, and Peters scored with a free header. Such was the confusion
in the Burnley team that when we got a corner there was an embarrassing pause before
somebody went over to take it.
So we had been caught cold. Could we step up a gear? We
struggled to get into second. McGregor looked nervous and was hardly in the game. Archie
looks quite eccentric. Defensively he plays a dangerous game; he'll get caught out soon.
Going forward he tried as hard as anyone, beating men on the left with pace and control,
but the basic art of taking a throw in seemed difficult.
I don't think there is a place in the team for John Mullin.
He can play in a lot of positions averagely but doesn't stand out in any. Papa was frankly
woeful. We hope his time will come, but on this evidence it's not quite yet. He missed
three very good chances, threw himself down when defenders went near him, and looked
lightweight on the ball. People were too quick to rave after the Everton match when he
beat Abel Xavier. I remember Brian Chippendale beating Phil Neal in a friendly in about
1986, and we signed him - enough said? Brad Maylett is not yet ready (if he ever will be)
to fill Glen Little's boots, and Bally and A Moore tired after about an hour.
Davis had a header cleared off the line, and A Moore should
have done better when one on one with the keeper, so although 1-0 down, we didn't want
half time to come. Stan obviously wanted to win. I Moore, Cook and Little replaced Papa,
Mullin and Maylett at half time. Within five minutes of the re-start we were 2-0 down.
Mustafa finished a four-man move with a 20 yarder which gave Nico no chance. A Moore
pulled one back five minutes later with a header, and briefly we felt the tide had turned
in our favour. We let this ascendancy slip and got punished with a breakaway third.
I Moore hit the bar when he should have scored. McGregor
got a second, and again our hopes were raised with about ten minutes still to go. A number
of players were too tired to give any more, and inexplicably we failed to get the ball to
Glen enough. He looked to be our only hope of salvation. On one occasion he got the ball
and jinxed into the box with his trademark turn, beating two men and crossing. How many
times have we seen that, and Andy Payton score with a header? I Moore and Taylor didn't.
One last chance, and 90 minutes on the clock. The ball comes out of a crowded box to Kevin
Ball, he connects, and fires wide. We knew that was it. This moment seemed to sum up the
evening - a great chance missed.
Team: Michopoulos,
McGregor, Davis, Cox, Gnohere, Maylett (Little 46), Ball, Mullin (Cook 46), A Moore, Papa
(I Moore 46), Taylor. Subs not used: Armstrong and Cennamo.
Scorers:
A Moore, McGregor / Peters, Mustafa, Darby.
Crowd:
4,398.
Referee: M
Fletcher.
