I find myself in a very unusual situation. Here I sit, poised at my keyboard, wondering how the hell do I report on this draw? To those of you not in the know, I am officially a jonah. I average less than a point per match report - grown men break down in tears when they hear that I’m the one poised with the pen. But no more - this leopard has changed its spots! I got a bloody draw, and at a Premiership club (or, rather, Burnley got a draw, and I just happened to be the designated match reporter). So that’s it now - I’ll do every single one from now on. I am cured!
Burnley were magnifique today. We battled for the whole 92 minutes, fought for every ball, were tigerish in the tackle and showed no respect. This was a good old-fashioned Cup tie. This was Premiership quality against the First Division’s most inconsistent and frustrating side: £40 million versus the usual bag of free transfers and journeymen (with the odd £1 million man thrown in). From the very first whistle, our intention was clear: give Fulham no time to play their fancy football, close them down and don’t give them time on the ball. It worked a treat.
The Burnley side saw two changes from the team that beat Coventry the week before. Out went Robbie Blake for Lee Briscoe, and Marlon Beresford replaced Nik Michopoulos in goal. It was very much a 4-5-1 formation, with Gareth Taylor on his own up front for much of the game, although he was supported by the forward runs of both Moores. Glen Little failed his fitness test and didn’t figure on the bench.
It was a dream start. Sean Davis, fresh from warming the bench at England’s debacle against the Aussies down in deepest Pie and Mashville, sold the Cottagers' defence short with a back-pass. Melville and Finnan couldn’t decide whose ball it was, and allowed Alan Moore to nip in. Don’t get the impression here that this was an easy goal - Moore still had a lot of work to do when he gained possession. He wriggled through the challenges of Finnan and Melville, and took the ball on before slipping it calmly under the advancing Taylor in the Fulham goal.
The real question now was whether we could hold onto the lead for any length of time. Fulham came back at us, and had a couple of shots. It’s not difficult to see why Fulham struggle at times; their build-up play and passing movement can be excellent, but on occasions they are guilty of either over-elaboration or rushes of blood to the head. Particularly culpable in this was Saha. He found himself in possession on the edge of the box on numerous occasions, only to criminally waste the ball when there were others much better positioned.
The rest of the half was fairly even, although to be honest we didn’t really look like scoring again. At the back, Marlon showed good handling skills, relieving the pressure when necessary, and Driss and Cox were outstanding in the centre. Graham Branch was solid, and the only downside was the amount of times West was caught out of position. Fred is really struggling to find the form that carried him through last season. It should also be said in his favour that he does play better when in tandem with Glen Little, and for reasons of tactics and fitness this has not always been possible. I personally believe that it may be time to give Mark McGregor a chance in that position - try him out at right-back for a change.
Anyway, just as we looked to be about to hold on until half time, we conceded. The goal was an excellent piece of skill, Malbranque - their most dangerous player - controlled a clearance from Cox out wide on their left, and then fired a half-volley past Beresford for the equaliser. There can be no doubting that it was a quality finish. At this point we realised that we were not alone in the ground. Chairman Mo’s chorus in the Ellerslie Road stand started to make some noise (either that or they all collectively sneezed at the same time). I know that they play at another club’s ground, but their support was truly awful - three sides of the ground were like a morgue, and their chorus line to our right appeared to consist of about 12 adolescents modelling the obligatory Burberry merchandise. Nothing changes there, then.
I know that it must be difficult playing away every week, but surely even the most blinkered of fans could have seen that Mo was going to require something back for his investment. Don’t they know how much a penthouse overlooking the Thames in that part of the world is worth?
The second half continued much in the manner of the first. Fulham had the majority of the possession, but Burnley were defending stoutly. It looked as though they really did realise just how important financially a snatched victory or a replay would be. Fulham created and wasted chances; they became impatient, and were restricted to long shots which failed to trouble Marlon. The midfield was holding firm, and, as the legs began to tire, Stan responded by replacing the admirable Paul Cook with the welcome return of Paul Weller. Hopefully when Weller regains full fitness he and Cook will make up the centre midfield pairing.
It did become a little bit fraught toward the end, and at times we were hanging on; this wasn’t helped by Mr Poll at times ‘looking after’ his Premiership pals. (Although he did get the most important decision right, when he could so easily have taken the easy option and sent Cox off after Saha’s dive as he lost control when clean through. The only slight criticism of the referee here is that he didn’t yellow-card the diver.) By now it had really petered out as a contest. We were content to take them back to the Turf, and they had run out of ideas. McGregor had been brought on to shore up the defence, and he helped West subdue Malbranque. Mr Poll added two minutes, and we got our deserved replay.
This was an excellent performance. If only we could maintain this level of performance, we would be challenging in the First Division. Unfortunately, we still have our very off days, and these will continue to undo the good work. But to sum up: we were excellent; we defended well as a team and restricted them to long shots, Stan’s game plan appeared to work, and we justly deserved our replay. Next Wednesday the hard work has to be done all over again. If we can maintain our level of performance and attitude, we have to have a good chance, but it won’t be easy.
Subs not used: Michopoulos, Blake, Papadopoulos.
Scorers: (Fulham) Malbranque 45 / (Burnley) Alan Moore 4.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
Attendance: 13,062.
Whitto's man of the match: Drissa Diallo.
Walk like an Egyptian