After the fantastic second half performance against Derby the previous week, I am sure most of us must have allowed ourselves to start thinking that the corner of our dismal season had been turned. Getting some kind of result against Stoke should be well within our grasp, shouldn’t it? Thankfully, I actually spent less time worrying about this in the days before the match than I expected. The mid-week thrashing of the donkey-lashers had calmed my nerves, to a certain extent. Bring on the Stowke!
Burnley:
I Moore Blake
Briscoe Johnrose Grant Little
McGregor Gnohere Cox West
Beresford
Stoke:
Cooke Mooney
Vandeurzen O’Connor Gunnarsson Gudjonsson
Clarke Shtaniuk Handyside Thomas
Cutler
We started off well, with loads of possession and a few free kicks (taken mainly by Briscoe) and corners in the first 15 minutes. Little looked busy and was involved in most of our more promising moves, and Blake was also looking dangerous (though his hair seems slightly less scary this season). Good work by Little in the 8th minute down the left led to a left-foot shot from West that was just over. Stoke, meanwhile, received a booking for O’Connor for a late tackle on Tony Grant. Needless really, as we all know that Grant isn’t significant enough to merit tackling at all. The free kick that followed led to a shot by Blake that was blocked by the Stoke defence.
Stoke gradually began to come back into it though, tackling more and consequently winning more possession, and with wily old Tommy Mooney looking likely to cause problems. Stoke’s lumbering central defenders weren’t really given that much to do, and we started to lose a bit of direction. A free kick to Stoke in the 20th minute produced an ‘ooh’ from the Stoke fans, though we weren’t overly concerned – it was an easy catch for Marlon. And whilst we’re on the subject, isn’t it a relief to have a keeper who we can have a bit of confidence in?
A couple more Stoke free kicks, and a corner to Stoke, and various long-range shots, didn’t trouble us unduly. They were an excuse for a few choruses of ‘Delilah’ from the Stoke fans, though. Half-time: 0-0. We’d looked quite good in patches, with plenty of pressure early on. Meanwhile Stoke looked OK, but were definitely beatable.
Half-time entertainment was the usual pom-pom girls, so I took the chance to read an article in the programme about Mr G Branch, which Pauline had kindly pointed out to me. Apparently Graham a) is currently single; b) believes in UFOs. I can’t say either surprises me...
Back to the football...Stan swapped McGregor and Blake (suffering from a virus, apparently) for Alan Moore and Gareth Taylor, with Briscoe moved to left-back. It seemed a strange move, as Blake had looked OK and as we all know, Moore A is a lazy bastard. No changes for Stoke, and they started the brightest of the two teams. A move in the 50th minute led to their best chance so far, but fortunately Marlon made a superb fingertip save to keep the ball out. We then had a couple of good chances: the first producing a corner after A Moore had crossed for I Moore; the second, excellent work and control by Taylor after a flick-on by Alan Moore, which ended when Little was pulled down. Probably quite rightly, the ref allowed play on, as Little sprawled far too dramatically – something he’s doing a bit too much of at the moment. He did almost make amends immediately afterwards though, and should have scored after yet more good link-up by Taylor and Alan Moore.
At this point we seemed well in control. Alan Moore had decided he was interested, and though he often is a lazy get, he is a good player with bags of skill when he wants to be. Taylor was also looking good, and his extra height was causing Stoke problems. He produced several neat little flick-ons and was involved in most of our chances. Even Tony Grant was also spotted dribbling with the ball (once), though as you’d expect from the Mellon-esque midfielder, it came to nothing. Stoke did have an excellent chance in the 60th minute when they were clean through but contrived to miss, with a shot that was, as Alan Green would say, ‘absolutely woeful’. Soon after we had our best chance so far, when a Taylor header from a Little cross seemed certain to go in, but instead hit the post.
Following a Stoke corner which was punched out by Beresford, Papadopoulos came on for Ian Moore, who frankly, was fairly ineffective. Two minutes later Alan Moore again showed excellent skill on the left, feeding the ball out to Johnrose who miscontrolled and then scythed down a Stoke player in an attempt to retrieve the ball. He then made up for this by a good ball to Papadopoulos, but it was only a half chance and it came to nothing.
Andy Cooke was then substituted, and it was nice to see the great reception he got from the Burnley fans. Unfortunately we didn’t get treated to a view of his impressive stomach muscles, but he did give us a wave.
Then, disaster in the 74th minute. Grant lost the ball, and O’Connor took it up and raced well into the Burnley half. Could somebody tackle him please? No. OK then, just let him pass to Gudjonnsonn. Damn, he’s scored! Not good. Could we fight back again from a 1-0 deficit?
It seemed that we’d give it a good go. In the 75th minute a corner was punched out by the Stoke keeper Cutler, and from the resulting corner Gnohere headed in! He then decided to remove his shirt, run over to the Stoke fans and wave it at them. Not a good idea, especially when he’d already been booked in the first half for a needless tug on Andy Cooke. It is a worry that whilst Arthur is undoubtedly a good player, he does seem prone to these silly moments. As I’m writing this after the Millwall match, we also know that he is going to be disciplined by Stan for gesticulating to the Millwall bench. Grow up, Arthur!
Some meaty tackles ensued, including one by Grant for which he was booked. We were starting to pile on the pressure, and seven minutes after Arthur’s goal, Papadopoulos got on the end of a teasing cross by Little and directed a superb flying header into the net. 2-1!
Two minutes later there was more excitement, as Mooney was sent off for stamping on Grant. Something I’d love to do, as long as it was enough to put him out of the game permanently. And no, I’m not joking. The insurance money would come in very handy, I’m sure.
With Stoke down to ten men, the remaining minutes of the game were dominated by us. Papadopoulos was looking likely to add to his tally, and had a half chance 1 minute from time after tenacious tackling from Little, that came to nothing.
Final score: 2-1 to Burnley. We’d looked the better team, but not as impressive as against Derby. And again, encouraging that we’d come back from 1-0 down again. Stoke had looked OK, having quite a lot of possession and several chances, but ultimately looking a bit toothless. I predict that they’ll survive quite easily though, and will probably end up somewhere around the lower mid-table position. As for us, well, getting back to normal, and some good performances today.
Subs not used: Michopoulos, Cook.
Scorers: (Burnley) Gnohere 76, Papadopoulos 81 / (Stoke) Gudjonsson 74.
Attendance: 14,244.
Referee: D Pugh (Wirral).
Joanne's man of the match: Glen Little or Marlon Beresford.
