How sweet a last-minute win can be!
Bradford City 1 Burnley 2
Report by Julian Booth
Well, where do you start with this match? Not the best you've ever seen, but frankly, who cares? This was one of those occasions when the result was everything. We have reached a crucial stage of this difficult season, when the collecting of any points anyhow is all we should care about. At any other time of this campaign this performance itself would have been torn to shreds by the press, but now it's praised as a battling result against all odds. It was a means to an end, the end being First Division safety at any cost.
This was much more than the Clarets' first away win since September. It was a shot in the arm that helped us restore some belief; and more importantly than that, it has clawed Burnley out of a precarious position in the relegation drop zone. Let's not all get carried away, though - it's only three points, and we have a long way to go yet. At least another 9-10 points are probably needed to ensure mathematical safety. This is a start, though, and with five out of our eight remaining games at Turf Moor there has to be a chance that survival isn't the Eighth Wonder of the World.
As the game fast approached, the nerves began to really jangle. I have not been this anxious before any match for quite some time. Our recent form (with no wins in six games, and a barren spell of six months without an away win) didn't inspire any hope. Then, from everywhere came the massed Clarets fans crowded into the "Whatever shall we call it this week? Pulse Bradford and Bingley Charlie Brown" stadium, and roared their side on to victory.
I must comment on the inept decision some boffin at Bradford made to decide on a pay-on-the-day policy: what madness! I was lucky and managed to get in unhindered, but that was not the case for many Burnley fans. Some apparently missed most of the first half of the game. As people struggled to get in, at no time did the police take control of the situation by delaying the kick-off.
Some unfortunate folk were forced to pay full price for missing the first half hour. The overflow stand at the side also acted as a family stand, where, if you took your kids, it appears that you had to pay £3 more than behind the goal. The upper tier behind the goal was not completely full, but supporters were turned away and told it was being saved for fans rounded up in the city centre. Minutes later, they were herded round and told to go in there anyway by stewards, even though it was full: now, what would Lord Justice Taylor have had to say about this debacle? It sounds like only a miracle saved these haphazard stewards from causing a potential disaster.
It's never really a good view at Bradford when you are crammed into the smallest two-tier stand in the world. Whilst being very small, it has been designed to contain the most number of obscuring pylons ever seen (you may all remember the photo Pauline took at last year's drawn game). There was very little room left anywhere in the stand when we entered, about 2.30, as most fans had heeded the warnings and arrived early. We had no choice but to take some terrible seats that were overlooked by a watchtower crowded with security guards - it would not have been out of place in Colditz. The inept stewarding continued inside when some Burnley fans were ejected for reacting to taunting from the Bradford stands: no similar heavy-handed response took place in the home end. Fortunately, this did not spoil the day too much - just the bank balance of a few supporters who paid twice to watch this game. Was this a cunning plan dreamt up from within the boardroom at Bradford to swell the empty bank balance of this Second Division-elect side?
The game started at a pace, and it was Bradford having most of the possession in the fiery War of the Roses clash. The first attacking moment, however, was against the run of play, and resulted in the Clarets taking the lead. The ball found its way out from the feet of Little on the right wing; his defence-splitting pass was received by Blake, who drilled the ball precisely into the top right-hand corner of the net. His twentieth goal (and his third in three games against his former side) gave us the start we had all hoped for. The finish was that of a man in form - it was calmness personified, and it sent the Burnley fans crazy. Was this the day our luck changed, that we were the team with all the good fortune?
This rosy picture was shattered a mere ten minutes later, when Summerbee's pass found Cadamarteri. He ghosted past the stationary West and accurately side-footed the ball past Jensen. This was unfortunately no more than Bradford deserved, and you feared for the crumbling Burnley defence to break... but not today. At the centre of the defence were the ever-impressive David May and the inspiring Graham Branch (well, on today's form he was!).
The rest of the first half didn't amount to much, with very few chances threatening either goal.
Bradford started the second half like a bear with a sore head, their half-time talk by Bryan Robson obviously still ringing in their ears. Robson's rallying cry before the game, "four home wins out of four", offered Bradford a slim chance of survival, and this is what they strove for. This was the game when Jensen showed us all that he is not that bad a goalkeeper when he wants to be: three times the hefty Danish shot-stopper proved his worth. Cadamarteri's close-range header from a 55th-minute corner seemed destined for the net until Jensen's reflexes superbly stopped this certain goal. The next chapter in the Jensen saga was an amazing tip-over from a long-range Peter Atherton effort. These saves were nothing compared to his third - he saved (pardon the pun) the best until last, diving to his left and getting that left hand to an unstoppable low-down shot which flashed through a mass of bodies. He can only have seen this effort very late, and it seemed to be arrowing for the bottom corner, but he somehow parried the ball to safety. The resultant corner found Summerbee, whose shot was caught just that bit more comfortably by Man of the Match Jensen.
The pressure was intense upon the Burnley rearguard, and I feared that it might not hold out. Like the previous game at Forest, there was almost an air of inevitability that our Yorkshire hosts would win the day. There was a determination about Burnley today, however; a resolve I had not seen for some time. This was demonstrated no more aptly than by Dean West when he somehow threw himself into the path of Windass's shot. He appeared from nowhere (he's quite often there, isn't he?), but he saved the day with this brave block.
Just when you feared the worst for this match, Burnley came back into the game. It then seemed that only the ineptitude of the officials would conspire to rob us of the three points. Burnley were awarded a free kick in the 78th minute for a foul on Moore; Wood's inswinging delivery found David May unmarked, and he slammed the ball home into the back of the net to put us ahead. No - not according to Mr Tiffin: May was adjudged offside. His run seemed to be timed to perfection, but somehow this rotund official disagreed and cut short the joyous celebrations. Now, passions were high and May could not just leave it alone. He was booked for dissent, and now stupidly misses the crucial Walsall and Watford matches. Now, I don't blame May - I also may have questioned this flag-happy Weeble, and perhaps a little bit stronger than even David May did! But he is an experienced professional (and knew he was close to a ban) and not a Claret-and-blue-eyed supporter.
Then it was the turn of Mr Laws to miss a cast-iron penalty, although, in his defence, Mr Tiffin advised him. Neil Wood burst into the area with only five minutes remaining, only to be halted by the long legs of Wetherall. Mr Laws decided the ageing defender got his foot to the ball - rubbish. He must really have it in for Stan.
The game appeared to be heading towards a draw (well, it's a point in the right direction, we all thought) - and then it happened. We had just entered stoppage time when a hopeful ball into the box by Grant found its way to Little. He returned it back into the middle, where a mass of players waited. Little Ian Moore jumped above the admiring defence to loop his header slowly towards the far corner. It all happened so fast, but that ball took an eternity to drop into the back of the net.
Frankly, I have no idea what happened in the last three minutes - I did not stop jumping around. There was an element of pandemonium amongst the travelling Burnley fans as they celebrated this goal in uncontrolled rapture. All I do know is that the whistle sounded, and I floated out of the ground on a wave of disbelief. Only with a celebratory pint in my hand did I start to come back down to earth. This is early days, and a lot more hard work has to be done to secure safety in this Division. So, let's just hope we can get the points in the bag and take a breath of relief in the summer - and hope Stan can regroup the troops for a better season next year. Well done the Clarets!
Bradford City: (1) Combe, (5) Wetherall, (6) Bower, (22) Jacobs ((19) Edds - 58), (3) Heckingbottom, (9) Summerbee, (2) Atherton, (16) Emanuel, (12) Cadamarteri, (10) Windass, (8) M. Branch.
Subs not used: (13) Paston, (4) Kearney, (18) Muirhead, (20) Wolleaston.
Scorer: Cadamarteri 18.
Bookings: Jacobs 36.
Burnley: (1) Jensen, (15) West, (5) May, (6) G. Branch, (3) Camara, (25) Wood, (20) Chaplow ((9) Adebola - 56), (12) Grant, (7) Little, (8) Blake ((4) Weller - 69), (10) I. Moore.
Subs not used: (18) Chadwick, (14) McGregor, (19) Abbey.
Scorers: Blake 8, I. Moore 90.
Bookings: May 79.
Referee: Graham Laws (Whitley Bay).
Attendance: 13,677.
Julian's Man of the Match: Brian 'The Beast' Jensen.
As with all articles on the site, the views expressed in the match reports section are those of the individual contributor, and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Burnley FC London Supporters' Club.
