Walking up to Happiness
Burnley 3 Reading 0
Report by Pauline Pratley
Due to illness and other boring things, this was only my second home match of the season. The other was the game against Bradford City, back in September. That, as you will recall, was a 4-0 win for the Clarets. Crisis? What crisis?!
I'm joking, of course. Like most Burnley supporters, I've been very concerned recently about the team's poor form, and so I wasn't terribly hopeful before kick-off. The best we could hope for, I figured, was a point.
I'd travelled up with Paddy and Woody (sounds like a kids' TV programme, doesn't it?), and, after a quick stop in Halifax en route, we'd arrived in Burnley around 3.30. After an hour or so in the Ministry of Ale, and a quick nap in the hotel, I got to Turf Moor at 7.30. Naturally, it was pouring with rain. Ah - it was good to be back!
I'd arranged to meet Paddy outside the stand, and he'd promised me faithfully he wouldn't be late. The subsequent phone call went something like this. Me (in best Sybil Fawlty tones): "Patrick? Where are you? It's half-past seven, and I'm standing here getting soaked." Paddy: "Who? What? Er... I'm still in the pub. I'm leaving right now. I'll be there in a minute." Me (huffily): "Don't bother. I'll see you in the stand."
So, I went to my usual seat, said hello to the people around me, and looked out once more upon the blessed Turf. The Reading players were warming up, but there was no sign of Burnley. Reading had brought a disappointingly small number of fans. There was a huge furry yellow thing parading around in front of the Bob Lord, but a second glance confirmed that it was some kind of mascot and not Brian Jensen. The chap next to me said that there was a rumour that we'd signed Facey for £175K, but it was unconfirmed. Now, I think that Delroy's done quite well during his time with Burnley, but the thought crossed my mind that if we had that sort of money to spend, it'd be better spent on a new centre half.
Unfortunately, the God-awful cheerleaders were out. Apologies to anyone reading this who is one / is a relative of one / likes them, but I think they're dreadful. Most of them seem to lack any kind of rhythm. You might as well give a few of the London Clarets some pompoms and stick them on the pitch. They couldn't be any worse.
Having said that, worse was to come. No sooner had the announcer gabbled through the teams - see below - than some bloke appeared on the pitch and started to sing (I use the term loosely). His repertoire included a politically-correct version of 'Wild Rover' (that is, the original song, rather than the 'Bastard Rovers' that we all actually sing), and what is apparently Burnley's new 'theme tune', in the shape of The Proclaimers' '500 Miles'. Is it just me, or is anyone else getting a mite tired of all these 'walking' puns? Excepting the title of this match report, of course...
Now, I happen to think that the 'Walk Up For Burnley' idea was a good one. Anything to put bums on seats. But let's stop it there, eh? Having some nonentity parading around trying to create an atmosphere is just plain embarrassing. The kind of thing that gives us a good laugh when we're in the away end somewhere else. Energies should be focused on the on-pitch performance: if that's working, then the atmosphere in the ground will take care of itself. As one person muttered to me: "It's as bad as those dressed-up dogs". Well, perhaps I wouldn't quite go that far (the image still endures), but some of my friends - who'd sat through the 'experience' on Saturday - actually missed the kick-off rather than sit through it again.
One more moan, whilst I'm at it. The singing thing, the cheerleaders, and all the rest of it, are, in my opinion, symptomatic of marketing people being allowed too free a rein. In my own experience, what supporters actually want includes, in no particular order of priority, things like these:
• Reasonably-priced tickets.
• No long queues at the turnstiles, and being able to get concessionary tickets there.
• Audible announcements. (Better to know the opposition line-up in advance than waste the first five minutes of the game squinting at players' shirts.)
• Basic but plentiful fodder.
• A decent (and affordable) programme.
• Some stuff for the children (mascots and the like are fine).
• Decent on-pitch performances - not that we win every game, but that we at least put out a cohesive team that displays commitment and effort.
I've never yet heard anyone express a wish to see cheerleaders, singers, or dressed-up dogs.
Ah well - rant over, and on to the game. Burnley lined up as follows: Jensen, West, May, Gnohere, Camara, Little, Chaplow, Grant, Branch, Blake, Ian Moore. I was pleased to see that Reading were missing Shaun Goater, but concerned at the sight of another couple of players who love to score against us: step forward Mr Salako (Paddy's favourite player - not - of whom more later) and Mr Sidwell.
Going back to Burnley's line-up, I was pleased to see David May back. Perhaps we stood a chance of keeping a clean sheet? Laughter all round! Just as the ref (Mike Pike: what were his parents thinking?) was about to blow for kick-off, Paddy finally appeared in the stand. The time? 7.45. Good job I hadn't waited outside...
I'd braced myself for ninety minutes of Reading attacks, and so it was a welcome surprise when the Clarets started well. After only a few minutes we won a corner after good work by Branchy (supporting the attack from a wide left position). Robbie Blake took it, and it immediately caused problems for Reading's defence. The ball came out to the left wing, where Blake reappeared to try a speculative shot. Somehow (and I'm still not quite sure how), the ball whizzed past Hahnemann and into the bottom corner. It was a good effort, but I think that the keeper should probably have saved it. Never mind, though - we were 1-0 up, and the game was only a few minutes old! Brilliant!
The conditions were difficult, and causing problems for both sides. A slip by Tony Grant gave the defence a worrying moment, but they covered well. Arthur and Mo were teaming up effectively, and May and West looked their usual solid selves. I even felt relaxed enough to laugh when Jensen slipped taking a kick, and ended up on his ample backside. (So, that explains those 'earthquake in China' reports, then. Boom boom!)
It wasn't all smiles, though. The game was barely fifteen minutes old when we witnessed one of those dreadful sights that increasingly mar our game. No, not Jensen's arse again: the sight of a player trying to get a fellow professional sent off.
West and Salako had competed for the ball on the touchline just in front of us, when, suddenly, and for no apparent reason, Salako fell to the ground as if pole-axed, clutching his face. I'd had a perfect view of the 'incident', and there's no way that West had caught him in the face. Happily, the linesman and ref thought similarly, and nothing came of it - although Salako should maybe have been booked. Paddy now had even more reason to hurl abuse in Salako's direction. (Anyone else remember Salako's antics when we lost 4-0 at Fulham?)
Salako's behaviour was perhaps the reason why subsequent fouls on him and Scott Murray went unpunished. I don't understand why players cheat in that manner. Especially a player of Salako's quality - for large parts of the first half, he was instrumental in most good things that Reading did, and there was no reason whatsoever for him to behave like that.
Suddenly, I looked up to notice that the ever-dangerous Nicky Forster was through on goal. David May got back and put in an excellent tackle, and the resulting corner went straight into the Beast's safe hands. It was a scare, though.
Shortly afterwards, Reading had another chance when Salako got himself one-on-one with Jensen. His shot wasn't the best ever, but the Beast made a great save to ensure that we kept our lead.
Just in case we got too complacent, it was heart attacks all round just before the half-hour mark. The Beast almost contrived to give Reading a goal with a very silly mistake. He tried to let the ball roll into his penalty area so that he could pick it up, but forgot to allow for the fact that the pitch was wet. It was like watching a slow-motion replay as the ball inched its way towards his gloves, accompanied by frantic screams from the home stands of "Kick it!". Of course, the inevitable happened, and Forster got there first. The Beast recovered well, though, and for once we weren't punished.
The error didn't faze Burnley, and we continued to play well. A good run from Blake caused Hahnemann to pick up a back-pass, but nothing was given. Indeed, both Blake and Moore looked very sharp. Another corner should have given us another chance of upsetting the Royals' defence, but Blake's attempt at an in-swinger went straight into Hahnemann's hands.
Reading then began to get into their stride, and Forster put over a useful cross-cum-shot, which (happily for Burnley) came to nothing. Just afterwards, the same player had a shot well saved by the Beast, who looked solid (no pun intended) despite his earlier mistake.
The 36th minute saw Branch taken off and replaced with Chadwick. An injury, perhaps? No-one seemed sure, but what is certain is that Branchy always gives 100 percent, regardless of which position he plays in. I like Branchy. He makes mistakes, sure (who doesn't?), but he doesn't hide, and always tries his best. Still, it was nice to see Chadwick coming on.
The half finished with a mixture of chances for both sides. There was a nervous moment when Nicky Shorey went close with a free kick, though fortunately the shot went into the side netting. For once there was some noise from the away end, as the Reading fans thought they'd equalised! Salako also had a cross-cum-shot that the Beast saved comfortably, and Forster showed some excellent skill to keep the ball in near the byline, though Reading still couldn't score.
For Burnley, Ian Moore was everywhere; positively hurling himself at the ball on occasion, such was his desire to get on the scoresheet. Tony Grant had a long-distance shot that was only just wide - always worth a go, and not deserving of the sarcastic oohs and aahs that (I'm somewhat ashamed to say) came from certain sections of the home support. May had put in some important tackles, and Arthur was having a great game. In fact, I thought, the only downside was possibly Little, who hadn't really got into the game. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Little sprang to life, first dribbling the ball out of defence (another heart attack moment - but hey, he knows that defence, doesn't he!), and then winning a corner, which Arthur headed wide. There was even time for Mo to have a shot, but he was unlucky to see it just miss the post. The half ended with a Moore shot, straight into Hahnemann's gloves.
Phew! Half time, and I wasn't sure what to think. I presume that Steve Coppell wasn't, either. Surely this wasn't the Burnley that either of us had been led to expect?
The break brought its own excitement. Firstly, there was the genuine pleasure at seeing Peter Swan, the half time guest. Then, Paddy and I decided to swap seats. (Not with each other!) We decided to move further along the stand, and sit with Woody. Paddy assured me that he knew where Woody sat, having sat there several times before, so we went to that row and waited. And waited, and waited. Was this the longest pie-and-pee break in history? The conversation went something like this. Me: "Are you sure this is where Woody sits?" Paddy: "Yes! I recognise the view. Stop nagging." The conversation then looped around several times, with increasingly bad language, until the start of the second half was imminent. At that point, Paddy realised that we were in fact in the wrong place - as I'd suspected all along - and so we moved once again. The second time, we guessed correctly, and were soon sitting with Woody, John, Mary and Helen.
I had a vague feeling that it might be unlucky to
move seats when Burnley were winning, but I think
we can now put that particular myth to bed!
I'd barely got comfortable before Hahnemann saved
well from a Little header; and then, suddenly, it
was 2-0!
Ian Moore ran onto goal, but was tackled, and the ball fell to Chaplow. It was well over twenty yards out, and I thought he might run forward and try a shot from closer in. Wrong! Instead, his perfectly-weighted shot sailed up and over Hahnemann, who could only watch and ready himself to pick the ball out of the net for a second time.
After that, Reading rallied a little, as might have been expected. They got a couple of corners, and then - out of nothing - Sidwell hit the crossbar. It may be a cliché, but if it had been on target, it would have gone in!
We didn't give up, though, and it could have been 3-0 when Ian Moore broke through on goal and then lost his footing in the penalty area. Despite the boos from the away end, there was no-one near him, and it was just a loss of footing (due, no doubt, to the conditions) rather than any attempt to gain an unfair advantage.
Any disappointment soon vanished, as shortly afterwards it was indeed 3-0. Robbie Blake took a free kick from some way out, and the next thing I knew, it was in the back of the net! I was certain that Blake had scored, but the goal was actually ex-Reading loanee Chadwick's, as he'd got a touch on it. We'll be kind to Hahnemann (who hadn't had the best of games) and say that that's why he didn't save it...
We knew (as far as it's possible to know, this being Burnley) then that the points were in the bag. Short of a comeback of epic proportions, Reading weren't going to take anything from the game. In fact, the most worrying moment thereafter was when the Beast went down hurt - with Branchy gone, who would go in goal?! Happily, he soon recovered, and played out the rest of the game without any apparent problem.
In between times, Reading had a few long-range shots; Burnley had efforts from Blake (over the bar) and May (honestly!). We defended well - Tony Grant getting back to help out, to good effect - and Reading simply couldn't break through. Nathan Tyson, who'd earlier replaced Salako, looked good, but it still wasn't enough.
There was good and bad news for Chaplow, as he was booked, substituted (for Weller, in the 84th minute), and named the sponsors' man of the match. Facey also got a few minutes of action, replacing Chadwick in the 87th minute. Reading used their other two subs, too, but to no avail.
There was one scare for Burnley right at the end, when a mistake by West saw Andy Hughes (I believe) presented with a free header, which he somehow failed to get on target. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if he'd scored, but it was great to keep a clean sheet.
In summary, then, a very good performance. We didn't have a bad player out there. For my money, top performers included Moore, Chadwick and Chaplow; but my vote goes to Arthur, who was superb throughout. Reading could probably take heart from the performance of Forster, who looks a quality (perhaps even Premiership quality) player, and who probably didn't deserve to be on the wrong end of 3-0.
I'm writing this before our visit to Sunderland, but if we keep playing like this, who knows? Either way, it's great to see the Clarets back on form, and long may it continue!
Burnley: Jensen, West, May, Gnohere, Camara, Little, Chaplow (Weller, 84), Grant, Branch (Chadwick, 36 (Facey, 87)), Blake, Ian Moore.
Subs not used: Roche, McGregor.
Scorers: Blake 5, Chaplow 47, Chadwick 54.
Referee: Mike Pike (Barrow-in-Furness) - a very good performance. I'd give him 8/10.
Attendance: 9,473.
Pauline's Man of the Match: King Arthur. A truly regal display!
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.
