Divine Hammer
Burnley 1 West Ham United 1
Report by Becko
The result doesn't do true justice to the performance. Yes, it was a hard-earned point, which was probably fair, but Burnley showed the commitment that will be needed in the run-in to stay up. It's going to be mighty close, but the feeling after the game was that we could do it. We were, after all, playing a team who haven't lost away from home for 12 games, and still believe they will get automatic promotion. So do I, for what it's worth. Without a doubt the best team to have come to the Turf all season, which, coupled with the fact that we only had 13 first team players to call upon, and some of them played out of position, makes the scoreline even more impressive.
The news that Orr and Rachubka had gone back to their respective Premiership clubs meant that Stan put Paul Scott, Ryan Townsend and Marc Pugh on the bench. The latter two have both shown promise when I have seen them playing for the reserves this season, and Pugh looks like he might have the ability to follow Richard Chaplow onto bigger things. How many of us had heard of Chappy this time last year?
The crowd was disappointing - only 12,440, including approximately 1,500 Hammers. I suspect if we had played them three years ago, after first gaining promotion, the gate would have been about 5,000 more - still, this is now. Ultimately, though, this is the prize for playing First Division football: teams relegated from the Premiership; and a good nucleus of teams in the top 5 makes for good games of football. We all know what we've got to look forward to if we get relegated.
With Weller still suspended and Chappy failing a late fitness test, Glen played in midfield with the once-again impressive Tony Grant. Branchy started on the left, instead of Alan Moore, in the favoured 4-4-2 formation. The West Ham front pairing of Connolly and Zamora did cause problems, but I felt that the back four coped well. The Beast got down to a shot by Connolly - we've seen them squirm under him before, haven't we? Lee Roche did extremely well on a number of occasions, blocking and challenging. I've felt he was a bit lightweight at times, but on Tuesday he had arguably his best game for us. That's why it was disappointing to see him replaced after 55 minutes with a hamstring scare.
Although United always looked dangerous, so did we. In Robbie Blake we have one of the best players in the Division. It's always a sign of a quality player to have time on the ball even when marked as he was.
When we took the lead, after about half an hour, it was a fine move. Chadwick (who still hasn't recovered his early season form) marauded down the right wing. He played the ball inside to the impish Blake, whose eye-of-the-needle ball found Branch galloping down the left wing. It was a good finish, and we deserved it.
Unfortunately, we were only in front for five minutes. McGregor pulled back Zamora, who beat him for pace. Connolly took as good a penalty as you will see, and that's how it remained. It nearly didn't, though; Roche tackling Reo-Coker in front of goal with time running out in the first half.
The second period was as good as the first. We had a good shout for a penalty ourselves when May went down in the box from a Robbie free kick. I didn't think it was, myself; Stan did, but said it was only a push with one hand. The man who matters, referee Phil Dowd, didn't think so either - so, no penalty. The Beast produced two further good saves from Harley and Reo-Coker before West Ham brought on Brian Deane, a player who has caused us trouble in the past. Fortunately, not this time.
We almost won it at the end, when the ball fell to Blake just inside the box. He couldn't get his shot on target, so no final glory.
So we know that that is the benchmark from now until May 9th: we need four victories, and if we play like that it should be achievable.
Burnley:
| | Jen | sen | |
| Roche | McGregor | May | Camara |
| Chadwick | Little | Grant | Branch |
| | Ian Moore | Blake | |
Subs: West for Roche (55), Alan Moore for Chadwick (87). Not used: Scott, Townsend, Pugh.
Scorers: (Burnley) Branch 31 / (West Ham) Connolly 36 (pen).
Referee: P Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent).
Attendance: 12,440.
Becko's Man of the Match: to follow.
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.
