Fantastic!
Colchester 0 Burnley 4, 9th October
1998
Andrew Braid
Fantastic result on Friday night. No
worries about conceding in the last five minutes this time.
It was good to see that we kept a clean sheet
for the first time this season. Gavin Ward didn't have too many shots to save but he did
well. The Burnley fans sang at least six choruses of 'Sign him on, Sign him on, Sign him
on'.
There was a bit of good fortune about the some
of the goals but who cares, it's about time we had the 'rub of the green'.
After a minute of the game Glen Little received
a Chris Scott throw-in on the right hand side, turned neatly and put in a cross to the far
post for the advancing Andy Cooke. A Colchester defender got in front of him and tried to
head clear but the ball fell to Andy Payton on the edge of the box, Payton controlled with
his right and drove a low left foot shot through a crowd of players and into the back of
the net.
79 seconds gone and we were ahead.
Nine minutes later, Gavin ward put a long goal
kick straight down the middle, the two Colchester central defenders were too caught up in
tussling with Andy Cooke and as the ball floated over them Andy Payton ran in to flick the
ball over the advancing keeper.
(Poor old Firmo, he missed the first goal
because he was late then missed the second because he visited the Gents.)
I don't think the Clarets really knew what to do
with a two goal lead, should they push on for a third or should they try and defend?
Burnley continued to make chances and were able
to hold out until half time with Colchester struggling to do anything in the final third.
Brian Reid was called upon to provide a
magnificent saving tackle, but the Burnley defence for once looked reasonably comfortable.
Throughout the first half Vindheim (Ru-ne!
Ru-ne! Ru-ne!) was getting forward into some good positions and providing support for
Cookey and Payton. (Is he really supposed to be a defender? He looked more like an
attacking midfielder.)
After 50 minutes Cookey took the ball out wide
on the left, ran into the box and to the bye line from where he cut the ball back to Andy
Payton who was advancing towards the near post. Payton got the ball stuck under his feet
but managed to dig the ball out and shoot on the turn. He may not have been facing goal
but he knew where it was. The Colchester keeper had to dive low to his left to touch away
Payton's left foot shot but Rune Vindheim was there at the back post to put the ball in
the net.
From this point on the singing didn't stop.
'Stan Ternent's Claret and Blue Army' rang out for most of the remainder of the game.
After the performances of recent seasons we were
all worried it might end up at 4-3 but Andy Cooke put our nerves to rest with 18 minutes
to go. Glenn Little advanced down the right side, turned the full back and put in a low
cross from the bye line. The ball went straight to a Colchester defender but squirmed
through his legs and fell to Andy Cooke who blasted it into the top of the net from short
range.
Vindheim was replaced by Carl Smith and late on
Brad Maylett came on for Andy Payton.
That's one win, four draws and one defeat from
the last six games. If we can keep playing football like we did on Friday then we'll be
well clear of the drop zone come the end of the season.
Since Peter Swan's suspension Matty Heywood has
come in and done a good job, Swanny is going to have a bit of competition for his shirt on
Saturday.
Robertson has player far better in the last few
games and was unlucky to get a yellow card for kicking the ball away because he took a
shot after the whistle had been blown for off-side.
Chris Scott played his first senior game that
didn't bring him a booking (he had managed five straight bookings since his debut) and
again put in a solid performance.
Paul Smith is still looking a bit out of sorts
but with the rest of the side firing on all cylinders that didn't seem to matter.
Good to see Cookey get on the score sheet again,
with him now on 5 and Payton on 9 maybe there's still a chance he can challenge him for
top scorer this season.
I just hope that this win inspires the Clarets
to go on to better things and they don't let Notts County capitalise on the 'hang over'
from this one. I'm sure Stan will remind them that even though they can see the stars they
are still standing in the mud.
Team: Ward, Scott,
Armstrong, Vindheim (C Smith 67), Heywood, Reid, Little, Robertson, Cooke, Payton (Maylett
84), P Smith. SNU: Carr-Lawton
Links - Firmo's and Julian Booth's reports plus
the home game
