A night to savour
Colchester 0 Burnley 4, 9th October
1998
Firmo
I only missed two goals.
For the first, we were outside the ground,
within sight of the turnstiles, when we heard a roar. We’re Burnley supporters, so we
thought they must have scored. Then we heard the chants. I was torn between being glad
that we’d scored and sad that, in years of missing kick offs, this was the first goal
I’d missed as a result. I blame the rain. If it hadn’t been chucking it down,
we’d have walked, but it was, so we accepted the offer of a lift and then found out
we couldn’t park. We could see the floodlights but were moving away from them. When
we finally weighed anchor and set off at a decent lick towards the glow in the sky, I said
that we’d miss at most the first five minutes, and nothing much ever happened then.
That was fate tempted.
Some crumbs of comfort: as we heard the cheer
outside the ground, Dave Burnley passed us storming a top speed in the other direction, so
he missed it too, and as I raced to the turnstiles I saw a Colne Clarets coach pulling in
(and in fact, stepped up my pace: I wasn’t going to get stuck in a queue behind this
lot). There was some solace in numbers, then. It seemed that quite a few Clarets missed
the opener, and after we’d took our place on the crowded away end, we made it our
solemn duty to give any latecomers the good news. People walked in, soaked. (It was
hammering down out on the pitch.) We’re winning 1-0, we’d tell them, Payton.
They didn’t always believe us.
I had two pressing concerns at this stage: that
we might win 1-0 and I would be happy but frustrated, and that I needed the gents. Racing
up to the shallow terrace when we’d got in - like there would be a replay of the goal
- I’d forgotten to take care of that most urgent piece of business one normally needs
to attend to upon entering a football ground. As it happened, I’d had much less than
the usual quota to drink before the game, with my grand plans to join the advance drinking
party quitting London at the sublime time of 11.15 being backburnered on hearing I must
attend some seminar on the internet. Consequently, I didn’t get to Colchester until
the horribly late hour of 5.40, and the meeting pub was miles away and uphill.
Nevertheless, with substantial walking (and an unscheduled stop half way up), I managed
the significant achievement of pouring down five pints before the pre-7.30 exit. The first
two were effortless; the fifth was a bit of a struggle. As this didn’t leave any
opportunity for urination, I now urgently needed a comfort visit, but I was damned if I
was going to miss another goal.
I therefore sensibly waited until the ball was
right down the other end of the pitch and nowhere near an attack before I made a toilet
dash. I was perhaps half way there when I heard a roar. I ran back - what was the point of
that again - and just managed to see our jubilant players returning to the half way line.
Burnley can be so unpredictable.
Eleven minutes had gone. 2-0 up. I hadn’t
seen a thing.
Again, at least I wasn’t the only one. As I
endured the gentle ribbing of my companions, the steady stream of besodden Clarets
continued to enter our busy away pen. We told them it was 2-0. To us. I kept quiet. It was
0-0 to me. Again, I saw happiness and frustration play across their faces.
So, quite a few Clarets missed the opening two
goals. It’s just that I was the only one actually in the ground for the second.
I’d advise you to see Andrew Braid's or Julian Booth's
reports if you want to know what happened to make it 2-0. I could fill it in from
television but it wouldn’t be honest.
I now feel able to start mentioning the actual
game.
Quite simply, we were magnificent. I might have
missed the goals, but I could see how we’d got them. Our young side was taking
Colchester apart with grace and precision. We were fast, athletic, direct and attacking,
but - and this is the thing - we were playing good football. We were passing the ball to
feet, keeping it moving and switching it wide. Good football is not all about playing
square balls in defence; it’s football with pace, poise and purpose. This was a long
way from the stereotypical route one stuff predicted when Ternent took over.
The minutes before half time were the crucial
moments of the game (at least I saw those). If Colchester had grabbed one here, the game
could have turned. Because I am a Claret, even though I could see how much better than
them we were, I couldn’t help fearing that we may have "scored too soon."
Payton missed a couple of hat trick chances apparently easier than the goals he had scored
(I was told). They had plenty of time to bite back. If they hadn’t faced a formidable
back line, perhaps they would have. As it was, Ward maintained the fine form he displayed
at Man City and Reid and Heywood continued to act as an unpassable barrier. Reid seems
impossible to unruffle, and Heywood again played beyond his years, possibly giving Ternent
food for thought about what to do when Swan returns. In midfield, Robertson continued his
upturn and Vindheim demonstrated a willingness to get amongst it allied with an
improvement in pace from the previous Saturday. He has also rapidly acquired cult status.
It took him but two games to get his own song, a long and repetitive chant of Run-eeeeee!
Where does Ternent find these players?
Colchester’s attacks foundered on these
rocks. Reid, in particular, played like a man desperate for his first win bonus (nappies
are expensive these days). He made a magnificent saving tackle just before half time,
thereby proving that a good tackle can be as enjoyable as anything else in the game.
The game effectively ended shortly into the
second half. Vindheim started the move, Cooke crossed, Payton shot, the keeper saved and
Runeeeeeee hit the rebound from close range. A goal! And I saw it!
The rest was a carnival. We concentrated on ever
more elaborate attacks as we tried to walk the ball into the net. Colchester threw all
they had forward, which was the only thing to do in the circumstances, but it wasn’t
enough. They looked mostly inept in front of goal, but this is to take nothing away from
us; if they betrayed a lack of confidence, who could blame them after what we’d done?
They still had a couple of good shots, and Ward earned his pay, in between enjoying banter
with the fans behind him.
The fourth was fitting; we should really have
had more. This time Cooke scored after a defender had mis-cleared Little’s cross. The
game was dead, and we contented ourselves with keeping the atmosphere going, singing songs
of praise to the magnificent Stan and advising the Colchester supporters to go home. Give
them credit, they stayed to the end. I’d have been off. It was their kid a quid
night, by the way. It’s sobering to think that we may have put an entire generation
of children off supporting Colchester. Perhaps a few of them will switch to us. They would
at least have been impressed by our following, which was substantial, swelled by an
excellent London Claret turnout.
Carl Smith replaced Vindheim, the teenage Brad
Maylett took a bow for Payton, and both the substituted got a fine chorus. Payton had a
hand in all four goals. No one is hotter at the moment. With Cooke also enjoying his
finest game for a while, the best attacking partnership in this division looks a good bet
for plenty more goals. Little was also heavily involved. There aren’t many words that
haven’t already been used to describe the majestic sight of Little in full flight.
Some fool said he’d had an in and out game. Genius is always misunderstood. He helped
create two goals and gave their fullback hell. How many players have we ever had who can
do that more than a couple of times a year?
We played several minutes of stoppage time, and
never thought for a minute we might concede another late goal. As someone around me said,
the clean sheet was almost as good as the four goals. Burnley might occasionally win 4-2
perhaps, but 4-0 is a very non-Burnley kind of score.
This was a great night, and easily the most
one-sided performance I have seen from us for years. If there appeared to be a gulf in
class, it should be remembered that there have been many times in the past and it
hasn’t stopped us losing, and that we were a hair’s breadth from playing one
division below Colchester this season. And make no mistake: this was on the cards. We had
been working up to this. Our improved performances at games like Man City were there for
all to see. Sooner or later, we were going to get that first away win and give someone a
beating. I hope this result will now provide a platform, give us something to build on and
start the climb up that table. I also hope new director Barry Kilby will put his money
where his Claret mouth is and find the funds to enable us to keep Ward and Vindheim
around. But whatever happens, at least we’ll always have the memory of a glorious
night in Essex.
I only missed two goals, but at the end, I
didn’t mind.
Team: Ward, Scott,
Armstrong, Vindheim (C Smith 67), Heywood, Reid, Little, Robertson, Cooke, Payton (Maylett
84), P Smith. SNU: Carr-Lawton
Links - Braidy's and Julian Booth's reports
plus the home match
