As usual, overall the day itself was good fun, the
sun was shining and we got three points and before the game myself and Mr John Horrocks
got to present Glen Little with his London Clarets Player of the Year award from last
season. Thoroughly nice fellow he is too. Glen that is, not John. Not that John isn't a
nice chap it's just that you are probably more interested in Glen. Seemed genuinely
pleased to have got the award, much to Andy Payton's annoyance, but more of that later.
Several of the Stoke fans travelled up with us and we took some of
them to a couple of the pubs in Burnley. Must have been decent chaps because they had
photocopied pages from the Good Beer Guide and were contemplating a couple of ticks before
the game until Woody pointed out that the pubs weren't that easily accessible. (Not every
club has the likes of Woody meticulously planning the surges to the nth degree). So they
settled for a few leisurely pints and chats about Burnley, Stoke, football in general and
of course Ally Pickering and THAT goal. (They thought he was a crap defender but quite
good going forward).
When mention was made of Glen Little and how he destroyed them at
the end of last season, they were shocked (but pleased) to find that he hadn't started the
last two games and had been dropped due to 'loss of form' and wasn't likely to start the
game today either. I guess the manager sees players in training every day and has more
information to make his judgements on, but to me 'loss of form' seems to mean that we
rarely pass him the ball and when we do he either has his back to two defenders or is in
his own half.
Back to the plot. After the usual pie and peas in The Sparrer (still
only £1.75 but Benny did manage to complain about the consistency of his peas) it was off
to the Turf to present the award. Stood outside the players entrance watching the kids
getting autographs as Steve Davis and then Peter Swan turned up with his family and one or
two the younger players appeared now and again. Took me back a few years to when I was in
awe of the players and wouldn't even say hello to any of them, but then I had only just
left college. I've grown up since then. Which reminds me, Andy Payton came out and stood
next to me looking around for someone and I was surprised at how short he was. Considering
the size of the defenders he normally has to play against he does win a lot of headers, so
I'd thought he was taller than he actually is. He also had a lovely shiner from the bang
in the face he'd received at Oldham.
When we were escorted in, I was also surprised at how basic the
players accommodation is under the cricket field stand. Certainly nothing to write home
about. Angela (Stan's PA) said as we went in that Andy wanted to know why he hadn't won it
and sure enough he was in the doorway as we went past and a few words were exchanged
during which I said we have to spread them around a bit and he accused us of 'cockney
bias' as Gerry had won it last year.
Andy, if you happen to read this, you finished second which is no
disgrace and the best games you played weren't in and around London when most of our
members were watching. Playing superbly against Blackpool on a Tuesday night unfortunately
is less likely to get you as many points as a Saturday afternoon at Luton, Gillingham or
Millwall. Every London Claret who sees a game gets two votes for the best two players (for
two and one point respectively) and the points are totalled at the end of the season, so a
player who has a blinding start is just as likely to win it as someone who has a great
finish to the season. We find it the fairest way and are arrogant enough to think that it
is the best method as somebody who sees forty games gets more say than someone who only
sees five.
Rant over with, we got to present the award on the pitch so we
walked out of the tunnel, which was not quite the same when the ground was virtually
empty, but impressive never the less. We hung around whilst Stan was giving his teamtalk
and watched Swanny's two boys playing on the edge of the pitch, desperately wanting to run
out and take the ball off them and sweep it into the net before running to the touchline
and sliding to the corner flag in an ecstatic celebration, but their dad was watching and
I didn't fancy my chances of getting very far.
Award done, picture taken ("Would you mind taking that rucksack
off for a minute, John?") and chat over with we headed back to the pub with the big
trophy which was to be taken for engraving. As I handed the trophy to Landlord Steve for
safe keeping until after the game, he said "I don't know why you bother giving this
out any more. Everyone who gets it leaves." Looking at the previous winners of
Harrison, Eyres and Nogan you would have to agree with him. Glen had mentioned that he
wasn't playing and the mood of the two camps in the pub was markedly different. Burnley
fans bemused and Stoke fans a bit more hopeful than previously.
The game itself was a waste of time. The wind was blowing towards us
in the Jimmy Mac stand and Stoke had the advantage in the first half. Burnley started
Crichton, West, Smith, Cowan, Thomas, Armstrong, Johnrose, Mellon, Cook, Payton and Lee in
a 3-5-2 formation with Cowan playing in the centre of defence as at Oldham. Whilst we
looked reasonably comfortable at the back, we had no invention going forward at all. All
Armstrong and Cook were doing was looking to hit Payton and Lee with long balls.
A couple of long shots from Stoke and two great saving tackles from
Smith and Armstrong were the only worries whilst Burnley only had two real chances and
they both fell to Dean West: a header which missed the target after excellent work from
Payton on the byline after ten minutes and a shot on the stroke of half time which was
saved by former Burnley loanee Gavin Ward. My nephew, Matthew, wasn't even there to keep
us entertained as he had decided to stay at home and be with his ten day old brother. Good
move on the face of the first half, although 0-0 kicking into the wind wasn't bad. My
sister (Matthew's mum) told him she would let him off this once, but she wasn't spending
fifty pounds on a season ticket for him to sit at home every week!
Second half began with Branch (!!?) replacing the ineffective Lee
upfront. To be fair, Lee was given very little ball of any quality to work with and his
inexperience showed. We did start to exert more pressure and the crowd got going a bit but
there were no real chances to speak of despite the pressure. Branch did do better than in
recent games and put himself about a bit more but the long balls forward meant the
forwards were fighting for scraps. Little came on for Mellon to a huge ovation and played
a very sensible game. Every time two or sometimes three players came towards him he passed
the ball in the hope that we would exploit the extra men or he could get a return ball as
he moved forward. Unfortunately the play was so pedestrian this never really happened as
we launched yet another ball into the box from deep and never got in behind the Stoke
defence. Little did have a couple of good runs and did cause them problems as you could
tell they were worried every time he got the ball. He just wasn't getting it soon enough
and often enough and at one point roamed over to the left wing. So what did we do? Turn
and lay a perfectly good ball to the right wing where it gently rolled into touch.
Then came the one moment of inspiration. Quarter of an hour to go
and a long kick from Crichton, a flick on from Branch; Payton holds off the defender but
seems to have taken it to too narrow an angle, yet somehow manages to roll the ball just
inside the far post off Ward's outstretched right hand. This reminds me of a conversation
with Woody in which he said it's very rare that you can say 'Payton blazed over' as he
normally just picks his spot and passes the ball into the net. No fuss, just a goal and
this was a prime example.
After that we suddenly decided to have everybody on the edge of our
box defending. Jepson replaced Cook and Little now seemed to be playing right wing-back
with Dean West playing in midfield. From being comfortable at the back and going forward
most of the time it was suddenly all hands to the pump to keep Stoke out. A few important
headers and one hooked clearance from Little at the far post and it was all over.
A poor game to watch, but a win and three points. Stoke had offered
very little and looked like a side suffering from a distinct lack of confidence and we had
struggled to get past them. Johnrose again played well for 60 minutes but faded, Mellon
was very quiet and despite what a number of other reports said I don't think that he
offers the team very much at the moment. Cook is working hard and doing ok but with the
ball in the air a lot of the game does pass him by. Payton looked as sharp as ever, but
Lee is far from the finished article as you would expect. The defence was once again quite
solid and Crichton did ok. At the end of the season, we may not remember how the game was
played and won but we may well be grateful for the three points.
Arriving back at Euston the Stoke boys generously offered us a pint
for our hospitality and so we look forward to seeing them again later in the season.
