Jekyll and Hyde Clarets
Being a Burnley supporter can be as
diverse as the changing identity of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Recent events have ensured
that the travelling Claret and Blue multitudes have visited venues at each end of the
footballing spectrum. The third round of the cup on December 11th will remain in all our
memories for many years to come. Not only did we visit one of the newest and most
prestigious stadiums in the football league, we showed a premiership side how to play
exciting football when most of us really thought that a draw would be an excellent result.
Owing to a variety of unforeseen errors, our
tickets had not arrived at 10.30 on the Saturday morning. We decided to wait until eleven
o clock and then if the post had still not arrived we would head for Derby and sit with
the Derby County supporters. We drove very slowly down the close peering into all the
doorways but with no luck, then suddenly across the road I spotted Gary the postman. I
jumped out of the car and attacked him enthusiastically, pleading with him to empty his
sack and search for my stamped addressed envelope which contained the tickets. Within
seconds we discovered it and after throwing my arms around him (which thoroughly
embarrassed him) we set off for Pride Park.
We had no idea what a thrilling day lay ahead of
us. The thousands of Clarets supporters excelled themselves vocally even before the game
began. We all sat on the edge of our seats as the minutes ticked away. The last five
minutes seemed to go on for ever by which time everyone was standing up and jumping
around. The final whistle was greeted with unbelievable ecstasy and we were asking
ourselves was this really a Burnley victory over premiership opposition? It was the best
Christmas present any of us could have anticipated.
Last Saturday we decided to make the trip to
Chesterfield. Surely we were certain of three points as the Spireites have propped up our
division for the majority of the season. They must be one of the teams with the lowest
morale in the second division. However, I had noticed that they had beaten Brentford in
the last minute the previous Saturday and also they were victorious against Rotherham in
mid week in the Auto Windscreen competition. Nevertheless I told myself that it was going
to be no contest.
Saltergate provided a stark contrast to Pride
Park. The rusty corrugated walls of the dilapidated stand appeared to require several
coats of paint, whilst the concrete terracing was a slight improvement on Bloomfield Road,
as the flora was not growing quite so profusely through the crevices. The ground has
probably not changed over the past fifty years. There was an obituary in the programme in
memory of a ninety year old lady who had been a life long supporter. I would imagine that
very few changes had been made to the ground since her first visit.
The game was also a Jekyll and Hyde affair. The
first half saw Burnley score a great Andy Payton goal within four minutes which sent all
the visiting supporters jumping up and down on the terraces in sheer delight. Was this to
be another Wrexham? The Clarets continued to totally dominate throughout the half and
whilst good goalscoring opportunities came and went, we only had the single goal to our
credit at half time. We were completely unprepared for what was to follow in the second
half.
John Duncan had certainly fired up his team
during the break. From the whistle they attacked relentlessly and completely controlled
events with their pace and sharp shooting. We were lucky to come away with a single point.
So infrequent were the Clarets attacks you could count them on one hand. There was a sigh
of relief as the final whistle sounded and we all left the ground disconcerted and
disbelieving of the events of the second half. It was of little consolation to dwell on
the fact that we had no Davis, Mellon or Mullin as during the first half, the game was
ours for the taking. One can only conclude that during the second half Chesterfield were
INSPIRED!!!
Joan and Barbara Watson
February 2000
Links -
Match reports from the games against Derby and Chesterfield
