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Saturday 23rd September. I cannot fathom out how we lost this game, but sure enough we did and we can blame the M62. It might seem rather extreme blaming a 6-lane stretch of Tarmac, but heavy traffic on the best thing to come out of Lancashire caused the usual Burnley keeper Paul Crichton to miss the game forcing Stan Ternent to select non-contract Greek goalkeeper Nick Michopoulos to play a debut to remember. The side was very much as expected with the usual 4-4-2 formation pairing Smith and Gallen up front, the former having recovered from injury and Jon Dyson continued to partner Chris Lucketti in central defence. From the off, Town looked the better side and certainly looked ‘up for it’ launching a series of early attacks although the visitors had the first opportunity to score. In the 5th minute Burnley broke down the left and Glen Little’s cross was well met by the head of Andy Cooke which Nico Vaesen did well to turn around the post for a corner. Dean Gorré then had a great chance on 7 minutes when he managed to turn his marker in the penalty area only to see Michopoulos tip the Dutchman’s accurately placed shot around the upright at full stretch. It seemed that Town’s pressure would result in a goal – it did but at the wrong end. From one of Town’s attacking forays Burnley broke free down the left, and with 3 defenders trying and failing to regain possession the ball was squared across for (guess who) the unmarked Andy Payton to tap in from close range. Isn’t it typical, the number of ex-players who come back to haunt Town and it’s all the more galling when it’s arrogant little sod Andy Payton who does the damage. It was a typical Payton strike tapped in from just a few yards out to add to his collection of the world’s most unspectacular goals. Burnley set about defending their 1 goal advantage and Town continued to press forward, but a combination of unlucky blocks, superb saves from Nick the Greek and the woodwork prevented us from scoring and probably going on to win the game. As the half progressed Michopoulos continued to perform his heroics smothering a Kenny Irons header from 6 yards and holding onto a low shot from Kevin Gallen. When Gallen did finally beat the man from Greece his spectacular volley flew just wide of the target. The half continued with Town enjoying the lion’s share of possession and chances but they couldn’t seem to find a way to breach the Burnley rearguard and the frustration was shown by the fans as the players trooped off fort their half time cuppa with a crescendo of boos from some sections of the Kilner Bank. This was unwarranted as Town had played well and created a number of chances but the angst stemmed from our inability to convert any of our many chances whilst once again the visitors had converted 50% of theirs. After the interval the half time team talk had it’s usual motivational effect on Town as Burnley began to establish themselves more in the game even though they replaced Andy Cooke with defender Graham Branch in the 53rd minute. 6 minutes later Town’s misery could have been worse when the visitors had the ball in the back of the net only to see the ‘goal’ ruled out by a linesman’s flag presumably for offside. Nicky Mellon then had a glorious chance with a shot from 10 yards but thankfully it was the turn of the Town keeper to earn his corn saving the effort although in fairness the effort was straight at the big Belgian. Kevin Kyle was introduced just before the hour for Chris Beech and Kenny Irons was sacrificed for Scott Sellars on 77 and both substitutes had opportunities to salvage something from the game. Following a scramble in the visitors penalty area in the 75th minute Kyle was unlucky when he finally beat Michopoulos but his effort agonisingly shaved the post, and then on 85 Scott Sellars had a vicious 20 shot turned around the post for a corner. The final attempt tally from Town was somewhere around 20, but if you can’t convert any of these then you can’t expect to win. At the end of the day, Town played well and hopefully the performance shows that a first home win since March is just around the corner. Burnley weren’t particularly impressive yet occupy a position in the top half of the table suggesting the we might not be that far off getting things right if we can just get the confidence side of our game sorted out. By the time Ronnie Jepson made a brief cameo from the substitutes bench, some fans had become frustrated with our lack of fire-power and began to chant Rocket, Rocket Ron etc. I don’t hold with supporting an opposition player but can understand the frustration. The game wasn’t helped by the excessive whistle blowing from referee Uriah Rennie who seemed to think that he should be the centre of attention, not the players. Whilst other results didn’t make Town’s position look much worse than last week, we cannot keep relying on other teams to slip up to keep in touch with safety. Too many home games are passing us by without reward and the days of ‘fortress McAlpine’ seem to be a distant memory. We need points and we need them now!
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All words and thoughts by Chris except where stated.
A big thank you to Machala for putting up with me doing this and Ian for his support and my Mum for her proof reading.
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