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I've seen Burnley teams play in some unusual places over the years, but this has to be one of the strangest. Cosford Stadium is on the outskirts of this huge RAF base which includes one of the world's finest aviation museums (so I'm told). It's basically a modern running track with a couple of small stands on one side and a few Subbuteo-style floodlight poles surrounding it. The rather uneven pitch lies within the track giving the whole the look of an Italian Serie B ground.
The first thing we saw upon arrival was some bloke carrying a machine gun and wearing a funny hat with twigs stuck in it. So Kevin Muscat was going to play then? Apparently not; we soon realised that we had taken a wrong turning and were attempting to penetrate the top-secret part of the base, easily visible from the main road. A very helpful young aviator soon pointed us in the right direction, and £3 admission and a 20p teamsheet sold by a Noddy Holder lookalike (I kid you not - weird!) later we were soaking up the atmosphere of the seething cauldron that is the RAF Cosford's Outdoor Stadium.
Speculation had been rife en route as to the fate of our Greek contingent. Would they be the subject of a tit-for-tat reprisal attack in support of our gallant planespotters banged up in chokey in Greece? Our nervousness increased as a rumour began to spread like wildfire that Dimitri had been seen earlier emerging from the museum shop clutching a 1:72 scale model of a Jaguar fighter aircraft and a can of Humbrol Desert Storm camouflage paint!
Our fears were soon laid to rest as the teams emerged from some distant part of the ground with in fact an increased Hellenic group. Ex-Panathanaikos trialist Giorgios Alexopoulos was to be put through his paces. Perhaps the next Meet the Board session with supporters' groups should refrain from more pie-related hilarity and discuss the possibility of serving moussaka and retsina in the bars instead!
The small main stand was filling up nicely and it soon became apparent that there was a sizeable Clarets following who certainly made their presence felt during the game. The locals were clearly impressed.
As usual we lined up in 4-4-2: Cennamo; McGregor (capt), Williamson, Alexopoulos, Armstrong; Shandran, Waine, Pilkington, Maylett; Ellis (Chaplow 84), Papadopoulos (O'Neill 80). Subs not used: Salisbury, Leeson, Earl Davis.
Wolves: Stephan Anderson, Ken Coleman, Andy Sinton, Carl Robinson (Graham Ward 46), Sean Connelly, Mark Clyde, Antony McStea, Keith Andrews, Adam Proudlock, Cedric Roussel, George Ndah. Subs not used: Matt Murray, Patrick Flynn, Matthew Watson, Mark McChrystal.
The Clarets made their intentions clear right from the start as a Williamson header flew just wide in only the second minute. Wolves tried to counter attack but to no avail, and it came as no surprise when Dimi opened the scoring after 6 minutes forcing his way through a couple of challenges to shoot past the Swedish trialist goalie. He had another fine effort saved shortly after as the Clarets looked good going forward and sound at the back.
However, much to everyone's surprise Wolves equalised in the 20th minute when following a break down the right Lui went charging out, the ball was played square across the goal and Roussel sidefooted in from three yards.
Therein ended Wolves' involvement in the game. We continued to dominate possession with Williamson and Alexopoulos dealing effectively with Wolves' isolated attacks. McGregor and Armstrong were getting forward at every opportunity to support Maylett and Shandran, and Pilkington and Waine were winning the ball in central midfield. The game's highlight came in the 37th minute when Papa rose majestically above the Wolves defence to power in a bullet header from McGregor's pinpoint free-kick. Even Noddy applauded!
2-1 at half-time and a chance to explore. We'd noticed that there were numerous people around the running track filming the game. A quick enquiry revealed that they were students at RAF Cosford's Photography Section who had been set this task by their tutor, a Burnley fan. What a surprise!
If the first half had been good, the second was even better. Burnley simply outplayed their opponents, of whom several were clearly not relishing the task much to the disgust of the locals. Wolves moved Ndah up front with Roussel and dropped Proudlock back into midfield, but to no avail as in the 52nd minute it was 3-1. A great flick from Ellis set Papa off on another mazy run through the defence, before squaring the ball for Maylett to finish.
A minute later and the game was effectively over as a contest as an alert (surely not!) linesman spotted an elbow by Ndah on Alexopoulos and it was goodbye George, with Giorgios picking up a booking for his part in the proceedings. From then on it was exhibition stuff as countless passes were strung together usually ending with an effective attempt on goal. The inevitable fourth arrived in the 69th minute when Andrew Waine shot in on the turn from the edge of the area following yet another beautiful move. It was a well-deserved first reserve team goal of the season for Waine.
But the shock of the night came six minutes later. Failing to heed the Supremo's cry of "Bandits at 12 o'clock!" the defence was caught out by a quick break and Proudlock emerged from out of the floodlights to force the ball past Lui at the second attempt. 4-2 and even the Wolves fans were stunned.
Lui even had to make a good save before normality was resumed in the 79th minute. Played clean through Papa was brought down going round the goalie. Penalty. Yellow card only. Hat-trick. 5-2. Dimitri then left the field to the cheers of the Claret hordes (about 30 in a crowd of 200) which he beamingly acknowledged.
Exit locals with much muttering about needing another six players. Don't worry, Sir Jack will be daft enough to splash out even more millions on barely above-average players and sure enough this was confirmed on the way home with the news of Miller's signing from Rangers.
A tremendous performance then. The team obviously enjoyed themselves hugely humiliating this Wolves team full of "big" names. And what of our trialist? I don't know who our Greek scout is but he seems to have come up with another star! Giorgios, or George to most of his linguistically-challenged teammates, had an excellent game. Predominantly left-sided, he dominated in the air, was strong in the tackle and had an excellent first touch, distributing the ball well. This trialist, unlike some of the others, I'm sure we'll see a lot more of.
Next Wednesday it's Preston at home, a crucial game if we are to win this League. On this form though, the trophy should already be in the cabinet.
Fixtures and results
Avon Insuarance League Table
