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Things didn’t start too well and we were thankful to Marlon in the early stages for keeping us level with two good saves, one of them in fact outstanding as he turned a Craig Hignett shot away. It was a good effort from Hignett but he was to feature more significantly later in the half.
We were looking laboured and the sharpness in midfield that finally got the upper hand against the likes of Simon Davies and Gus Poyet on Wednesday wasn’t there in a subdued start. But that all changed when Glen Little cleverly turned Dean Gordon on the right hand side of the box with Gordon bringing him down.
It was a clear penalty and our new man on the spot, Robbie Blake, made no mistake sending Debec the wrong way. It was just what we needed and although never coming close to the dizzy heights of Wednesday we did start to take some sort of grip on the game.
A penalty at the other end looked a possibility as Partridge went down under challenge from Fred West but referee Jones turned the appeals away. In fact he went further than that and when the game next stopped, some three or four minutes later, he carded the Coventry player for diving.
Having said that a second on 35 minutes gave us a rather flattering scoreline but it was a goal to savour, Tony Grant’s first for the Clarets. And what a good goal it was as he finished from a tight angle having played a 1-2 with Robbie Blake.
Then came the incident that will be remembered long after anything else in this game. This web site tries to concentrate on the goings on at Turf Moor and doesn’t spend too much time and space in having a go at our local rivals. But when referee Jones waved the red card at Hignett for what must have been foul and abusive language it was without doubt a moment to savour.
Hignett had set himself up in the days leading up to this game, constantly referring to the fact that he is a Blackburn player playing against Burnley. Well he didn’t play for long. Even better it was down at the Bee Hole End that he received the red card and so the walk was long.
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In the last ten minutes of that first half following the dismissal the Clarets could have increased their lead on a couple of occasions but it wasn’t to be and despite Coventry having played some good football we went in at half time two goals to the good.
Half time saw Adam Blacklaw on the pitch making the half time draw and I couldn’t help but recall the day at Ewood (New Year’s Day 1966 to be exact) when he knocked out a home supporter who dared to encroach onto the pitch during the second half. Adam came on to very much deserved warm applause.
If we were hoping for a second half of exciting attacking football from the Clarets against ten-men Coventry then were to be sadly disappointed. In fact we were not very good at all as the visitors, inspired by manager Gary McAllister, were very much the better side.
Somewhat surprisingly Stan changed things by taking of a stunned looking Robbie Blake with Dimitri Papadopoulos replacing him. It was to have no positive effect though as Coventry just kept coming back at us.
McAllister is a player I have admired over the last decade but his attitude today was at times diabolical. Like many top players he thinks he can run the game and was constantly trying to tell the referee what to do. He was nasty at times and there were two or three bad fouls on Paul Weller. A very disappointing effort from a manager who had already seen one of his players sent off.
He is a good player though and if Coventry were to get back into it then it would surely come from his promptings. In the end it was Branchy and not McAllister when he gave away a needless penalty.
The player-boss gave Marlon no chance and suddenly they were back in the game. Shortly afterwards they missed a sitter but despite all their pressing it was to be the last chance they created.
Even so a somewhat fortunate goal around four minutes from the end of the ninety minutes was greeted with some relief as it finally removed any hopes Coventry had of stealing a point. Gareth Taylor looked to get a ball into the box from the left but a deflection of Davenport turned it in past Debec.
Two substitutions followed as we broke up the game and apart from one free kick that McAllister looped round the wall straight into Marlon’s hands there were to be no late worries and the points were ours.
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The Man of the Match award went to Branchy. He played well but for me it was a choice between Glen and Robbie Blake again with my choice this time going to Glen. I was also impressed with the performance of Steve Davis, again showing that if he plays it surely must be in the centre of defence.
The referee will forever be remembered for waving that red card at Hignett. He was too stop start but did get the big decisions right although he should really have taken a further grip on McAllister. Either that or hand McAllister the black top.
But overall a good day if not an exciting day. Coventry will certainly have gone home thinking they should have got something from the game. For us though we can now have a week with no game and look forward to our visit to high-flying Rotherham next Saturday. That will be without Tony Grant our new found goalscorer, he misses through suspension.
This week has seen us turn it on against Spurs and battle for a win despite not playing well against Coventry. It was not a game to remember in what has definitely been a week to remember but we won and that counted more than anything today.
The teams were,
Burnley: Marlon Beresford, Dean West, Steve Davis, Arthur Gnohere, Graham Branch, Glen Little (Brad Maylett 88), Paul Weller, Tony Grant, Lee Briscoe, Robbie Blake (Dimitri Papadopoulos 57), Gareth Taylor (Ian Moore 90). Subs not used: Paul Cook, Alan Moore.
Coventry City: Fabien Debec, Calum Davenport, Mo Konjic, Gary Caldwell (Youssef Chippo 45), Dean Gordon, David Pipe, Gary McAllister, Youssef Safri (John Eustace), Ritchie Partridge, Craig Hignett, Lee Mills (Gary McSheffery 45). Subs not used: Montgomery, Richard Shaw.
Referee: Michael Jones (Chester).