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Clarets win Turf Moor opener
We're on our travels next week to Lake Garda and I thought Italy had come early when I looked down onto the pitch just before kick off this afternoon to see a somewhat large gentleman in white shirt, black trousers and some dodgy looking shades, but it was no Italian checking up on us but Bolton boss Sam Allardyce in disguise and looking as though he was still away on holiday.
He was followed by the more familiar figure of Steve Cotterill, who reached the new look home dug out with its astroturf to a superb reception from the Bob Lord Stand that suggested there has been no waning in the manager's popularity two years on from him arriving at Burnley.
Allardyce named a strong looking line up to start the game, including trialist Quinton Fortune, whilst for the Clarets there were three changes from the side that started at Bury on Tuesday. John McGreal came in for Stephen Foster in the centre of defence whilst Micah Hyde and Graham Branch, a late substitute at Gigg Lane, started in a five man midfield in place of Chris McCann and John Spicer.
It all started brightly with both sides moving forward well but it was the Clarets who went in front after just eleven minutes, and what a goal it was.
Forget the fact that it came about finally because goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen couldn't hold Alan Mahon's shot from the edge of the box, allowing Andy Gray to get in ahead of the defender to knock the ball home.
The beauty of this goal was the superb exchange of passes through the midfield that saw the ball reach Gray. He knocked it into the path of Mahon and followed in to get on the end of it when the shot came back off the keeper.
It was end to end stuff and both keepers had to be alert to keep the score at 1-0, Brian Jensen in particular making two good saves, but there was little he could do when Bolton did equalise midway through the half. A ball in found Ricardo Vaz Te who took the ball on the chest, turned and volleyed home despite the attentions of Frank Sinclair and John McGreal. It was a good finish from the Portuguese forward.
Forget the fact that it came about finally because goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen couldn't hold Alan Mahon's shot from the edge of the box, allowing Andy Gray to get in ahead of the defender to knock the ball home.
The beauty of this goal was the superb exchange of passes through the midfield that saw the ball reach Gray. He knocked it into the path of Mahon and followed in to get on the end of it when the shot came back off the keeper.
It was end to end stuff and both keepers had to be alert to keep the score at 1-0, Brian Jensen in particular making two good saves, but there was little he could do when Bolton did equalise midway through the half. A ball in found Ricardo Vaz Te who took the ball on the chest, turned and volleyed home despite the attentions of Frank Sinclair and John McGreal. It was a good finish from the Portuguese forward.
The score remained that way up to half time although either side could have scored again and the Clarets always looked capable of adding to their tally, particularly with the promptings of Mahon and Hyde in midfield.
Bolton made a number of changes at half time but they started the second half the stronger of the two sides and had probably their best spell of the game. They should have gone in front for the first time but again Jensen was quick to deny them with a smart save down to his right.
The Clarets were soon back into the game though and some twenty minutes in to the second half we went back in front with a rare goal from Hyde. It all came from a corner that was knocked back to Sinclair. He in turn crossed from the corner of the box and there was Micah unmarked to turn it home.
The last time he scored a goal at the Jimmy Mac End of the ground was back in April 2003 when he gave Watford a 2-1 lead in the game that ended 7-4, and this was his first goal in any game since the one we all remember so well at Ewood last year.
From there we probably should have gone on and won it more convincingly. Andy Gray's effort came off the bar and then Garreth O'Connor headed wide after a superb run and cross from Wade Elliott.
It wasn't all one way and probably the best chance Bolton had to equalise came following a mistake by Stephen Foster but that was eventually cleared whilst the last chance of the game fell our way but Chris McCann put his shot wide.
So a win against a Premiership club, a good performance and a very enjoyable game played in temperatures that should be reserved for World Cup games. Next time the turnstiles open at the Turf it will be the real thing, the opening day of the league season and the same sort of performance and result will go down very well indeed.
The sponsors gave the man of the match award to Alan Mahon, and who am I to argue after the midfielder turned in another excellent performance, but I'm going for his midfield partner Micah Hyde. He might be on the transfer list, but the standing ovation he received when he came off close to the end of the game was for a fine performance. He won't be going anywhere if he can keep playing like that.
We can't read too much into friendlies they say, but why not when you've won two and drawn one.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Frank Sinclair, Wayne Thomas, John McGreal (Stephen Foster 45), Jon Harley, Steve Jones (Wade Elliott 75), Micah Hyde (Chris McCann 79), James O'Connor, Alan Mahon (Kyle Lafferty 63), Graham Branch (Garreth O'Connor 42), Andy Gray (Gifton Noel-Williams 84). Sub not used: John Spicer.
Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen (Ian Walker 32, Ali Al Habsi 61), Joey O'Brien (Johann Smith 45), Quinton Fortune (Sean Mountford 56), Nicky Hunt (Mark Charlesworth 69), Tal Ben Haim, Gary Speed (Abdoulaye Faye 45), El-Hadji Diouf (Leslie Thompson 60), Kevin Nolan (Blazej Augustyn 45), Kevin Davies (Robert Sissons 45), Idan Tal, Ricardo Vaz Te (Nathan Wolfe 62).
Referee: Phil Dowd (Stoke).
Attendance: 4,464.