Comfortable win against Franchise team

Last updated : 28 September 2002 By Tony Scholes

Glen Little - scored the winner
Last time it was all our own fault for the ridiculous ban on Millwall fans but this time there was nothing we could do with the franchised outfit not having any supporters to call their own. There were certainly less away fans inside the ground today than there were Millwall fans, in the end there were around 60 of them in the Cricket Field Stand on a day when the real Wimbledon recorded an excellent 5-0 win away to Frimley Green.

Clarets Mad got the team news right yesterday and Mark McGregor, Dimitri Papadopoulos and Paul Cook were all left out and neither was there any sign of a goalkeeper on the bench with Nik Michopoulos joining Crystal Palace on loan.

It really was a quiet Turf Moor and the game was very slow in finding any sort of rhythm but it was definitely the Clarets who made the early running which put Franchise on the back foot. In fact this was the pattern of the entire first half with the visitors hardly threatening.

We weren’t at our best but probably played better than at any time previously at home this season and we were creating chances. Unfortunately we didn’t seem to be able to finish any of them and the main culprit in the first half was Glen Little.

Having tried the Taylor and Blake partnership for the first time Stan must have been pleased with the way they worked together and Taylor got in a couple of early shots (yes shots, with his feet) that could have given us the lead.

Blake though was involved in everything we did during the first forty five minutes, his first touch and control was excellent. He is now beginning to show just why Stan was so keen to sign him but the Turf Moor crowd (certainly those sat near me) are still to be convinced.

Half time came with the score 0-0 and we really should have been in front and this gave the prophets of doom plenty of opportunity to predict a 1-0 defeat. They should know better, the Clarets have not scored a goal in opening play during the first half of a league game since last March in the 1-1 draw against Bradford City, the night Gazza made his Clarets’ debut.

The highlight of the interval though was definitely the introduction of Colin McDonald who came out to a superb reception from the Burnley crowd. It is over 43 years since last pulled on the green jersey for Burnley but there was much talk of just how good he was from our older fans.

The second half got underway surprisingly with the same eleven Burnley players who had been involved in the first half, something that has not happened much lately and it wasn’t more than a few minutes old when we finally broke the deadlock through Glen Little. After a great run of goals early last season this was Glen’s first league goal, penalties excepted, since he scored at Deepdale last December.

Somehow, no matter what happened afterwards, the chances of Wimbledon coming back always did look remote. Yes Marlon had a couple of saves to make but to be honest they had absolutely no passion. It is very much a fact that hardly anyone has any real interest in them any longer (other than wishing defeat upon them) and if they continue to play in this way then make no mistake football will get a major wish granted and they will be relegated.

We were once again too cautious having gone in front but we would have had more goals but for some excellent saves by former Wimbledon goalkeeper Kelvin Davis and some woeful refereeing by Scott Mathieson. Quite what he was up to this afternoon was at time difficult to establish.

He did have an effect on the scoreline with his refusal to award a late penalty when Ian Moore was clearly brought down but by this time nobody, including his assistants, was quite sure just what he was going to do next.

In the end though it has to be said that this was better from Burnley but it also has to be realised that we won’t come up against such an inept side every week. However since the four defeat start we have now hit championship form with twelve points from the last six games and we cannot ask more than that.

The sponsors gave the Man of the Match to Gareth Taylor and certainly won’t disagree with that. Robbie Blake had a good first half but faded and Tony Grant had a good game in midfield. The two former KKMC players Taylor and Grant come in for a lot of stick but both of them had their best games of the season today.

We are off ‘Over the Hill’ to Yorkshire twice this week and after today’s win we need to crack on and see where it takes us. We really do need it to take us a round further in the Worthington Cup on Tuesday and further up the league on Saturday. Tuesday in particular is a very important game for us with the possibility of making some money from the competition at a time when it is desperately needed.

Let’s hope that the unbeaten run has increased by two next time we play on the Turf.

And finally today,

Koppeload of this – BURNLEY 1 FRANCHISE 0

The teams were:

Burnley: Marlon Beresford, Dean West (Mark McGregor 62), Steve Davis, Ian Cox, Arthur Gnohere, Glen Little, Tony Grant, Lee Briscoe, Alan Moore (Ian Moore 68), Robbie Blake (Dimitri Papadopoulos 72), Gareth Taylor. Subs not used: Paul Cook, Andy Payton.

Franchise: Kelvin Davis, Peter Hawkins, Mark Williams, Darren Holloway, Rob Gier, Trond Andersen, Joel McAnuff, Damien Francis, Alex Tapp (Adam Nowland 80), Neil Shipperley, Wayne Gray (Patrick Agyemang 64). Subs not used: Chris Willmott, Paul Heald, Mikele Leigertwood.

Referee: Scott Mathieson (Land of the Unprofessionals).