Two in two as Clarets hit three more goals

Last updated : 12 July 2011 By Tony Scholes
Charlie Austin scored his first Burnley goal

It was another ninety minutes to satisfy manager Eddie Howe and no doubt we could have won this by a much bigger margin as we took control with an early goal and never looked as though we would let our hosts back into the game.

Howe was able to welcome Austin back after he'd missed out on Saturday but that was tempered with the late news that Martin Paterson had been ruled out as well as the earlier reported Tyrone Mears and Brian Jensen.

The good news for Paterson and Mears is that they are just minor knocks and at this stage of pre-season it is sensible not to risk them. However, both should be fit to return for the next game at Bristol Rovers.

We were soon in front and it was a goal that will certainly please Austin; his first in Burnley colours since his move from Swindon last January. He was set up by the outstanding Alex MacDonald and it had some good fortune attached to it as his shot from the edge of the box took a deflection. He won't care about that though and will be delighted to have got off the mark.

Jay Rodriguez came closest to doubling the lead, again thanks to a ball in from MacDonald, but saw the keeper save well, but when that second goal didn't come we faded somewhat and got too casual on the ball. We were wasteful in possession and too often gave the ball away needlessly and Bury came close to an equaliser but had they done so some very serious fingers would have been pointing at referee Eddie Ilderton.

He astonishingly missed a foul on Marvin Bartley right in front of him and then incredibly ignored the stamp on the Burnley midfielder as Bury went on the attack.

That seemed to rouse us and MacDonald got the second, and his second of pre-season, with a smart finish after good work from Bartley.

The 2-0 half time scoreline was about right and we then made several changes with just David Edgar, MacDonald and Wade Elliott staying on at the start of the second half.

That should have been 3-0 but when Dean Marney was fouled, Eagles failed to convert from the penalty spot, Cameron Belford saving, predictably, to his right. Eagles is certainly no Graham Alexander and this is his third miss now since he assumed penalty taking duties.

A flurry of second half substitutions had the effect of disrupting the game, as is always the case, but we always looked the most likely of the two teams by some distance. Those substitutions saw Dominic Knowles and Mehdi Lazaar both get their first pieces of first team action.

Belford saved again from Eagles and a couple more efforts flew wide, but it was Iwelumo who ended the scoring just as he'd done at Altrincham. This time the cross was from Ross Wallace which he headed home to give us a 3-0 win.

It will be another week now before we play again, against League Two Bristol Rovers next Tuesday.

The teams were;

Bury: Cameron Belford (Richie Branagan 79), Phil Picken (Zach Rothwell 77), Ben Futcher (Mark Hughes 84), Efe Sodje (Andrai Jones 72), Joe Skarz (Liam Boswell 84), Andy Haworth, Steven Schumacher (Dalton McLoughlin 84), Damien Mozika (Max Harrop 54), David Worrall (Luke McCarthy 77), Ryan Lowe (Jordan Melia 84),Lenell  John-Lewis (Danny Hudson 72).

Burnley (first half): Lee Grant, Kevin Long, Andre Bikey, David Edgar, Danny Fox, Marvin Bartley, Chris McCann, Alex MacDonald, Wade Elliott, Jay Rodriguez, Charlie Austin.

Burnley (second half): Lee Grant (Jon Stewart 78), David Edgar (Alex-Ray Harvey 71), Leon Cort, Michael Duff, Brian Easton, Dean Marney, Wade Elliott (Mehdi Lazaar 60, Dominic Knowles 78), Alex MacDonald (Wes Fletcher 60), Ross Wallace, Chris Eagles, Chris Iwelumo.

Referee: Eddie Ilderton (Tyne & Wear).

Attendance: 2,174 (including 1,313 Clarets).