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It might not have always been pretty but there is no doubt that it can be no fluke to go on such a run. The opposition have not been the best in some of these games but the results and points have still to be earned. Today’s opponents Sheffield Wednesday look very much as though they are going to struggle again but not everyone will come away from Hillsborough with a 3-1 win.
The old ground looks very imposing but there is no doubt that it has seen better days just as the team have. It is a ground I have little affection for and one that always makes me feel somewhat uneasy nowadays knowing what happened there in 1989. I still find it difficult to believe that the Leppins Lane End remains intact, albeit with alterations, and the lower tier is an eerie reminder (and we certainly should never forget) of those tragically killed.
Having said that as far as the Clarets are concerned it has always been the better of the two Sheffield grounds to visit as far as results are concerned and today I was able to celebrate a victory there for the fifth time.
But what about today’s victory and there is no doubt that whatever the quality of the performance the goals will be talked about for some time. The line up took some getting used to with Lee Briscoe, Alan Moore and Tony Grant all missing assumed injured and a strange looking midfield again with Steve Davis and Paul Cook joining Glen Little in a 4-3-3 formation.
We were a goal up early in the game after a blistering start and it was one that quickly silenced the boo boys as Graham Branch, back in at left-back, made a run down the left before hitting in an excellent cross for Gareth Taylor to head home. Pressman got to it but had little hope of keeping it out.
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The first quarter of the game was all Burnley but Wednesday did start to come more into it and that only served to increase the incessant banging of the drum and trumpeting of ‘The Great Escape’ from the Sheffield Wednesday Band. I wish someone had opened the gate and let this less than musically talented outfit escape. Are there really Burnley fans who would like to see a band at Turf Moor – or more so hear such a band at Turf Moor?
A goal finally did lift the home fans but it was a goal they didn’t see other than on the electric scoreboard when it displayed ‘Scoreflash – Wolves 1 Sheffield United 0’. Rivalry is good and nothing is more pleasing than to hear those you are not fond of have gone a goal down. But that’s for the fans and I find it quite sad when a club chooses to encourage it in such a way. The Blades went on to win 3-1 at Molineux but I recall seeing no further scoreflashes all afternoon.
By half time we had progressively gone deeper and deeper and could have conceded but truthfully we should have been going in with more than a one goal lead. We needed to impose ourselves more in the second half and put Wednesday under more pressure. We did and with some style.
Just twelve minutes in and we doubled our advantage with a goal that will already be staking a genuine claim for goal of the season. It was scored by Glen Little, and he took it superbly, but owed much to the genius of Robbie Blake. The two of them (Blakey and Blake) worked it down the right hand side and Blake finally put Glen clear with a delightful little ball, and Glen turned his man before slide ruling it in from a tight angle. It was even better with it being right in front of the Burnley fans.
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‘Stand up if you’re 3-0 up’, sang the Clarets’ fans and suddenly there was this crazy idea that we could get five or six and really start to bring the negative goal difference down. But this is Burnley and suddenly we were on the back foot as a demoralised Wednesday started to take the game to us.
They pulled a goal back from a Simon Donnelly rocket after the Clarets struggled to clear and two minutes later could and should have had another. The clock started to move far too slowly as the home side started to put us under severe pressure. Singing and dancing in the Leppins Lane End Stan had been replaced by furrowed brows and no lack of nail biting as the impressive Gerald Sibon literally took over.
We were linked with the 28 year old Dutchman earlier this year and there was no doubting why, on form he is without doubt a class act and the Burnley midfield couldn’t cope with him. Cooky had struggled all afternoon and Davis, much better than he had been on Tuesday, is hardly the most mobile player in the middle. Stretch Armstrong was brought on but it seemed to have little effect and as the clock finally started to run down we found ourselves thankful that Marlon Beresford is currently in top form. He made good saves before the whole thing started to peter out as Wednesday failed to get that crucial second goal.
In the end it was comfortable and could have even been four when Papadopoulos, on for Ian Moore just after the Wednesday goal, missed an opportunity after doing well to make the most of the opportunity. His shot was too close to Pressman.
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Marlon picks up the Man of the Match award for the second time in a week but Robbie Blake wasn’t far behind him. It was said before the season started that out second £1 million player had a lot to do to prove himself to a doubting Burnley crowd. There is no doubt at all that he is doing that. Here we have a player of genuine class who looks set to become as popular at Turf Moor as he was at Valley Parade.
But overall this was light years away from Reading and it is a win that has taken us into the top half of the table. That certainly seemed an almost impossible dream a month ago. Not only that we actually played in Claret and Blue – so why on earth didn’t we at Reading and Huddersfield?
But there is no doubt that when this game is forgotten in years to come those of us who were there will always remember the quality of the goals.
And the fact that we picked up three more points.
The teams were:
Sheffield Wednesday: Kevin Pressman, Derek Geary, Craig Armstrong, Danny Maddix, Leigh Bromby, Leon Knight, Alan Quinn, Paul McLaren, Gerald Sibon, Shefki Kuqi, Lloyd Owusu (Simon Donnelly 58). Subs not used: Chris Stringer, Steven Haslam, Ashley Westwood, Trond-Egil Soltvedt.
Burnley: Marlon Beresford, Dean West, Ian Cox, Arthur Gnohere, Graham Branch, Glen Little, Steve Davis, Paul Cook (Gordon Armstrong 73), Robbie Blake (Mark McGregor 84), Gareth Taylor, Ian Moore (Dimitri Papadopoulos 69). Subs not used: Brad Maylett, Andy Payton.
Referee: Trevor Parkes (Birmingham).