Clarets bow out of Youth Cup

Last updated : 17 November 2003 By Martin Barnes (WTBM)

Clarets Mad would like to thank Martin Barnes from When the Ball Moves fanzine for tonight's report from Bramall Lane.

The match started fairly evenly in the opening quarter hour, with the only chances a couple of long-range efforts that were well wide of the target for the Blades. Burnley had had a few promising breaks that came to nothing, but little else at this stage, with the lone man Taylor up front getting little service.


Midway through the first half saw a dangerous ball from Ince after he had broken down the left. Sadly, the cross just eluded Pugh in the six-yard box. A minute later, a free kick was headed just over by centre-half
Townsend.

Around the half-hour mark saw a good period of possession for the Clarets. Another good Ince cross once again narrowly missed Pugh whilst in a dangerous position. A shot by the former from the edge of the area was spilled goalwards by the Blades’ keeper, who just recovered in time. Had the shot had more venom, it might have crept over the line.

A good Ince free-kick was half-deflected, half-saved round the post, and a minute later Taylor could only kick at fresh air when well placed inside the area under pressure. There were a couple of breaks from the home side at this stage, but little of any great concern to Terry Pashley’s boys.


After forty minutes a cracking effort by Pugh was pushed out for a corner, which came to nothing. On the stroke of half-time the Clarets conceded a free kick in a very vulnerable position, and the shot that resulted was almost spilled into the net by the young keeper, Mark Crossley.


A solid first half which we dominated in the final 25 minutes, after a somewhat shaky start.


The second half began in much the same vein, with the young Clarets looking better than their academy counterparts. Early on Ince was almost on the end of a good through ball only to be beaten to it at the edge of the area by the home keeper. There followed a good shot from Joe Booth which was saved.


The next ten minutes were pretty much a midfield battle, with no chances of note for either team, as Sheffield steadied the ship somewhat. Then, all of a sudden, we were a goal behind, following a shot from the edge of the area. It may have taken a slight deflection, although the keeper will still be a bit disappointed not to have saved it. That said, as a defender myself, the lads probably should have got the ball away earlier.

Five minutes later, a good surging run by Avery was ended by a trip, and the subsequent penalty was stroked home to the keeper’s left by Danny Pitham, despite the Bramall Lane custodian guessing correctly.


This was to be the last good news for the Clarets, as the Blades went 2-1 in front again just five minutes later, following a free kick that was nodded down in the box for the onrushing striker to lift over the advancing keeper.


At this stage, Michael West came on for James Quinn, who had had a quiet game really. With ten minutes to go, TP decided to chase the game and go to 3 at the back, with Ryan Townsend assuming the Steve Davis role up front.


With gambles such as these, you run the risk of being punished, and this was to prove to be the case against a side that did not, in all honesty, play well, but certainly could finish. The lob-sided score was aided by the unfortunate Pitham who simply teed up the striker as he tried to clear to make it 3-1.

A further goal followed when the Burnley defence was all too easily turned on the halfway line, for the Blade to advance fully 30 yards before coolly lifting the ball over the keeper to complete the scoring in the final minute.


So, a 4-1 defeat, which at first glance may look as though it continued the run of not only wretched results, but wretched performances here at ‘Beautiful downtown Bramall Lane’. Au contraire, the boys can count themselves unfortunate to have lost, and can certainly hold their heads up high tonight, as one of the few sides in recent times to leave BL with a good performance under their belts.


They tried to keep the ball on the floor and play nice football. There were good performances all over the park. I was particularly impressed by the two fullbacks, Pitham and Ross Preston, who both like to get forward, plus the centre-half Ryan Townsend and midfielders Avery and Booth.

The best two players for us were the two wide men, Ince and Pugh, who are both very able at crossing the ball and provided our only real threat this evening. I’m not sure the 4-5-1 formation did them any favours, but as I said to Pash after the game, ‘Tell them they played well tonight.’ It was the first time I had seen the lads in action, and I was impressed.

Burnley team was: Mark Crossley, Ross Preston, Ryan Townsend, Gary Carter, Danny Pitham, Marc Pugh, Darrel Avery, Joe Booth, James Quinn (Michael West), Tom Ince, Alex Taylor. Subs not used: Michael Hale, James Heywood, Cayne Hanley, Dennis Greenwood.

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