A great afternoon in the Light

Last updated : 29 November 2003 By Tony Scholes

Ian Moore - scored the Clarets equaliser
When we won promotion in 2000 it meant that as well as playing at a higher level we would also have the opportunity to play at better grounds. That last season in Division Two saw us play games at ground such as Layer Road (Colchester), Memorial Stadium (Bristol Rovers) and Bloomfield Road (Blackpool).

This season we had already been to the Boleyn Ground and Pride Park and today for the first time we played in the very impressive Stadium of Light. Stan said yesterday that playing at Sunderland shows just the sort of progress we have made, it certainly felt like that as I took my seat this afternoon in this imposing arena alongside almost 30,000 others.

It was no warmer than Roker Park though and I cannot recall when I was last so cold at a match as the wind swirled into the stadium giving us the most fantastic flying litter display for the entire afternoon.

We also saw one absolutely cracking football match that was a real credit to both teams given the conditions. Anyone who has ever played football at any level will always tell you that it is almost impossible to get a good game in windy conditions, today that theory was disproved.

We didn’t start so well though as the fast and direct home side took the game to us. Mick McCarthy had said they would be getting in lots of shots to rid themselves of their poor goalscoring record and that’s exactly what they did.

They could have been two goals up in the opening exchanges. A couple of efforts went just wide, another was blocked by a Burnley player, one even by a Sunderland player and to add to all that Brian Jensen made two excellent saves.

We weathered the storm though and slowly got ourselves into the game after surviving the early onslaught. For much of the rest of the first half we were very much the dominant force as we took the game to Sunderland.

Anything Jensen could do at one end Mart Poom could do at the other and he saved well from Robbie Blake twice. Between those saves though he was beaten by Blake only to be rescued by his left hand post.

It was all Burnley now and the Estonian keeper had to make two more smart saves before that damned left hand post came to his rescue again. This time it was Ian Moore and this time it was even closer as the ball appeared to bounce of the woodwork and then go back across the goal line before it was hacked clear.

The home fans were quiet as the travelling Clarets roared on their side but it was the home side who went in front five minutes before the interval. It was their first attack of any purpose for some time and the big striker Kevin Kyle turned it in from close range after we had failed to cut out a ball played in from the right wing.

They don’t ‘Feel Good’ any longer at Sunderland, after demands from the fans they have stopped using goal music and allow the fans themselves to get on with celebrating. James Brown was last seen heading for the Reebok.

Sunderland could have had another but Kyle headed wide and we went in at half time a goal down although there is no doubt that with any good fortune at all we would have been in front. It had been great entertainment though although not enough to warm up the crowd in what was now a very cold stadium.

Tony Grant - Man of the Match performance in midfield
After Sunderland had their own former player guesting on the pitch at half time, it was Charlie Hurley and I seemed to be the only one in the vicinity that could remember him, the teams returned but would we be ‘Ready to Go’?

Sunderland tried to kill us off in the first four or five minutes but after a couple of scares we soon got back into our stride and even though the second half was not as open and exciting as the first forty five minutes it was nevertheless still gripping football.

We really took the game to Sunderland who were having to defend deeper and deeper but they were defending well and we were struggling to create good opportunities. But Burnley today were not going to lay down and kept pushing and pushing forward. Surely the chance would come.

Paul Weller replaced Luke Chadwick and the new man played a major part in the equaliser when it finally came. Glen Little found him down the right hand side and his cross was met by Ian Moore who poked it home from close range at the second attempt.

It came right in front of the 2,500 travelling Clarets who went crazy and were soon willing the Clarets to get a winner as we came storming forward. Again Poom was the home side’s hero and he twice saved well from Blake and was then fortunate enough to see a well struck volley from Mooro go just wide.

With both sides going for it the latter stages were more like the first half and the last two chances of all both fell to Sunderland and both to sub Marcus Stewart. He really looked a certain scorer on both occasions but was stopped by a superb Mo Camara challenge with the first chance and then by one incredible save by the Beast.

It really would have been an injustice if either of them had gone in and when referee Alan Kaye finally blew his whistle for the last time it ended at 1-1 (or ones each for any Sunderland fans reading) and overall that was probably just about the right result.

This was the sort of performance that makes you feel really proud to be a Claret. There wasn’t a player out on the field who did not give it 100% and that is all we can ever ask. When many of those players also have good games then you get a performance like this.

Choosing a man of the match was not easy and I narrowed it down to three. Mark McGregor was one and what a game he had in his first full game in the first team since the end of last season. Then there was Brian Jensen. I have been critical of the Danish keeper and rightly so but he made a string of fine saves this afternoon.

But just edging it above these two for me is a midfielder who gets so much stick from the crowd so often it is incredible. Today Tony Grant was outstanding in the midfield. He has been playing well, had he not been Chappy would never have been given the freedom to get in all those good performances.

Chappy was quieter today – Grant was the star in midfield.

We still don’t have enough players. Arthur is back now but David May is out suspended against Sheffield United. And Chappy’s yellow card today means he will miss the Coventry game in two week’s time as he serves his first ever suspension.

But today we can enjoy the best ninety minutes football we have seen this season – with the thoughts of Layer Road, Bloomfield Road and the Memorial Ground well in the past.

The teams were,

Sunderland: Mart Poom, Darren Williams, George McCartney, Joachim Bjorklund, Julio Arca, Alan Quinn (Paul Thirlwell 76), Jeff Whitley, Colin Healy, Stewart Dowling, Michael Proctor (Marcus Stewart 76), Kevin Kyle (Tommy Smith 84). Subs not used: Stephen Wright, Michael Ingham.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Dean West (Lee Roche 73), David May, Mark McGregor, Mo Camara, Glen Little, Richard Chaplow, Tony Grant, Luke Chadwick (Paul Weller 67), Robbie Blake, Ian Moore. Subs not used: Joel Pilkington, Matt O’Neill.

Referee: Alan Kaye (Wakefield).