A home point but everyone is talking about Pawson

Last updated : 30 September 2012 By Tony Scholes

I've delayed the writing of my report this week just to ensure I'd gathered my thoughts. When watching it live you can so easily get caught up in the emotion of it all. More than once yesterday I was on my feet berating the match officials. It's so easy to miss things so, for once, I've watched all the action again before even beginning to put my thoughts into words.

It's not often I do watch a game again, unless we've been live on Sky and turned in a top performance, such as Blackpool last season, or any of the three play off games which I don't tire of watching. You certainly see things you had missed the first time round and it's always the case that players you thought played well didn't do quite so well, with other players having played better than you first imagined.

A first ever goal for Ben Mee

Watching it all again would help ensure I was fair to the referee, his assistant referees and the fool on the line who couldn't even light up the correct numbers of a board. To be honest, I don't think it is possible to be unfair to them.

The first big mistake came in the first two minutes of the game but before that Eddie Howe had a big decision to make. Before leaving the pub ahead of the game I learned that he'd made one change from the side that had won at Derby a week earlier; David Edgar had been left out and replaced by Michael Duff who would play alongside fit again Jason Shackell.

That was the plan but as I got into the ground came news that Shackell had pulled up in the warm up, Edgar was back in and Kevin Long took Edgar's place on the bench. I can only imagine it is difficult for a player when he's set for a place on the bench to be suddenly thrust into immediate action.

The last time I can recall that happening was at Bramall Lane in December 2008. On that occasion Duff was the player who pulled out late. He was replaced by Steven Thompson with manager Owen Coyle forced into a dramatic reshuffle of the team. At least yesterday it was centre half for centre half.

It all started well, for two minutes at least, but there was a sign of things to come when assistant referee David Storrie, in front of the Bob Lord Stand, astonishingly missed a clear foul on Ross Wallace right in front of him.

Within a minute, we were behind. We couldn't blame Storrie, or any of the other officials for it. It was a poor, poor goal once Dean Marney had lost out in the middle. Millwall got the ball out to the right, it was played back in and Liam Trotter shot from around the edge of the box.

The last thing we wanted to do was give Millwall any sort of lift. They are struggling for results and to go 1-0 up so early would surely give them a confidence boost.

As it happens, all it did was lead to some of the best attacking football I've seen from Burnley all season. Gone was the slow passing of the ball, particularly across the back line. In its place came a real desire to get the ball forward and we gave the fragile Millwall defence a real tough spell.

Within 90 seconds of going behind, referee Craig Pawson should have been pointing to the penalty spot when Alan Dunne handled the ball. You won't see a clearer penalty. Dunne knew what he'd done, so did every other member of the Millwall team. The crowd rose as one for the spot kick but incredibly Pawson was bemused by the whole thing and played on.

It wasn't too long after that we should have had another when Charlie Austin was fouled in the box, and that fell either side of a couple of chances that Wallace and Junior Stanislas should have done better with.

Add a shot from Chris McCann that was saved by David Forde, a couple of scrambles from corners and it was hard to believe we were behind.

Then, on 19 minutes, it finally came. Stanislas hit a left wing corner into the six yard box. Millwall will be disappointed that Ben Mee was able to head home unchallenged from a yard out, but they could have no complaints at losing their lead.

Mee, who had played so well at Derby, had started well again. When we kicked off he was the only outfield player on the pitch who hadn't scored a goal for us. In truth, there aren't too many occasions when I can recall him coming close until the header against the bar last week at Derby, but I was thankful for him breaking that duck yesterday.

Not only was it his first Burnley goal, but his first goal in first team football in what was his 58th league and cup game for Manchester City, Leicester and Burnley.

It was a crucial goal and although we couldn't continue that sort of sustained pressure, and Millwall did come back into it a little bit, we were very much the better side throughout the first half. All it needed was another goal to put us in front but we were again cursing the hapless officials as they missed yet another clear hand ball as Danny Shittu kept out a Martin Paterson effort with his hand.

Pawson had, perhaps, been Millwall's biggest influence in the first half but even he couldn't deny our goal machine Austin a couple of minutes before half time. Wallace did well to make a run off the ball to take defenders away for Kieran Trippier.

Trippier, likewise did well to play the ball up for Austin on the edge of the Millwall box, but in truth this goal was down to the brilliance of the striker who, from almost 18 yards, gave goalkeeper David Forde no chance whatsoever as he looped a header into the top corner of the net.

It really was a simply outstanding goal from a simply outstanding goalscorer, and it ensured we went into the interval with exactly what we deserved - a lead.

I felt another goal early in the second half would finish off Millwall, but unfortunately the attacking intent of the first half disappeared. We slowed the game right down, there was too much passing across the back again and that allowed Millwall to get back into things.

They weren't creating much to be fair, although on a couple of occasions we had to clear our lines very quickly, but neither were we creating much, in fact nothing at all. From the start of the second half to the one hour point we'd hardly registered an attack of note, but soon after the game went crazy with one of the strangest decisions I can ever recall at Turf Moor.

Referee Pawson was already beginning to lose the plot. He'd added three yellow cards by this point in the second half to add to Dean Marney's in the first half, but how on earth he and assistant William Smallwood came to this crazy decision is anyone's guess.

A brilliant 11th goal of the season for Charlie Austin

Both Marney and Wallace were involved as the ball was played up to Stanislas. He in turn played it to Paterson who flicked it on for Stanislas to run on to. He did brilliantly to get on the ball and go on to slide the ball past Forde to make it 3-1.

There had been a hint of offside against Paterson but Smallwood said now and the goal counted; that was until three Millwall players decided to go and have a word with him. Pawson, who had also given the goal, went over, moved the Millwall players away and spoke to Smallwood who then, incredibly, waved his flag for offside.

It seemed to take an age but the fact was that the flag went up 39 seconds after the ball had gone into the net, or 45 seconds after the ball had been played to the supposedly offside Paterson.

It was close as to whether he was offside or not, that is not in question, but Smallwood by not flagging said onside and Pawson was not in a position to question that. Only they will ever know why they did what they did, yet those paying money to watch this game should at the very least be given some explanation.

He had well and truly lost the plot by this point. He added four more yellow cards to the previous four, but Burnley, who had not played at all well during the first part of the second half, struggled even more after that.

Marvin Bartley replaced McCann and Sam Vokes came on for Paterson, but even that became farcical as the fourth official joined in. Vokes for Paterson should have seen the numbers 9 and 10 on the board but we got 9 and 7 meaning Wallace made his way off.

Realising he'd got things wrong he then held up 9 and 20, incredible given that number 20 is Bartley who had only been on six minutes. Eventually, even he got it right, after joining his three colleagues in turning the game into pure farce.

The substitutes didn't change things and whilst not hanging on it was getting more and more difficult for us. Then the board went up for five extra minutes, five more minutes to hang on. We got away with it when Millwall hit the bar, but just a minute later they got the equaliser through Darius Henderson.

Brian Stock was ready to come on but we immediately sat him down and got Cameron Stewart up. How on earth the fourth official coped with that I don't know.

Frighteningly, Millwall then almost won it but again the woodwork came to our rescue and thankfully we held on to at least claim a point.

It's a shame. It's a game we should really have won, but we have to accept that the second half performance wasn't good enough whilst appreciating just how well we'd played in the first half.

But this game will be remembered sadly because of the performance of Craig Pawson. It's a long time since a referee and his team got so many decisions wrong in a game yet they've probably all gone home pleased with themselves after their afternoon's work, without a care for the paying public, without any explanation as to how on earth they got it so ridiculously wrong.

This referee awarded us a poor penalty that turned our Carling Cup tie against Burton in our favour early last season; he sent off two Brighton players in the first eleven minutes in December and now this.

Eddie Howe said he didn't speak to him because there was no point, but said he would speak to the assessor and the referees' bosses. I hope the message gets through, but football being football, Kenny Jackett could only say that he came to the right decision. You see, managers will back referees when the bad decisions go their own way. Things will never improve and the likes of Pawson will be able to continue ruining games of football without any comeback.

I hope we play as well as we did in the first half for the whole game against Sheffield Wednesday and I sincerely hope referee David Coote has a much, much better game than Pawson did. He certainly helped to ruin my afternoon.

As for Burnley - a massive well done to Ben Mee on his first goal, an equally massive well done to Charlie Austin on yet another goal in his terrific start to the season, and a massive well done for that first half performance.

The teams were;

Burnley: Lee Grant, Kieran Trippier, Michael Duff, David Edgar, Ben Mee, Ross Wallace (Cameron Stewart 90+4), Dean Marney, Chris McCann (Marvin Bartley 71), Junior Stanislas, Martin Paterson (Sam Vokes 77), Charlie Austin. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Kevin Long, Joseph Mills, Brian Stock.
Yellow Cards: Dean Marney, Ben Mee, Ross Wallace, Sam Vokes.

Millwall: David Forde, Alan Dunne, Danny Shittu, Paul Robinson (Jack Smith 45), Shane Lowry, Scott Malone (Shaun Batt 67), Liam Trotter, James Henry, Nadjim Abdou, Andy Keogh (Darius Henderson 75), Chris Wood. Subs not used: Maik Taylor, Josh Wright, Therry Racon, Tamika Mkandawire.
Yellow Cards: Alan Dunne, James Henry, Shane Lowry.

Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)

Attendance: 11,192.