A win at last

Today we have won again but since that last win we have collected just two points out of a possible eighteen, gone out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, sold our leading goalscorer and dropped far enough down the table to suggest there will be little possibility of us making the play offs.

In fact many people have even been mentioning the ‘R’ word in the last week, fearing that results will be difficult to come by following Ade’s sale to Sheffield United. So it was good news for the Clarets that the player brought in to replace him, Michael Ricketts, got off the mark with the winner on his home debut.

He partnered Gifton Noel-Williams in the side as we switched to a 4-4-2 formation with Wade Elliott giving way to allow Gifton to come back in. Otherwise it was the side that had picked up a point in the draw at Brighton.

We weren’t to be treated to a classic by any stretch of the imagination, we had to defend desperately at times in the closing stages, but as someone said to me as we left the ground, “The game will be forgotten in a couple of weeks time, but we will still have the points.”

There were half chances at both ends of the pitch in the opening exchanges but generally we got the upper hand, although there was one scare when Chadwick got in and tried to lob Brian Jensen.

But it was the Clarets who really went close and it would have been a debut goal for Ricketts, and it would have been an excellent goal. He collected a throw inn on the right hand side and having controlled it well he turned and from a very tight angle saw his shot go agonisingly wide of the far post.

The next time he was in the action he went one better and gave the Clarets the lead. The goal came following good work from Micah Hyde who made a run through the centre. Micah seems reluctant to shoot when the opportunity is there, and again he missed an opportunity to test Larrieu in the Plymouth goal.

It mattered not though as he played the ball through for Ricketts who in turn brought the ball under control, beat a defender, and shot into the bottom corner. It was a good finish, hopefully the first of many for the new man.

For most of the rest of the first half we looked comfortable but just as we were set to go in with a lead we almost conceded an equaliser. Frank Sinclair should have got the ball away as Plymouth hit it long down the pitch, but he allowed Chadwick to get onto it and Jensen prevented what looked a certain goal.

It would have been somewhat unjust on the Clarets, we had been the better side in the first half, but the save ensured we did take in the lead we deserved.

The second half was something of a different story and perhaps Plymouth will have returned to the south west wondering how they didn’t take something from the game. That was mainly due to some resolute defending from the Clarets and some top goalkeeping from Jensen who earned my vote for man of the match.

The visitors started the half in a positive fashion and put us under some pressure but they created little and we just about saw that off. Unfortunately we couldn’t get going ourselves, the midfield were struggling and not offering much support to the front two.

Wade Elliott came on to replace a disappointing Garreth O’Connor but it made little difference and after a double substitution by Pulis, it was Plymouth who got themselves right back on top in the closing stages.

They seemed to get ball after ball into our box and time and again we dealt with it, but twice they got shots on target and we were thankful to Jensen for two top saves, the second one in particular.

By the time the fourth official revealed there would be four extra minutes we were hanging on but in the end we played those extra minutes out with relative ease and breathed a sigh of relief as referee Trevor Kettle signalled our first win for almost six weeks.

There has to be a word about referee Kettle, a referee with a very bad reputation. Today he was nothing like his record, nothing like the referee I have seen in the past, and handled the game well, with just one yellow card, and a deserved one for Jon Harley.

It’s the win that matters but there were some good performances. Up front we did well enough during the first half but certainly Ricketts tired during the second half, and in defence we handled the threat from the big Plymouth team. It was the midfield where the worries were today and they failed to inspire at any time during the ninety minutes.

Still, we’ve won, we’re edging towards the safety target. We might not be challenging for the play offs come the end of the season but we certainly won’t be struggling down at the bottom end of the table.

The teams were,

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Frank Sinclair, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Garreth O’Connor (Wade Elliott 72), Micah Hyde, James O’Connor, Graham Branch, Gifton Noel-Williams, Michael Ricketts. Subs not used: Duane Courtney, Chris McCann, John Spicer, Danny Karbassiyoon.

Plymouth: Romain Larrieu, Paul Connolly, Matthias Doumbe, Elliott Ward, Anthony Barness (Agos Buzsaky 75), David Norris, Lilian Nalis, Paul Wotton, Tony Capaldi, Micky Evans (Chris Zebroski 75), Nick Chadwick. Subs not used: Luke McCormick, Hasney Aljofree, Lee Hodges.

Referee: Trevor Kettle (Berkshire).

Attendance: 11,292.