An immense night for Burnley Football Club

Last updated : 20 August 2009 By Tony Scholes
Clarke Carlisle
Clarke Carlisle - led the defence brilliantly
It just about had everything for us. Our first Premier League points, our first Premier League goal (and what a stunner it was), in front of a Turf Moor crowd that lifted the decibels way above those witnessed for the Arsenal and Spurs cup ties last season.

Even outside the ground you could sense something special. Harry Potts was so busy as the Manchester United fans were getting off their coaches from Milton Keynes, Oxford and Watford but there was a sea of claret and blue and a real buzz about the place.

There was always going to be that buzz. It was our first home game since promotion and the fixture computer giving us the biggest club in the league. The defeat at Stoke hadn't dampened anyone's enthusiasm although I wouldn't suggest there was an air of expectancy in terms of the result even though one friend of mine had done his best to convince me during the afternoon that we'd win.

Inside the ground how good was it to see Burnley fans back in the cricket field stand whilst for me the moving of the big screen was a big bonus. Turf Moor looked immaculate and was ready for this first big game, the only problem was that conversation with those you haven't seen since May was impossible because of the PA system which I'm sure will be sorted.

There were no surprises when the team was announced. As expected new signing Andre Bikey was named in the side alongside Clarke Carlisle at the back with Stephen Jordan returning to left back for his first home appearance since February.

No Ronaldo, no Tevez, and of course no Vidic or Ferdinand, but Manchester United still had a formidable side out and they quickly had us on the back foot as the dominated the opening minutes. For those few minutes it looked as though we might be in for a long night.

Michael Owen, who I've not quite got used to in a Manchester United shirt, did have the ball in the net but he was clearly offside.

We needed to start getting hold of the ball and that we did after that shaky start. We might have even gone in front if Steven Fletcher had shown a bit more composure in front of goal, but we didn't have to wait too much longer for the opener, and what a stunner. By that time we'd reshuffled with Fletcher going on the left, Robbie Blake on the right with Martin Paterson up front.

It all started when Bikey was fouled in the centre circle. Graham Alexander quickly played the free kick to Elliott who played in Paterson. Maybe Pato should have got his shot away better but all credit to him as he got the ball back on the right hand side.

He got two crosses in, the second of which was headed out onto our left where Chris McCann played it back to Jordan. The full back's cross was headed away under challenge from Paterson but only to our little magician Robbie Blake who pulled another rabbit out of his wonderful bag of tricks.

This one was a stunning volley that I don't think goalkeeper Ben Foster could have seen let alone save. I joked that he'd been beaten on his near post but had he got anywhere near the ball it would have taken him into the net with him.

Burnley 1 Manchester United 0 - doesn't it look good in print, but there was still a long way to go and we knew that they would make it difficult for us, none more so than when Robbie gave away a penalty just before half time for a foul on Patrice Evra.

Now they've not been so good with penalties recently but this one, taken by Michael Carrick, required a top save from Brian Jensen and as we scrambled it away that was the last real action of the half.

United had a lot of the ball early in the second half but they weren't really hurting us and it wasn't long before they started to make substitutions. One of the players to go off was Michael Owen who had turned in another disappointing performance in front of the watching Fabio Capello. Robbie for England anyone?

We had our moments but there was some defending to do and the back four were superb, covering for each other, getting blocks in, and looking every inch a Premier League defence brilliantly led by Clarke Carlisle.

They were breached a couple of times, once in particular by Ryan Giggs who made a brilliant run to get onto a ball. He was thwarted by Jensen with one of his trademark one-on-one saves. It was no surprise to see that save, nor the movement of Giggs, who I thought was outstanding for the visitors.

It wasn't all one way by any stretch of the imagination and more than once we could have doubled the lead whilst we were never put under any sort of sustained pressure and they didn't like it. John O'Shea spent the night contesting every decision whilst Wayne Rooney's frustration finally got the better of him with a challenge on Tyrone Mears.

Had he been playing for us he would have got a straight red card, absolutely no doubt about that, but Alan Wiley didn't want to be the next referee to be slaughtered by Ferguson and incredibly showed just a yellow card. Abdoulaye Faye and now Rooney, we should have ended both games playing against ten men.

Who cares? We reached ninety minutes in front and when that final whistle blew after four extra minutes we'd beaten the Champions. The roar from the crowd at the final whistle could have raised the dead, disappointing then that the crowd were drowned out within seconds by the ridiculous music and having to be told what our goalkeeper and manager are called.

Outside the ground it was buzzing as we left, most people rushing home to catch Football First and Match of the Day. "It's an immense night for Burnley Football Club," said Martin Tyler whilst even Mark Lawrenson said we were brilliant.

I was wakened this morning with a text message from a friend asking if it gets any better. It does, but we'll have to wait until October for that. Meanwhile, for the next three days at least we'll bask in this fantastic win against Manchester United.

I've pondered the man of the match but felt it unfair to give it to any one player. Maybe the manager I thought or even the crowd. In the end I've decided to give it to Burnley Football Club because it really was an immense night for everyone of us involved with our great club.

The teams were;

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Andre Bikey, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander (Joey Gudjonsson 73), Martin Paterson (Chris Eagles 73), Wade Elliott, Chris McCann, Robbie Blake, Steven Fletcher (Steven Thompson 82). Subs not used: Diego Penny, Christian Kalvenes, Kevin McDonald, Fernando Guerrero.
Yellow Cards: Martin Paterson, Robbie Blake.

Manchester United: Ben Foster, John O'Shea, Wes Brown (Gary Neville 71), Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Anderson (Antonio Valencia 59), Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs, Ji-Sung Park, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen (Dimitar Berbatov 63), Subs not used: Tomasz Kuszczak, Richie de Laet, Paul Scholes, Darron Gibson.
Yellow Cards: Wayne Rooney.

Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).

Attendance: 20,872.