|
If nothing else yesterday, our timing was good, avoiding the showers to get from the pub in Shepherd's Bush and into the ground that each year looks more and more like the Subutteo I used to have. Other fans were not quite so lucky.
Inside the ground we noticed that Jack Cork and Andre Bikey seemed to be warming up with the subs and that Lee Grant would be starting in goal. I wasn't at all surprised with the Grant inclusion given that the club themselves had been touting it and almost predicting it since the game at Villa, but I was certainly surprised at the potential for Cork not starting the game.
Like just about every Burnley supporter packing that upper tier, I was totally unaware of the bug that had swept through the club and had made team selection somewhat difficult for Brian Laws.
Loftus Road is a ground where I've seen some good performances in the past and again some not so good. I recall the second half turn round three seasons ago when the brilliant pair of Andrew Cole and Ade Akinbiyi turned a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 win, and then the performance a season later with goals from Robbie Blake and Alan Mahon turning another deficit, this time 1-0, into a 2-1 win in an excellent performance.
I can also vividly remember the performance there in the 2006/07 season on the day Steven Caldwell made his debut as a substitute. It was game number nine in that run of eighteen league games without a win and was arguably, alongside the home games against Stoke and Luton, the worst of the lot.
Ahead of the game thoughts turned away from football and it would be so wrong for any report not to do likewise. Recently Acting Corporal David Barnsdale from 33 Engineer Regiment, an avid QPR fan who was able to see two of their games this season, was killed clearing explosive devices in Afghanistan.
The PA at Loftus Road asked for those in the ground to show respect as his parents, Steve and Wendy, laid a wreath in the centre circle just ahead of kick off. They didn't need to make the request; the ground rose as one and the applause never abated until Steve and Wendy had left the pitch.
It was very moving and certainly affected this match reporter, putting what was to follow very much into perspective.
What was to follow was another good Burnley performance that left us once again leaving an away ground still looking for that first away win of the season.
I think, with less than nine minutes gone, we knew we were in for another refereeing performance that, at best, could be described as eccentric. It was in the ninth minute that Clint Hill brought down Tyrone Mears with a cynical challenge. It was the clearest of yellow cards and was Hill's second such challenge after an earlier one on Chris Eagles.
I know we all want to see 11 v 11, but having witnessed some recent incidents I was stunned that Hill was still on the pitch.
He'd been caught out because we'd started well and we saw little of QPR as an attacking force in the opening exchanges. However, I thought we were just about to go one down when Shaun Derry made a right mess of a shot only for it to fall invitingly to the feet of Jamie Mackie, along with Chris Iwelumo the Championship's second highest scorer.
That Mackie didn't score, indeed didn't get a shot in, was down to Michael Duff who got in a brilliant challenge to prevent a potential first effort at goal from the home side.
Grant hadn't been troubled at all, but the Tyrone Dobbs lookalike at the other end, Paddy Kenny, was soon into the action. Eagles got in a shot from just outside the box. Kenny got down well to save but couldn't hold the ball and Jay Rod was onto the rebound. Jay was stretching a bit but still got his shot in with Kenny making an excellent second save to keep him out.
Had he been at the other end he wouldn't have been able to do anything about QPR's first effort, and neither could Grant. Yes, we probably allowed Taarabt too much space to come forward and then shift it onto his right foot, but the shot was then sensational as it flew into the corner.
It was as stunning as the scoreline, not in a month of Sundays did QPR deserve to be in front in this game but there they were with a 1-0 lead.
The refereeing of Williamson was very much under the microscope again with two incidents close together. Firstly Taarabt went down in the Burnley box with the referee indicating that he'd dived and he wasn't giving anything. Soon after there was potentially something similar at the other end and out came the yellow card for Eagles, the Burnley player who had gone down.
Now, for what it's worth, I thought Duff had caught Taarabt and I thought it was a penalty, but Williamson didn't and therefore should have carded the QPR player.
Worse still, Williamson appeared to target Eagles after that and the Burnley player was clearly getting more and more agitated. Aided by comments from their own manager they were clearly setting out to wind up the in form Claret.
I was surprised not to hear a chant of 'Same old Warnock, always cheating,' but it didn't come. QPR had won this one though and Eagles' time on the pitch was soon to come to an end with Ross Wallace replacing him at half time.
But by then we were level from the penalty spot. Warnock said the referee was guessing and that could have been a fair assumption given the rest of his performance. It was at the far end, but having seen it again from the television pictures I'd suggest, if he was guessing, he guessed right.
It was Dean Marney who was fouled after he ran onto a knock down from Chris Iwelumo. This for me was without doubt a correct decision, and not soft as the home manager thought.
'Eagles, Eagles,' came from the School End whilst my thoughts were on the fact that QPR had conceded penalties in two of their three previous games but that's what happens when you are top of the league.
I've got used to Eagles taking penalties now, so much so that I'd actually forgotten about Grezza. But the club captain, who admitted he made the mistake of changing his mind just as he was about to take his last one against Bristol City, stepped up and you just knew he wasn't going to miss another. He hit it to Kenny's right and that took us in at 1-1.
Just two minutes earlier I'd turned and said, "We need to go in at 0-1 for half time," basically meaning we couldn't afford to concede a second. Football has a real habit of making your comments look pretty damn stupid.
A 1-1 scoreline at half time was the least we deserved. We'd played well and restricted QPR to one shot at goal and that penalty claim. I'd say it was just about right, but we stepped it up in the second half and have to consider ourselves very unfortunate to come home with just a point.
A lot of it seemed to centre on Jay in the second half too. He had a couple of opportunities, one when he hit a shot just wide and one when he just couldn't quite get on to a ball right in front of goal, but he certainly came close to finding his range between those two efforts when he hit the bar with a shot from outside the box.
I suppose we should be thankful it didn't go in with the assistant referee's flag going up for offside. It was something of a strange decision even if it were the correct one. This was an assistant referee who wasn't even capable of giving a throw in all afternoon, waiting for the referee to give it on every occasion.
Iwelumo was the other who might just have won it for us. After a good move the ball found Wallace on the right hand side of the box. Instead of opting to shoot he played the ball to Iwelumo who beat his man but put his shot over the bar.
At least he got a shot in; when Elliott made a searing run towards the Rangers' goal he was unceremoniously taken out by Gorkss leading to a yellow card.
It wasn't one way traffic, not by any means, but at the other end it was, shall we say, less subtle as a barrage of balls were hit into our box. Eventually they made changes. Patrick Agyemang came on for Hogan Ephraim and Leon Clark, a player both Burnley and Brian Laws know only too well, replaced the ineffective Rob Hulse who, on this showing, I'm pleased to see in a hooped shirt and not playing for us. Tommy Smith then came on for the ineffective Taarabt (one shot apart). The barrage continued and there they were - Clarke Carlisle and Michael Duff.
To say these two played well really is an understatement. They were simply outstanding in a back four who played as well as I've seen a back four play for Burnley in a long time. They won everything, and in doing so gave Grant a much easier afternoon in his first league game of the season than he could have imagined.
Eventually they just started hitting them longer and longer and the last ten minutes was like the blitz as more and more high balls were hammered into our box. We had some real defending to do and we did it. They won some corners and they hit a couple of shots well wide of target. Had they scored it would have been an absolute travesty.
Last week the fourth official held up a board with four minutes stoppage time and we played two minutes and ten seconds. This time we were given another five to survive and it became six. It was nail biting stuff sat at the far end and a massive relief when that final whistle went.
There are two ways of looking at this game in terms of the point. Some will say it is a good point away from home against the league leaders, others will point to the lack of away wins with our last win on the road in this league at Plymouth back in March 2009.
No one will win that argument so I'll turn to the performance and this was another to lift the hopes. We are playing good football going forward and it is very pleasing on the eye. It is a results business, of course it is, but I know I'd much rather watch football the way we are playing it than the way QPR play it.
I was absolutely delighted with that performance yesterday and without knowing of all the problems that had beset the squad ahead of the game. My only disappointment is we failed to win a game I felt we really deserved to win.
Again, I have to highlight the performance of the back four and in particular the two central defenders with Carlisle in awesome form, but for me no report is complete either without special mention of Marney who was outstanding, giving probably his best performance in a Burnley shirt.
Yes, the hunt for the first away win goes on and until that monkey is well and truly off our back there is no doubt the debate will continue. That monkey will be off our back so much quicker if we continue to play as well as we did at Loftus Road.
The teams were;
QPR: Paddy Kenny, Kyle Walker, Matt Connolly, Kaspars Gorkss, Clint Hill, Shaun Derry, Alejandro Faurlin, Jamie Mackie, Adel Taarabt (Tommy Smith 82), Hogan Ephraim (Patrick Agyemang 62), Rob Hulse (Leon Clark 74). Subs not used: Radek Cerny, Bradley Orr, Mikele Leigertwood, Martin Rowlands.
Yellow Cards: Adel Taarabt, Kaspars Gorkss, Jamie Mackie.
Burnley: Lee Grant, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Michael Duff, Danny Fox, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott, Dean Marney, Chris Eagles (Ross Wallace 45), Chris Iwelumo (Steven Thompson 83), Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Leon Cort, Andre Bikey, Jack Cork, Martin Paterson.
Yellow Cards: Chris Eagles, Michael Duff, Graham Alexander.
Referee: Iain Williamson (Berkshire).
Attendance: 15,620 (including 1,404 Clarets).
Footnotes
The inclusion of Lee Grant in goal brought to an end a run of 96 consecutive league appearances for Brian Jensen. The last time he missed was on the opening day of the 2008/09 season against Sheffield Wednesday.
It also saw Grant make his second league appearance for Burnley, coming twenty days short of five years after his debut against Leicester City on 19th November 2005.
The game saw a 50th Burnley league appearance for Tyrone Mears and a 150th start in Burnley colours in all competitions for Graham Alexander.