At last - I've seen us win at Ipswich

Last updated : 20 October 2013 By Tony Scholes

Once the excitement of the goal had died down yesterday, the jubilant Burnley fans continued to jump up and down to the strains of 'We are top of the league' but for me there were a few anxious minutes as I almost waited for the inevitable to happen.

Yesterday was the 15th time I've seen Burnley play at Ipswich. I've seen seven draws and seven defeats and so often have seen games turn against us in the closing minutes. Never mind these 'It's a load of old nonsense' comments from manager Sean Dyche. It didn't feel like that and I was only able to relax when the referee blew the final whistle to signal this latest victory.

Our manager doesn't do superstition and neither does he believe in these horses for courses theories. I can promise him one thing; he would if he went to watch Burnley games with me for a while.

I reached a point some time ago where I'd resigned myself to not ever seeing a win there so thanks Sean, thanks to the players and in particular to Arfield who spotted the opportunity, got away from his defender and directed Kieran Trippier's cross into the corner of the net for the only goal of the game.

Outstanding performance from David Jones

If I was nervous in those last few minutes then I was certainly enjoying the moment as the game ended, as the players and manager celebrated this latest win in front of what was one of the biggest following of Burnley fans I've seen in those overpriced Portman Road seats and then as we left the ground past Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey.

I mention those two, or their statues, because it does add to the win. This is a club that has had some real success over the years and has provided England with arguably its best ever managers. They were a Premier League club not much over a decade ago and, despite a couple of lean years, this ground, make no mistake, is not an easy place to go.

They made us very welcome though, I do have to admit, by providing traditional Lancashire weather that saw me get two soakings, one from the car to the pub and then on the walk from the pub to the ground.

By then we'd received the news that we were expecting, that the team was that which had played the full game against Reading and with the same seven substitutes on the bench, and those players came out wearing the home shirt of claret with the claret away shorts and the claret and white hooped away socks.

It's good to see us playing in claret away from home, and we should make the most of it with the new club shop man wanting gold and black as prominent Burnley colours of the future. First beach towels, then slippers and eventually kit from what I hear.

But this team of ours in claret is doing us proud right now and if yesterday's game wasn't  the free flowing football we've seen in recent weeks then some credit should be given to our hosts who proved to be one of the best teams we've met all season.

I'll accept that Ipswich potentially had the better of the exchanges in the first half but I fail to understand the suggestion that they had the better of the chances. Despite both sides always looking to get on the attack, it was a half of very few opportunities and until the closing minutes of the half I can't recall Tom Heaton having too much to do.

Neither did the Ipswich goalkeepers either to be fair. Having started the game with Dean Gerken in goal they were forced into a change when he was injured in a collision with Danny Ings following a low right wing cross from Kieran Trippier who had been played in down the flank with the pass of the first half from Dean Marney, it was bettered by a wonderful pass from David Jones in the second half, and that saw Scott Loach come on.

The two defences played well and ours so well that Heaton could have been sat up with us and it would have made little difference. All the back four warrant some real praise with the two central defenders, and in particular Jason Shackell, at their best.

In front of them were the tireless Scott Arfield, Marney and Jones in the centre, both of whom played outstandingly well, and Michael Kightly on the left and he was such a crucial player in the first half.

Too often his final ball wasn't as good as we've come to expect but he was the player always available for the ball coming out of defence, whether directly from the back four or often from Jones, and it was he who got us up the pitch into the attacking areas so often.

With virtually the whole first half completed a 0-0 scoreline was about right but then, as we started looking at our watches, we had to deal with a short spell of pressure from the home side.

Heaton didn't appear to deal as well as he might have with a high ball in but having seen it again on television it is difficult to believe that he didn't get a free kick as he was pushed by two Ipswich players as he went for the ball. On a day when referee Graham Scott opted not to bother making decisions, including one incident when Marney was virtually thrown into an advertising hoarding, it perhaps shouldn't have been a surprise.

The ball came out and Cole Skuse saw his shot blocked by Kieran Trippier and soon after he had another effort that whistled just wide of the post. Had they scored then I think a lead for them at half time would have been rough justice on us.

That Marney with the advertising hoarding incident came early in the second half. By this time we were much more into the game and at that point I felt we might be stepping it up for a victory.

Either side of that both Sam Vokes and Kightly had opportunities. Vokes didn't get a shot in while Loach had no problems dealing with Kightly's effort. 

At the opposite end there was just one real scare when a Shackell mistake - yes he really did make one - when he let Paul Anderson go clear, but he recovered brilliantly to rescue things himself.

I'm not suggesting we'd taken the game by the scruff of the neck, but we looked very comfortable and the more likely while Ipswich were offering nothing in the penalty box at our end of the ground.

With just over ten minutes remaining we were preparing to make a change but as Keith Treacy got himself ready to come on the game changed with the goal.

We won the ball from an Ipswich throw but it left Ings on the line, to the left of goal, and seemingly blocked off by a defender. He turned well, laid the ball out wide to Ben Mee whose cross was headed out by an Ipswich defender.

The next time they touched it was when Loach picked the ball up from the back of the net. The headed clearance reached David Jones, my man of the match, whose cushion header for Trippier was perfect.

As the right back readied to cross, Arfield moved off his marker on the edge of the box and then guided the cross into the far corner of the net with the perfect header.

That's when the pandemonium started in the away section of the Cobbold Stand and that's when I started to get nervous.

We did get Treacy on, for Kightly, and he did some good work down the left, retaining possession and helping to ensure Ipswich weren't going to get back in. Only once did they even offer any sort of threat, and again Shackell, with a superb challenge, cleared any danger on the right hand side of the box.

David Edgar got a few minutes at the end. After a couple of wayward clearances he won a couple of vital headers too and in truth those last few minutes were more comfortable than any of us could have dared to hope.

The final whistle was greeted with more 'Top of the league' chants, some 'Ginger Mourinho' chants as players and manager came over to celebrate.

Earlier in the week, having noted that the 12th league game of the 1961/62 season had ended in a 2-1 defeat at West Ham, I realised that a win would mean a better start than even in that season.

I researched for the previous best should that happen and went back and back and back all the way into the 19th Century. When I found it I decided not to tempt fate and kept quiet about it. I needn't have bothered even researching it, we've been told countless times now that this is our best start since 1897.

On that occasion we'd won 10, drawn 1 and lost 1 of the first 12 games. If anyone thinks we might soon have passed that one too, I'd better warn you that the next defeat didn't come until March and that was the last defeat of a season that saw Burnley win the Second Division with 20 wins, 8 draws and just those 2 defeats in a 30 game season.

It doesn't matter though does it? What does matter is right now and this latest win has now given all of us the best start to a season any of us could possibly have seen, and long may it continue.

With the manager approaching his first anniversary at the end of this month I don't think things could be much better right now and we've now got the big 1st v 2nd to come next week.

This win certainly won't be remembered as a classic and it won't win many votes for the best away performance of the season come next May, but it was another afternoon when we collected maximum points.

And, on that personal note, I can add it to the list of grounds where I've seen Burnley win a league game. The last time I added a ground to that list was in April 2012 when we won for the first time at the Keepmoat, beating Doncaster 2-1. The last club to be added was Barnsley, and that was Boxing Day 2010. Wigan is the next target.

The teams were;

Ipswich: Dean Gerken (Scott Loach 39), Luke Chambers, Christophe Berra, Tommy Smith, Aaron Cresswell, Paul Anderson (Jay Tabb 85), Luke Hyam, Cole Skuse, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Daryl Murphy (Frank Nouble 85), David McGoldrick. Subs not used: Elliott Hewitt, Tyrone Mings, Carlos Edwards, Jack Marriott.

Burnley: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Michael Duff, Jason Shackell, Ben Mee, Scott Arfield, Dean Marney (David Edgar 88), David Jones, Michael Kightly (Keith Treacy 82), Danny Ings, Sam Vokes. Subs not used: Alex Cisak, Kevin Long, Danny Lafferty, Brian Stock, Junior Stanislas.

Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire).

Attendance: 16,062.