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Be Proud, be so very Proud
Steve Cotterill came to my rescue though when he took the players into a huddle and told them they were not leaving the pitch with their heads down but with them held high because that’s what they deserved.
Steve, it worked, and it lifted us in the stands as well as we allowed our lads to take the applause on a night when with just a bit of luck we would have taken another Premiership scalp – and this time the one that means more to us than any other.
We haven’t beaten them, the long wait for a win against them will be a little bit longer, but this certainly wiped away some of the memories of four years ago as we gave them the fright of their lives. They will know just how lucky they are to go through.
We came within just a few minutes of taking them to extra time, they didn’t look like scoring and I was really beginning to believe that we could do it before that cruel late winner came.
There was good news for us ahead of the game with both Frank Sinclair and Micah Hyde passed fit and they came straight back in for Lee Roche and Graham Branch who took seats on the bench.
We didn’t start particularly well but the first real action saw Blackburn’s Robbie ‘Lily’ Savage booked for a foul on Tony Grant. I wonder just what sort of action referee Howard Webb would have taken had it been the other way round, for certain Savage could well have gone for it.
He’d done his job though and although Grant was to carry on for much of the night, and he turned in another excellent performance, he struggled with the injury he sustained.
Savage of course made no further impression the game because once booked he is unable to risk going round niggling and trying to referee the game.
That start saw most of the play heading towards our goal but they failed to really trouble us other than a couple of long range shots that were easily dealt with. We defended well and eventually started to get a foothold into the game but just past the half hour mark disaster struck.
John Oster was pulled up for a very harsh handball decision and the resultant free kick was only half cleared. After one effort was blocked the ball fell to Tugay some 25 yards out and his shot was causing us no problems at all until a vicious deflection form Micah Hyde left Brian Jensen with no chance as it went into the corner to his left.
We didn’t let it bother us though and started to play the better football and it was Micah who brought us back into it with a stunning strike, a left foot volley from the right hand corner of the box that gave Friedel not a hope.
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The second half was very similar to the first in that Blackburn started the stronger but then faded away and in desperation manager Mark Hughes made some desperate substitutions.
He took off Paul Gallagher and having watched him for over a game and a half I wonder just how on earth he comes close to getting a game in a Premiership side. He was replaced by Jay Bothroyd but the tactical genius Hughes had to take him off after just twenty minutes.
As the Clarets grew in confidence you sensed that this Blackburn team didn’t have a goal in it and as the Burnley fans lifted the Clarets so the home fans started to turn on their side and even the monotonous drummer gave it a rest.
Steve Cotterill finally had to bring Grant off and the way Blackburn had gone for him suggested that Jose Mourinho and Nigel Worthington were not too far from the truth with their comments on their physical approach.
Extra time beckoned but then disaster struck with a goal that really should have been cut out as Morten Gamst Pedersen was able to hit a rising shot into the top corner by Jensen’s near post.
It was so, so cruel and we really didn’t deserve it but there was to be no way back and our FA Cup run was over.
There were some very good individual performances in a good team performance with the two central defenders in top form along with Tony Grant and Micah Hyde in midfield. Hyde, the first Burnley player to score at Ewood since Derek Scott in 1983, gets my vote and that’s without taking the goal into account. I thought we missed him at Preston on Saturday and this performance showed just why.
Down and dejected it was difficult to give the players the applause they so richly deserved. Steve Cotterill sorted that out and that huddle lifted both players and fans – it was right that they left to a standing ovation (we’d stood all night in any case), it was the least they deserved.
They had done us proud and although beaten it was somewhat easier to leave Ewood than it was last time.
We are getting closer to them make no mistake about that – and they know it. We’re beaten tonight but be proud, be so very proud.
The teams were,
Blackburn: Brad Friedel, Lucas Neill, Aaron Mokoena, Ryan Nelsen, Nils-Eric Johansson, Brett Emerton, Lily (Lap dancer 45), Tugay, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Paul Dickov, Paul Gallagher (Jay Bothroyd 59, Steven Reid 79). Subs not used: Peter Enckelman, Craig Short.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Gary Cahill, Frank Sinclair, Mo Camara, John Oster, Micah Hyde (Lee Roche 90), Tony Grant (Graham Branch 83), Pete Whittingham, Jean-Louis Valois, Ian Moore. Subs not used: Danny Coyne, Paul Scott, Joel Pilkington.
Referee: Howard Webb (Rotherham).
Attendance: 28,691.