Brave fight from ten man Clarets
Last updated : 24 September 2006 By Tony Scholes
 | James O'Connor - outstanding game in midfield |
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They deserved every bit of the applause too after turning in a performance of grit, determination and no little skill and the 3-2 defeat was hardly fair on them after they had battled in the heat against all the odds for well over seventy minutes of the game.
We might even have got something from it but twice Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis denied Andy Gray in the closing stages, firstly getting down to his left to save a shot across him and then spectacularly turning a shot wide in stoppage time that initially looked to have beaten him to his left.
This was a defeat that was hard to take and a defeat that was hardly deserved but the real story started with sixteen minutes gone when captain Wayne Thomas got himself sent off in an incident whilst the game was stopped and it brought to an end a superb start to the game by the Clarets that had seen us go a goal up and come so close to a second.
Steve Cotterill, not surprisingly, named the same side that had won at Stoke a week ago and again we were in front very early. Steve Jones capitalised on some poor defending following a Michael Duff long throw which proved difficult for the Southampton defence. Jones latched onto the ball to hit home from about ten yards out.
Southampton wondered what had hit them as the Clarets came storming at them again and Duff combined with Wade Elliott down the right hand side before getting in a cross that Gifton Noel-Williams headed wide although Thomas looked better positioned coming in behind him.
Elliott and James O'Connor both got in shots as the Clarets dominated proceedings and with just over a quarter of an hour gone we won a free kick down the left hand side, but before it could be taken the whole complexion of the game changed.
Suddenly Southampton's Jhon Viafara went down in the crowded box, so dramatically that I thought he'd been the victim of some sniper in the crowd. Referee Darren Drysdale, who had an absolute shocker, had seen something and it appears this was one decision he got absolutely right. He called Thomas over, spoke to him, and then brandished the red card.
Thomas looked shocked, but he shouldn't have, this was the fourth he's seen since joining the Clarets in the summer of last year and the ninth of his career and he needs to start taking a long hard look at himself because this is just not good enough.
Forget the unnecessary theatricals from Viafara, Thomas' actions were not acceptable. Whether it was an elbow or a barge, whether it was at his opponent's chest or face, it makes no difference. He once again let everyone at Burnley Football Club down this afternoon and maybe he ultimately cost us the three points simply because he cannot keep himself under some sort of control.
So on a hot day we were down to ten men with just sixteen minutes gone, and the only saving grace was the fact that we were in front, but that wasn't to last for long. Within a minute of the restart Southampton were level and needless to say it was Grzegorz Rasiak who got his head to a ball in from the left to head past Brian Jensen.
Now we were up against it, but not one of the players left on the field was to let us down as they gave us everything right up to the final whistle. Poor Wade Elliott, playing against the team he supports, had to come off, sacrificed as we brought on Frank Sinclair to strengthen the defence.
Incredibly we didn't let Southampton get any sort of grip on the game, despite their equaliser, and we continued to take the game to them and just after the half hour we were back in front and how we deserved to be. This time a free kick worked to our advantage, and Andy Gray got on the end of Frank's kick to head the ball home into the bottom corner.
It was only in the last two or three minutes of the half that we were ever under any sort of pressure and the half time whistle blew with us in front and the crowd on its feet in appreciation.
Playing a 4-4-1 formation with Gray on the right and Gifton up front on his own, you might have expected us to struggle to get forward too much but that wasn't the case and right from the off in the second half we were back in the ascendancy.
The nearest we came to a third was from a break down the left hand side as Gifton got away. Maybe he should have seen Gray coming up on the right but instead he shot and only a Davis save at full stretch prevented us going 3-1 up.
How important that could have been because within a couple of minutes it was 2-2 when former Hearts player Rudi Skacel, another to have upset the home fans with his first half antics, hit a shot from outside the box into the corner to Jensen's left.
You sensed we might have a difficult time now with still over half an hour to go, it was always going to be difficult with a man short in temperatures hardly expected in late September. They did wrestle the initiative from us for a while but we looked comfortable enough for the most part and when their winner came it was hardly expected.
Just like their first, it was a Rasiak header, this time from a left wing cross and the Polish striker got above Frank in a goal that was a mirror image of his first. It was going to be difficult now but to our credit we came back at them and led to the two saves at the end that denied Gray.
At the final whistle, after a fourth home defeat of the season, you would have thought we'd won it judging from the reaction of the fans. We'll play far worse than this and win, and no doubt Southampton will have returned south very relieved to have got something from this game.
Before looking at the man of the match I have to comment on referee Drysdale. I'd warned about him yesterday and he turned in another shocker of a performance. No one could question his decision to send off Thomas, but his general handling of the game was appalling and he seemed quite unaware at times as to what was going on. This is a referee I hope we don't see again for some time.
Now to that man of the match and there were a number of candidates. My final four were Jon Harley, a player right in form right now, James O'Connor, scorer of our second goal Andy Gray and Gifton who worked so hard up front with little support and without a fair deal from Drysdale.
It has to be Jimmy O though, he's another player in recent good form but this was probably as good a game as he's had in a Burnley shirt. He seemed to be involved in everything we did going forward, was always available and helped put a stop to so many Southampton attacks. He was without doubt the most outstanding player on the field.
The result sees us seventh in the league, we would have gone second had we won, and now we have to wait until a week on Sunday before our game at Norwich. If we can take anything like this sort of form into that game, and if all the players can keep their discipline, then there is no reason at all why we cannot come home with a good result.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Wayne Thomas, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott (Frank Sinclair 27), James O'Connor, Micah Hyde (Alan Mahon 80), Steve Jones (Chris McCann 68). Subs not used: Stephen Foster, Kyle Lafferty.
Southampton: Kelvin Davis, Jermaine Wright, Chris Baird, Pele, Chris Makin, Djamel Belmadi (Nathan Dyer 78), Inigo Idiakez, Jhon Viafara, Rudi Skacel (Andrew Surman 84), Grzegorz Rasiak, Bradley Wright-Phillips (Kenwyne Jones 66). Subs not used: Kevin Miller, Gareth Bale.
Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire).
Attendance: 13,051.