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The Clarets looked weary, drained of confidence and generally listless, as not for the first time this season they conceded the initiative to a mediocre side and made them look better than was actually the case. Not that that should detract from the Bantams’ performance. With a sprinkling of scholars and youngsters, (not something we ever see at Turf Moor), the visitors were more focused and determined than their hosts and the scoreline was a fair reflection of what happened on the pitch.
Showing that he does have a sense of humour after all, the manager stuck with Marlon Beresford in goal. Sticking with Saturday’s 4-4-2, Graham Branch replaced the blameless Gnohere at left-back along with Diallo, Davis and West in defence. The midfield of Briscoe, Cook, Weller and little was unchanged from Saturday, whilst Robbie Blake made way for Gareth Taylor to partner Ian Moore up front.
The opening stages of the contest followed the pattern of the first half against Grimsby as passes from Burnley’s players found claret and amber shirts just as frequently as they did their own colleagues. Burnley’s sloppiness and disjointedness may have been born of a lack of confidence, but it was beginning to frustrate the home fans.
Bradford took advantage of the Clarets lack of self-belief, and on 18 minutes they were ahead in controversial circumstances. A Gus Uhlenbeek cross to the far post found Claus Jorgensen unmarked and his awkward-looking header flew goalwards. Subsequent replays suggested that Drissa Diallo headed the ball out from off the line via the underside of the crossbar, but the linesman ruled that the whole of the ball had crossed the line. It may have been a bad break, but the fact remained that Burnley were one down.
Burnley huffed and puffed but were finding it difficult to get back into the game. Glen Little was trying to make things happen but found himself hamstrung by a lack of movement from his colleagues. Shortly after the goal, Paul Cook was injured following a heavy challenge and was replaced by Tony Grant. On 28 minutes, Andy Gray broke free down Burnley’s left. His eventual shot was charged down by Lee Briscoe.
It took Burnley over half an hour to register a serious threat to the Bantams’ goal. On 32 minutes, Taylor latched onto a Paul Weller flick only to drag his shot wide of the mark. Four minutes later, Arthur Gnohere on for the injured Drissa Diallo went close with a header from Little’s corner which keeper Aidan Davison only dealt with at full stretch. Other than that, a wayward Gareth Taylor effort on the stroke of half-time was the Clarets’ only other attack and for the second home game in succession, a large number of Burnley fans boo-ed their side from the field.
At the start of the second half the ineffective Lee Briscoe was replaced by Bradford old-boy, Robbie Blake as Burnley looked to add a bit of wit to their attack. Blake was immediately involved as it was his cross that Taylor headed down into Weller’s path, but the midfielder couldn’t get his effort away properly and the danger was cleared. On 50 minutes Little and Blake combined well down the left, and the former’s shot curled agonisingly over the angle of Davison’s post and bar. At least the Clarets seemed to be improving.
On 52 minutes Arthur Gnohere snuffed out a Bradford counter-attack with a fine challenge on Danny Forrest. Burnley went straight up the other end and the same linesman who allowed Jorgensen’s opener was involved in another moment of controversy. Robbie Blake’s shot was saved by Davison and the re-bound fell to Ian Moore who netted from three yards and turned to milk the applause. But the man with the flag had other ideas and for the second game in succession, Ian Moore had a goal ruled out for offside.
To be honest, this was just the latest in a string of baffling decisions made by the officials on the evening. And whilst poor officialdom should rarely be the excuse for losing a game, the actions of Mr. Webster and Co. certainly did nothing to help the flow of this game.
On the hour Burnley’s goal was again under threat as a dangerous Gus Uhlenbeek cross from the right found Gray whose header was wide of the mark. Indeed Bradford appeared to have ridden the storm and Moore’s disallowed goal was looking more and more as though it might be the game’s defining moment. Burnley briefly rallied on 73 when Gnohere’s knock-down from Little’s corner was met by Moore, but his acrobatic effort trundled harmlessly out of play.
One-nil looked to be the likely score as the home side had clearly run out of both energy and ideas. Yet there was to be more drama. On 89 minutes Arthur Gnohere received his second booking of the evening and was dismissed for a clumsy challenge in the right back berth. To add insult to injury, the Burnley defence had gone awol moments later, (does Dean West know where right-back is?) , and Gray was on hand to take advantage and wrap the points up for Bradford.
Another exhibition of mediocrity. Another three points dropped. For many the end of the season cannot come soon enough.