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Indeed, the game started very brightly for Burnley. A series of attacks and a great number of corners spawned a lot of chances in the first 20 minutes, but the highlights were misses from Gudjonsson (which probably constituted the most exciting moment of the afternoon, as every Burnley fan was sure it had hit the back of the net and celebrated with gusto for rather a long time) and Unsworth and a great defensive block that stopped what seemed to be a goal bound header. Robbie Blake had a great opening spell, and was instrumental in Burnley's early heavy pressure.
However, after the first twenty minutes the game began to turn. Although Scunthorpe did not look like a good side, they were prepared to work and work for the game, and this alone seemed to be enough to push Burnley further and further out of the game. "The Iron" pressed and pressed but the biggest threat to Burnley's goal seemed to be Gabor Kiraly. As crosses and corners flew into the Burnley box he came out time and time again, but when he wanted to catch he was nowhere near and when he punched it fell at the feet of a Scunthorpe player. Only quick footwork from Michael Duff and a well judged header from the impressive debutant Clarke Carlisle ensured that Burnley went in level at the break.
We went in the second best side, with the midfield in particular leaving a lot to be desired. The central midfield pair of McCann and Gudjonsson, which changed the game in the second half last Saturday had been awful, completely dominated by their Scunthorpe counterparts. However, the first half turned to be a warm up for a Scunthorpe dominated second.
Very soon after the restart, Paul Hayes cut the ball back across the Burnley box for Martin Paterson to lash into the back of the net. Burnley had come out and effectively given the game to their opposition with some slack defending. Although the goal seemed to kick Burnley back into action, the final product was not to be seen. A lot of our attacks came in the form of more corners. Although at times it was hard to believe that moves hadn't ended with goals, including a mad scramble in the box and two amazing Robbie Blake runs in the space of a minute, as time went on it began to seem inevitable that Burnley weren't going to come back into this game.
Sure enough, in the 64th minute Scunthorpe broke from yet another Burnley corner, and the onrushing Kiraly could do nothing to stop Jim Goodwin hitting the back of the net from the edge of the box. It was about at this time that Joe Murphy in the Scunthorpe goals began to take time wasting to a new level. Despite a telling off from the referee and a lot more than that from the great away support Murphy continued to waste time.
Soon after that, Ade Akinbiyi was brought on for Elliott, and considering the substitution 7 minutes earlier seeing Lafferty on for Harley Burnley now had all 4 strikers on the field. If anything this seemed to damage Burnley's chances of scoring, as Blake moved on to the left with Lafferty on the right. When chasing two goals in 25 minutes playing Robbie Blake out of position is never a good idea. When he's being played out of position to accommodate Akinbiyi it seems positively foolish. Akinbiyi wasted chances and possession and added very little to the Burnley attack.
Still, however, Burnley pressed. It did seem like the ball just wasn't falling for us and the luck just wasn't there. However, as the final whistle blew there was both a grim acceptance and a bitter disappointment. We'd come to a side who offered nothing but passion and failed to impose on them the same stylish football that took us past West Brom - instead we went back to the hit and hope football that no football fan wants to see.
On the whole a disappointing loss from Burnley, but it certainly wont stop dreams of better things. Clarke Carlisle played a great game at the back and gets my man of the match award, Blake showed touches of the brilliance every Burnley fan knows and loves and Kyle Lafferty's heart-on-sleeve play and surging runs went some way to showing why we aren't selling.
So, while it is disappointment today, we can look forward to next weekend and hope for more free-flowing, smooth, attacking football in the home game against Q.P.R.