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And then the game kicked off.
What followed was a thoroughly disappointing and dispiriting performance. The opening minutes were fairly even. The Burnley defence looked solid, and Bikey's return seemed to inspire confidence. Marvin Bartley was keen and eager, scurrying around purposefully, but an early warning sign was Danny Fox's booking for a foul on Adomah. The yellow card seemed harsh, but the Bristol City winger was to prove a handful all afternoon.
Burnley created chances. David James was called into serious action on several occasions, going full-length to turn aside a shot from Ross Wallace and then saving smartly at the feet of Marvin Bartley. Jamal Campbell-Ryce, City's exotically named forward, shot wide and set up a chance, which was headed over.
As the half wore on, Burnley seemed to lose confidence and cohesion. In a worrying precursor to even greater frailty, Bikey and Grant failed miserably to communicate on a cross which was scrambled away for a corner. Wade was not making the most of his recall. Jay Rod was having a quiet game, and more and more passes were going astray.
We were almost through to half time, when City scored. Adomah went past two defenders on the right with ease, crossed well, and Brett Pitman thumped the ball in, unhindered by any Burnley players. Pitman was known as "chicken" in his Bournemouth days because of his peculiar walk. Whatever his nickname, he had plenty to crow about in this game.
Eddie Howe made no changes for the start of the second half - a surprise. Bristol could have doubled their lead within five minutes, Adomah, far too easily, got in another good cross, but Maynard shot wide.
While the Clarets were only one-down, we were in with a chance. Bartley rose well to meet Wade's cross with a header that was dealt with comfortably enough by James. We did apply a bit of pressure as the game wore on. but we always looked vulnerable to a counter attack. Pitman and Maynard combined to create a good opening on 65 minutes, with Grant saving well.
City threatened a second goal, and it arrived - inevitably, it seemed - in the 70th minute, Chicken Pitman made this one, helped by defending which had to be seen to be believed. Pitman hit a pass over the top, nothing special, and Carlisle seemed to have it covered comfortably. However, his attempted ball back fell pitifully short, and Grant, trying to rush to get to it, fell over. Maynard, taking advantage of the fiasco, strolled round Grant and rolled the ball into an empty net.
And that was pretty much it. Delfouneso, on for Cork, looked classy and determined. He may be a loanee, but he seemed to want to show he could make an impact for Burnley.
Bristol City are not a particularly good side - but we managed to make them look like one. As I heard one of their fans say on the way out - "It was good to win - but they were a bit crap, weren't they?"
Sadly, he was right.