Clarets becoming a big draw

Last updated : 10 November 2010 By Tony Scholes
Jack Cork
Jack Cork really did score his first goal of the season
The teams that win the most games in any league are the best teams and conversely those that win the least number of games are the worst teams. Somewhere in between you get the teams that do neither very often and gather a large number of draws.

That's what's happening to us right now and again last night we've drawn a game that we should probably have had out of sight in the opening exchanges before ending it with a drab second half performance that at least brought us an equaliser and avoided a second successive home defeat.

We came home after two, on paper, creditable draws on the road and we needed a home win but again it was not to be and the one consolation is that we haven't dropped any further down what is becoming a very tight league.

Brian Laws made one change from the team that had drawn at Norwich with Jack Cork coming back in at the expense of Graham Alexander, but there was no sign of either team during the minute's applause for our former manager John Benson.

I was delighted that Burnley had decided to do something, unlike Norwich who thought the wearing of black arm bands was enough, but the way we do it at Burnley takes some believing. I'm no fan of the minute's applause but that's a personal thing and I know others do. I find it somewhat disrespectful and would much prefer a minute's silence.

Either way, I find it totally unacceptable that it is held before the players come out leading to it being interrupted by their arrival. Whoever came up with that nonsensical idea needs a serious rethink. It certainly killed what atmosphere there was last night stone dead.

Still, the roof could and should have been lifted in the opening three minutes as the Clarets stormed at the Doncaster defence. Within seconds of the kick off Wade Elliott was played through but he got his shot too close to Neil Sullivan whose touch on it was enough. It ran loose but defender Shelton Martis got their first to clear the danger.

I knew it was early and suspected it was in the first 30 seconds of the game but it was actually 16 seconds on the clock when Wade shot for what would have been the quickest Burnley goal in some time, probably since Robbie Painter's against Cardiff in 1992.

We can't point the finger at Wade or indeed any other Burnley player for the missed chance two minutes later. That was down to referee Dave Foster and his assistant who missed what had to be the most blatant hand ball inside the penalty box.

We won't see a clearer penalty all season but somehow the official failed to give it as former Claret Wayne Thomas well and truly got away with it.

The incredible start continued. It was virtually one way traffic and we were going through their defence like a knife through butter. Surely it was only a matter of time before the first goal came.

It was too, but incredibly at the other end where they hadn't troubled us. The prophet of doom to my left predicted we'd go and concede a soft one and that's exactly what we did. I think it was John Oster who got in a cross from the right that Cork got to with his left foot.

He hit it onto the foot of the post and the ball bounced so invitingly for James Hayter that he had the simplest of tasks to score.

'Burnley 0 Doncaster 1' and even the most biased visiting supporter must not have been able to believe it. Surely we weren't now in for a difficult night.

It certainly had an effect on our play for a period. That bright start didn't continue as we struggled to get to grips with the shock goal. Doncaster might even have carved out another chance but thankfully a poor ball in cost them.

Then, eventually, we got our second wind, but it was very much like the first one and didn't, despite the chances, lead to a goal. Martin Paterson should perhaps have done better when played in by Jay Rodriguez and then referee Foster did manage to get his second easy decision correct.

This time the player trying to autograph the ball was Dean Shiels as he jumped and just about managed to get both hands on the ball. Some suggested that it was outside the box but television pictures show it to be clearly inside and not even close.

It was, for me, just as clear as the earlier one but this time we needed to score it to draw level. Chris Eagles was back on duty with Grezza on the bench. He's netted successfully previously against Hull, Sheffield United and Barnsley, three Yorkshire clubs, but this time Sullivan went the right way and saved comfortably.

You were thinking it might not be our night and that was highlighted even more so almost immediately with another gilt edged chance. Throughout that first half I thought the link up down the right with Eagles and Tyrone Mears was our most likely source and the two linked superbly as Eagles played in the full back.

There were screams for Mears, still to find the net for Burnley, to shoot but he got it absolutely right as he came in from the right before playing the ball back for Jay Rod and what looked the simplest of chances. Jay's shot from around ten yards out was on target but he managed to find a defender who I'm not sure knew much about it.

Another chance gone and still behind and just as we were preparing to go in at half time at 0-1 it nearly became 0-2. Hayter should have scored again after a cross from the right but incredibly he failed to get a touch on the ball.

Overall, I thought we'd done more than well enough in that first half. We'd created enough chances to win a league, admittedly against what has to be the worst side defensively I've seen in some time. I thought the scoreline was unjust and I expected we'd come out in the second half and put things right.

What we did do was come out for the second half with Chris Iwelumo on for the injured Martin Paterson and we came out and turned in a 45 minutes that was nowhere near the level of the first half and, quite frankly, not acceptable for a side with designs on pushing into the top six.

We lost the tempo and we lost the movement of the first half and the determination to play the ball up to Iwelumo far too often had a really negative effect. We'd been creating chances in the first half, almost at will it seemed, but that wasn't the case in the second half and our only real opportunities came from set pieces.

Thankfully, from one such set piece just past the hour, we drew level. A left wing corner taken by Eagles was met by Clarke Carlisle. He'd headed wide from the previous corner but this time got his header just right, down and in the bottom corner.

James O'Connor was there to keep it out but Cork followed up to head home the rebound for his first goal of the season. Now I say Cork, and it was, but when I jumped up to celebrate I was convinced it was Michael Duff. "It's Cork," I was told but I had the last laugh when the announcer informed us it was indeed Duff. I was so smug, I had it right.

We restarted and around a minute later we were officially informed that I was wrong and it was Cork all along. Having seen it again it's no wonder there was some confusion with, from my angle, Cork almost hidden behind Duff.

Still, Cork or Duff, it was 1-1 and now surely we'd go on and win this. It didn't happen. It just didn't happen. I don't recall us coming close to getting another goal but at the other end we were thankful to Grant for keeping out efforts from both Oster and Thomas.

And to make matters worse we lost Danny Fox to what looked like a bad injury. He'd had a nightmare at left back but he's been in some good form recently and we could do without losing him for a few games. Grezza came on and congratulations to him on becoming our oldest post-war player.

In the end we were, I suppose, grateful for the point but again we'd promised so much early in the game but then faded away and failed to win a game we really should have won.

Had I been the manager going in at half time and learning that Pato couldn't continue I think I would have made the same change. Thinking about it now I might have considered sending on Ross Wallace and using the more mobile Jay Rod in the central role. I certainly don't think the introduction of Iwelumo helped our cause at all. It's easy being wise after the event though.

It's so difficult to determine where our season is going. If we could have turned a good proportion of those draws into wins we'd be in a very healthy position. There again, going the other way, if we'd lost a good proportion of them we'd be down with the Prestons of this world.

SImply, we don't know where our season is heading. The positives from last night were that we were creating chances for fun in the first half and, despite the draw, we haven't dropped in the table and are still ever so close to the top six.

We have to start turning those draws into wins and it has to start very soon.

The teams were;

Burnley: Lee Grant, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Michael Duff, Danny Fox (Graham Alexander 74), Jack Cork, Wade Elliott, Dean Marney, Chris Eagles (Ross Wallace 89), Martin Paterson (Chris Iwelumo 45), Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, David Edgar, Leon Cort, Steven Thompson.

Doncaster: Neil Sullivan, Mustapha Dumbuya, Shelton Martis, Wayne Thomas, James O'Connor, James Coppinger, Brian Stock (Sam Hird 90), Dean Shiels (Mark Wilson 66), John Oster, James Hayter, David Healy (Steve Brooker 89). Subs not used: Gary Woods, Byron Webster, Wayne Fairhurst.
Yellow Card: Brian Stock.

Referee: Dave Foster (Newcastle).

Attendance: 13,655.