Clarets in play off position

It was also a win we fully deserved after creating enough clear cut chances to have won by more and only referee Matt Messias will know how on earth we didn’t go into the half time interval with a 2-0 lead after he disallowed one of the most stunning goals seen at Turf Moor in many a year.

We didn’t make the brightest of starts and we conceded possession far too frequently and far too easily in the early part of the game against one of the biggest teams I’ve seen play at Burnley for some time. It enabled Leicester to get forward but much of it was high balls into the box and the two strikers, Dion Dublin and Clarets Mad favourite Mark de Vries, weren’t able to make much headway.

We weren’t able to put Leicester under too much pressure but on the occasions we did get forward there were some good balls went into their box, notably from the right hand side where Michael Duff and Wade Elliott were linking up well, and one Elliott cross in particular saw Ade Akinbiyi head straight into the arms of keeper Rab Douglas.

The same two players combined again with Ade getting in another header before he came within inches of getting on the end of another right wing cross with the visiting defender just doing enough to deflect it away.

After the nervy start we were very much in the ascendancy and should definitely have taken the lead after winning a free kick on the right hand side. The kick was taken by Garreth O, who had a disappointing afternoon, and dropped invitingly for John McGreal. He looked very much the central defender as his shot missed the target when he really should have given us the lead.

That lead came shortly afterwards when Duff and Elliott again combined well leading to Duff getting a good cross into the box. This time John Spicer was on the end of it to head home into the bottom corner.

Within two minutes we were two up, or surely should have been, with that Ade stunner. He nicked the ball off a defender and from the tightest of angles hit an absolute rocket in the top corner, and right in front of the Leicester fans as well. It was an awesome finish but incredibly referee Messias ruled it out for what he saw as a foul.

It brought the first half to an end and was certainly the talking point at the half time interval – no one quite sure just how the goal could have been ruled out.

With the second half only minutes old Ade had another chance, this time created by Spicer who played a superb through ball to him. If Ade had chipped it over the advancing keeper it would have been 2-0 but he shot on the ground and it was saved.

If we thought that was going to prompt a barnstorming second half from the Clarets we were mistaken and Leicester started to come more into the game and Lee Grant, who was having a quiet debut, was called upon to make a smart save.

Despite this we twice more came so close to wrapping the game up. The first came following a free kick which led to Micah Hyde getting in a shot. The shot was deflected by John McGreal and turned in by Keith Lowe. The assistant’s flag went straight up for offside.

In our next attack Ade again came close after being put clear by James O. His shot was another powerful strike that the keeper tipped onto the post, and incredibly we didn’t even get the corner as the referee pointed for a goal kick.

We really should have been more than a goal up by now and had we got a second it would have saved us the anguish of the last ten minutes or so as Leicester came forward and we defended deeper and deeper. We made substitutions to tighten things up but it just led to Leicester getting forward even more and twice we were thankful to Grant for good saves.

There were some worrying moments, and even the keeper twice came forward for corners, but the only problems he caused were for himself as he had to get back quickly.

It all finally came to an end and a fourth successive win, the first time we’ve achieved that since the early part of the 2002/03 season. I thought overall we deserved it, we created enough chances to win it and I do still feel we were robbed of that second goal. We can certainly play better than that but sometimes wins have to be scrapped for and that’s what we did.

There were some good individual performances and it is impossible to report on this game without a special mention for Ade Akinbiyi – the Leicester fans can mock him all they like but I’m glad he’s playing for us and not against us. He could so easily have added another hat trick this afternoon.

But my man of the match award goes to Michael Duff who I thought had his best game of the season today. He defended well, his main task, but alongside a much improved Wade Elliott he provided us with a good attacking option down the right hand side that brought the winning goal.

I don’t know where we are going to finish the season but there’s one thing for certain, it is much better looking at the league table right now than it was a few weeks ago.

The teams were,

Burnley: Lee Grant, Michael Duff, Keith Lowe, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott (Duane Courtney 84), John Spicer, Micah Hyde, James O’Connor, Garreth O’Connor (Chris McCann 80), Ade Akinbiyi. Subs not used: Danny Karbassiyoon, Nathan Dyer, Gifton Noel-Williams.

Leicester: Rab Douglas, Alan Maybury, Patrick McCarthy, Patrik Gerrbrand, Nils-Eric Johansson (Danny Tiatto 54), Momo Sylla (Stephen Hughes 76), Joey Gudjonsson, Patrick Kisnorbo, Ryan Smith, Dion Dublin (Elvis Hammond 63), Mark de Vries. Subs not used: Richard Stearman, Joe Hamill.

Referee: Matt Messias (York).

Attendance: 12,592.