We certainly enjoyed more possession of the ball than we'd done a week earlier; we scored a goal; we had other shots on goal and perhaps there was the odd positive with better performances from Chris McCann and Charlie Austin.
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| Keith Treacy - scored our goal |
Having said that, Middlesbrough are a good side who have just gone top of the league whilst Peterborough were anything but a good side and, despite their current position, I can see them being one of the strugglers this season.
The speculation over the previous couple of days was that Dean Marney would be replaced by Marvin Bartley but when the team was announced it was the same starting eleven that had won at Derby three weeks earlier and lost the Middlesbrough game.
What we needed was a steady start against a Posh side whose manager Darren Ferguson had indicated the day before how important an early goal could be for them. He said: "I'd love to see us take the lead with an early goal.
"It would relax us and I am sure getting in front would suit the way we like to play. We are suited to hitting teams on the break so the first goal could be crucial for us."
Getting through the first twenty minutes unscathed was the answer. If we could keep it at 0-0 during that time it could really frustrate a Peterborough side who had failed to score in any of their previous three games.
What we did get was just the opposite. We conceded in only the third minutes; came very close to conceding more, and we lost our goalkeeper to a groin injury forcing a substitution with only 17 minutes gone.
It was a shocking start for the Clarets and we really could count ourselves fortunate to come out of that opening period only one goal down.
That first goal really was a bad one to give away. It was nothing more than a ball played through but Emile Sinclair, getting his first start since moving from Macclesfield, was allowed to go between our two central defenders and score.
Brian Jensen had no chance and, as the home side celebrated their much wanted early goal, David Edgar pointed his fingers at Ben Mee whilst Mee did likewise at Edgar.
If you had trouble in deciding who was most at fault with that goal then when they went close again soon after it was very much Edgar with Mee coming to the rescue. He was too easily beaten and only an excellent goal line clearance from Mee kept it down to one.
They put a header just wide, another shot flew just off target. It was a shocking start from Burnley. Defensively we were all over the place and we'd hardly got into our stride in terms of attacking play, and before we did we had to make a change as Jensen, who had been absolutely faultless in the poor start, was forced off with a groin injury and replaced by Lee Grant.
Things got better because we started to get some possession of the ball and we started to put some pressure, for want of a better word, on Peterborough. But it was laboured. Like last week there was no tempo to it and very little movement but we did get some chances.
Jay Rodriguez forced a save from keeper Paul Jones after being set up by Ross Wallace. He also put another opportunity wide. McCann stung the goalkeepers hands with a long distance drive and Edgar forced him to tip over a header.
He was, at this stage, proving to be the busier of the two goalkeepers by some distance but they were all saves you would have expected him to make.
I suppose, given the words of Ferguson, it was all going to plan for them and it got even better too when Sinclair doubled his and Peterborough's tally with a second. The new boy robbed Edgar out on the touchline and came inside past Trippier and Mee before slotting home.
It was another awful goal to give away with the Canadian defender this time putting his head in his hands with the game looking to be moving out of our reach.
Right on half time we gave ourselves a lifeline. Jay Rod played the ball for Keith Treacy who hammered a right footer into the top corner of the net. It really was out of the blue and as referee Jock Waugh blew his half time whistle we must have gone in very thankful to be only one goal down.
The second half did see us enjoy a fair amount of the possession but in truth we rarely threatened to hurt them and I can't recall too many opportunities. Jones did tip one effort from Charlie Austin over the bar but the everlasting memory of the second half for me was the total lack of quality whenever we had the opportunity to get the ball into the box.
Junior Stanislas replaced Wallace but he was certainly no improvement. Peterborough, for the most part, looked comfortable, and they should have made it even more so with another couple of decent chances.
The best of them, and the best chance of the game, again fell to Sinclair. It was another error from Edgar that allowed him to run through with only Grant to beat. Whether Jensen is better than Grant or Grant is better than Jensen, a debate that runs and runs, I think most would consider Jensen to be the better in these situations. In truth, it didn't matter, he somehow managed to put his shot wide of the target.
Marvin Bartley replaced Dean Marney in the last change and we were almost forced to end the game with ten men when Ben Mee required treatment. It looked serious at first as the stretcher came on. He'd been knocked out but got to his feet and, after the obligatory walk to the touchline, was able to complete the game.
By then not even the most optimistic of Burnley fans were expecting a second goal and there was no doubting that Peterborough deserved this win.
This one goes alongside the performances against Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough in the 'unacceptable' column. That's three in six games. We cannot afford many more performances like this.
The two goalkeepers cannot be faulted for anything; Austin worked his socks off and I thought there were signs of McCann getting there. That's it for me; not one of the other 10 players on duty comes out with any credit at all. This was again simply not good enough.
The teams were;
Peterborough: Paul Jones, Mark Little, Ryan Bennett, Gabriel Zakuani, Craig Alcock, Lee Frecklington (Scott Wootton 85), Ryan Tunnicliffe, Grant McCann, George Boyd (Paul Taylor 77), Emile Sinclair, Lee Tomlin (Tommy Rowe 59). Subs not used: Joe Lewis, Daniel Kearns.
Yellow Cards: Scott Wootton, Paul Taylor.
Burnley: Brian Jensen (Lee Grant 17), Kieran Trippier, David Edgar, Ben Mee, Brian Easton, Ross Wallace (Junior Stanislas 61), Dean Marney (Marvin Bartley 72), Chris McCann, Keith Treacy, Charlie Austin, Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Andre Amougou, Zavon Hines.
Yellow Card: Ben Mee.
Referee: Jock Waugh (Sheffield).
Attendance: 7,901 (including 1,236 Clarets).