Clarets reach sixty points as season comes to an end

Last updated : 09 May 2005 By Tony Scholes
Micah Hyde - missed a penalty but otherwise played well
It was an early start from Burnley to get down there for a 1 o’clock kick off but at least closed motorways don’t cause too many problems in the early hours of a Sunday morning and we all reached the Den with plenty of time before kick off.

Perhaps it would have been better to get there a bit later which would have meant missing all the pre-match presentations that were held in front of three virtually empty home stands with hardly a Millwall fan in site until they were all done.

The partially deaf Theo Paphitis decided to honour us with his presence on the pitch for his last game in as chairman before he gets himself back into women’s underwear but he must have been embarrassed at the poor reception.

When they finally decided there was a football match to be played we learned that Steve Cotterill had made one change from the side that had beaten Plymouth with Michael Duff replacing the very disappointing Dean Bowditch who will now return to Ipswich.

Any assumption that it would a straight swap were dispelled when we lined up, in all white, to find that we had gone with three central defenders, Gary Cahill on the right and John McGreal on the left, either side of Frank Sinclair.

With Branch up front it was basically a 5-3-2 formation and it was Burnley who started much the better of the two sides and defending the away end we saw very little of the ball as we took the game to Millwall.

Not as though we were looking particularly dangerous but there were a couple of half chances that came to nothing, both of them following surging runs by Mo Camara. Yes Mo was getting abuse, but no it was nothing more than booing on this occasion, not as though the partially deaf departing chairman can tell the difference.

It was via Mo that we got our best chance of the half when Graham Branch was fouled by Kevin Muscat (of all people) and referee Curson, who had a less than impressive afternoon, pointed to the spot.

I’m still trying to work out who the penalty taker is since Ian Moore left the club, it was Valois last week and this time it was Micah Hyde. His effort was somewhat similar to Moore’s in that he put it to the keeper’s left and the save was not too difficult.

It was certainly as close as we got during the first half, certainly a lot closer than Millwall got with Danny Coyne not having a save to make and we went in at half time level at 0-0.

The teams might not have been level though with Millwall captain Muscat somewhat fortunate to get just a yellow card for a poor challenge on Mo in first half stoppage time. He was lucky to be playing in any case, it still beggars belief that he didn’t end his career in this country with a red card against Preston a couple of weeks ago that would have left him suspended today.

There were no changes at half time and the second half got away to a very quiet start and it never really livened up although Muscat did get in their best effort of the afternoon which was headed clear by John McGreal.

Millwall did make a chance ten minutes in when they brought on Belgian striker, and former Burnley target, Bob Peeters. Now I’m not sure whether the home fans weren’t taking the micky or not but they cheered Peeters’ every touch but judging by this performance I would suggest there was definitely some sarcasm from the home fans. I’m rather pleased we never did sign him.

As Burnley played out the match without changes we were subjected to around twenty minutes of Dennis Wise and then had to put up with a standing ovation from Muscat before his deportation back to Australia.

It was hardly riveting stuff and was what most would call an end of season game with neither side having anything to play for.

We were comfortable throughout and a second successive clean sheet looked likely all afternoon, we were the better side in midfield where Micah Hyde was my man of the match, but I think it is fair to say that the Akinbiyi/Branch partnership up front was pretty woeful.

We’ve scored a paltry twelve goals away from home this season in the league and certainly in the second half we never looked like adding to that. Work is without doubt needed in that area before we kick off again next season.

But we’ve finished just below half way, we’ve reached sixty points, and we’ve got something to build on. All we need to do now is build and I’m sure we’ll do that.

The teams were,

Millwall: Graham Stack, Kevin Muscat (Mark Quigley 86), Darren Ward, Matt Lawrence, Mark Phillips, Marvin Elliott, Peter Sweeney, Jody Morris (Dennis Wise 69), David Livermore, Paul Ifill, Ben May (Bob Peeters 56). Subs not used: Josh Simpson, Paul Robinson.

Burnley: Danny Coyne, Michael Duff, Gary Cahill, Frank Sinclair, John McGreal, Mo Camara, Micah Hyde, Tony Grant, James O’Connor, Ade Akinbiyi, Graham Branch. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Lee Roche, Dean Bowditch, John Oster, Jean-Louis Valois.

Referee: Brian Curson (Leicester).

Attendance: 12,171.