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I arrived at my seat just in time for kick off and as I scanned the field I saw that Owen Coyle had named an unchanged side to the one that beat Manchester United in midweek. The crowd was just as up for it as they were for our first home game and I truly believe that they will be our 12th man this season. I were feeling surprisingly calm which I think was due to the fact that we had registered our first points of the season and I definitely felt that we could get at least a point here.
The game kicked off and we roared out of the blocks, playing with our short, fluid, possession football that has won us so many admirers since Owen Coyle took charge. After just one minute we had our first chance. A great cross from Chris McCann from the left was met with an excellently positioned and timed header from Martin Paterson which had Tim Howard beaten only to be denied by the crossbar! Everton failed to clear their lines and Tim Howard was forced into a save from a Steven Fletcher effort.
My head in my hands I couldn't believe the almost perfect start we nearly had. The crowd grew with anticipation and roared louder after the Paterson chance and two minutes later we were nearly rewarded. An identical cross, this time from the right through Wade Elliot was again met by a Paterson header only for him to glance the ball wide of the post. Everton fans were silenced by our positive start, Burnley fans buoyed as we spurred our team on.
I have heard people saying that both our games at Turf Moor this season the away fans hardly sang but to be fair, such is the noise we have created and will create this season; we won't hear the away fans much in any game!
Burnley dominated the opening stages and another great move ended in the ball falling to Steven Fletcher in almost the exact same position as Robbie Blake's spectacular goal in midweek only for him to fire wide as the Longside in which I was sat let out an almighty groan.
Everton looked like they started to settle and their first real attack resulted in a corner. The corner was taken and I had my heart in my mouth as Rodwell beat Alexander to the ball but Beast produced a good save low down.
We weren't kept waiting for long though and the mighty Clarets launched another attack with a Robbie Blake cross in towards Wade Elliott who couldn't finish but the ball fell to Fletcher who held the ball up and played the ball back to Elliott on the edge of the box who dropped his left shoulder and curled expertly left footed around the helpless goalkeeper and into the far corner. The crowd erupted as Burnley took the lead and it was no more than we deserved!
Half time came and I looked at the scoreboard to my left and what a sight it was to see Burnley 1-0 Everton! I went to check on the cricket before re-taking my position for the second half.
The second half started and we picked up where we had left off attacking Everton and creating some good chances and for the first ten to fifteen minutes I would say that if anyone was going to score it was us. McCann and Elliott bombing forward at every opportunity and we looked like a side with no fear. I looked around and all I could see were smiles on faces and rightly so! Our proud team were competing and more than holding our own in the England's top division again and I was enjoying every minute of it.
Everton gradually started to get back into the game and they had most of the possession but it was all in front of our defence who were never really stretched all afternoon but I did feel that a goal from them could be on its way. My thoughts weren't far off the mark as a major talking point occurred with around 15 minutes to go.
Tony Hibbert raced into the box and he went down under a challenge from Chris McCann and the referee gave a penalty and I have to say from where I was sat it looked a certain penalty although replays have proved me wrong (and my friends right I may add) as it was a certain dive.
Justice was done as Louis Saha stepped up to fire his penalty wide of the post much to the delight of our fans! For the second time in a week Burnley had opened the scoring midway through the first half and the opposition had missed a penalty! The footballing gods are definitely on our side at the moment and there was a feeling of Déjà vu about this match that would say we would go on to win 1-0 again.
I was looking at the scoreboard every minute and the last 8 minutes or so felt like a lifetime. Burnley made a substitution and Fernando Guerrero came on for Robbie Blake who earned a standing ovation from the Burnley faithful. This was the moment that I personally had been waiting for. Within minutes of him coming on he had received the ball from a great pass by McCann and he beat the first man and as everyone expected him to cross the ball he attempted the cheekiest of lobs over Tim Howard that only just dropped wide of the post.
The fourth official put his board up to reveal 4 minutes of added time just has he did in midweek which was met by groans from our fans and comments around me such as "Where has he got four minutes from?" echoed my thoughts exactly.
Everton had one last chance with a free-kick from 30 yards. That didn't even beat the wall which summed up their afternoon and with that the referee blew for full time.
Unbelievable is the word! Before the start of the season we all thought that we would struggle to have three points on the board at this stage let alone six and another team left Turf Moor with their tails between their legs. If I were to pick a man of the match today, as hard as it would be I would go for Stephen Jordan. He defended superbly and I have doubted him many times since he has joined us but today he hardly put a foot wrong all game.
Six points from three games and 7th place in the Premier League. Sounds good doesn't it? And long may it continue! Burnley are back!