Don't stop me now

Last updated : 06 April 2008 By Tony Scholes
Joey Gudjonsson
Joey Gudjonsson - had a long range shot saved by the keeper
'Cause I'm having a good time', the song continues and then comes the line 'I don't want to stop at all." But sadly just over one minute into the game it did stop and from then on there was nothing to enjoy and no reason for the Burnley fans to have a good time as we turned in yet another very disappointing performance on the road.

There really has been a shift from earlier in the season when, from Colchester in August to Wolves in December, we turned in a series of superb away shows and now we are starting to get accustomed to points being deservedly dropped and often against sides we would really need to be beating if we had promotion aspirations.

There were 48 seconds gone in this game when I jokingly said that at this stage in the home game we were two goals up, and just 13 seconds later we were behind and facing a sixth defeat in the last nine away games that have yielded just seven points.

As expected it was an unchanged line up and manager Owen Coyle resisted the temptation to put fit again Michael Duff on the bench and also named the same five substitutes who occupied the home bench last week in the win over Barnsley. However it was more of a 4-5-1 formation with Kyle Lafferty the one chosen to play up front.

We needed a win, we had to have a good time, even if it wasn't quite as good as the last time we were in Norfolk. But Dion Dublin's early goal dampened the enthusiasm even more than the stewards at a rare Championship ground that affords standing accommodation for home fans.

David Unsworth stopped for offside, but it wasn't and that allowed Jamie Cureton to go clear down the right hand side. Thankfully his cross was a poor one and found Steven Caldwell but the ball bounced back out to the right where Jon Harley chose not to bother getting anywhere near Darren Huckerby. This time the cross was better and Dublin was there to turn it in right footed with just 61 seconds gone. Quite how James O'Connor had come to be the player picking up Dublin in the six yard box is anyone's guess.

Cue dancing sheep - this is one ground where goal music has more than helped remove atmosphere. It was blasting out long before the ball had hit the net giving fans no chance whatsoever to celebrate the goal. How have we ever got to this?

To say I was disappointed to be a goal down so early is an understatement but some twenty minutes later I was delighted to be a goal down, or should I say delighted to be just a goal down as Norwich could have taken the game away from us during this period.

Another high ball into the box deceived goalkeeper Brian Jensen but Graham Alexander came to his rescue to head over the bar at the expense of a corner. But Jensen was often in the thick of the action. He'd opted to punch rather than catch but this time he was getting distance on his punches and clearing the danger.

It was a torrid period and Jensen was in the wars when he suffered an injury that proved to be a cut to the head. The game was held up for some time as he received treatment and changed shirt right in front of the standing area, and the home fans weren't happy at the delay.

You could understand it, it was one way traffic, and not long after this they really should have doubled their lead but somehow Darel Russell missed the chance right in front of goal.

Eventually we started to come into the game and goalkeeper David Marshall had to make a good save to deny Joey Gudjonsson who rifled in a shot from distance. That led to a good period for Burnley and twice just before half time we had very good chances. Both fell to Lafferty but he somehow failed to get a shot in with the first and then hit the next one wide of target.

A goal down at half time and in all honesty we couldn't complain. We had to turn things round in the second half, we just had to find two goals to keep our hopes alive.

Harley was having a difficult afternoon and he was beaten by Matty Patterson in the first real move of the half. Only Cureton will know how he missed the chance presented to him by Patterson. That should have been game over.

Eventually we made a change with Andrew Cole replacing Chris McCann who in all honesty had had a nightmare of a game. He played in a deeper role and on a couple of occasions played Lafferty in but the young striker was repeatedly getting caught offside.

Then came our chance as Lafferty was again put clear. It looked 1-1 all the way but Marshall got a touch on it and it went out for a corner. This really should have been the equaliser.

We made more substitutions and we had a lot of the play but you sensed there'd be no equaliser and I was always worried that they would break and get another. That's exactly what happened and Ched Evans turned O'Connor in the box to hit an angled shot past Alexander and Jensen.

Game over now, season over now, and you could hardly complain after this performance. I felt Norwich wanted it more than we did. Yes they needed the points but so did we and in all honestly they went exactly where they deserved to go.

This performance asked more questions rather than provide answers. We looked poor defensively, saw Norwich out man us and out do us in midfield, and there was never any real confidence that we might grab a goal.

When I reported from Wolves last December on the 3-2 win I said I was in dreamland. Since that day we've been nothing other than a bottom half of the table side and although we've flirted with the play offs we've never looked to have had the conviction to get in there. It's hard to believe now that just a calendar month ago we went to Hull above them in the league.

We've managed to extend the season until the beginning of April, but it is over now. There'll be no play offs and we'll be playing in this league next season for a ninth successive season. There are still four games to play before the curtain comes down and Owen Coyle can start making the changes he needs to turn us into a top six team.

I'd struggle to find a man of the match in all honesty from this game but I do have to have a word about referee Russell Booth. This was a referee who wasn't seemingly aware that he had to treat both sides in the same way, this was a referee who believed it was the done thing to continually favour the home side. His performance didn't have any effect on the result thankfully but it was totally unacceptable, a bit like our performance really.

The teams were;

Norwich: David Marshall, Jon Otsemobor, Jason Shackell, Alex Pearce, Ryan Bertrand, Darren Huckerby, Mark Fotheringham, Darel Russell, Matty Patterson, Dion Dublin (Gary Doherty 89), Jamie Cureton (Ched Evans 66). Subs not used: Mo Camara, Kieran Gibbs, Lee Croft.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Graham Alexander, Steven Caldwell, David Unsworth, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, James O'Connor, Joey Gudjonsson (Alan Mahon 69), Chris McCann (Andrew Cole 58), Robbie Blake (Ade Akinbiyi 77), Kyle Lafferty. Subs not used: Gabor Kiraly, Mark Randall.

Referee: Russell Booth (Nottinghamshire).

Attendance: 24,049.