|
Would we have deserved them? Not on your life, but these are the sort of points teams win when they are battling for a promotion or play off place whilst they are the sort of points teams in Norwich's position are constantly losing.
It's not the longest journey of the season in terms of miles, but it always seems to be so it was an early start for us with pick ups in Bradford and Lincolnshire on the way before eventually getting through the Carrow Road turnstiles ahead of kick off.
There were no surprises for us, the team was the same one that had played in each of the last two games against Wolves and Coventry and again Owen Coyle named the same five substitutes.
I've read elsewhere that we start the game in positive fashion, but if we did it escaped me. We made very little progress in the opening exchanges but it was noticeable that Norwich looked a very poor side with little creativity in them.
But it was the home side who were doing any threatening and we were thankful to Wade Elliott for getting back to keep out the former Blackpool Hooligan. It was only a short delay though before Norwich went in front. Mark Fotheringham played a ball into the box which was picked up to the right of goal. The low pass across goal was met by Jamie Cureton who gave Brian Jensen no chance.
It had been a strange opening from Burnley. We'd offered nothing really, we'd looked lethargic, there was no spark, and even off the pitch there was no activity in the technical area with neither Owen Coyle nor any of his staff getting out of their seats at any stage.
The next action came at the same time as a rumpus in the away end that led to me missing what, I am told, was a brilliant stop from the Beast. I don't know what had been going on some four rows in front of me but a typically officious Carrow Road steward decided to make something of it. It was all sorted and there was no need for him to hurl abuse at the Burnley fans. Anyway, I might have missed the save but I've taken the action on that as advised by the Norfolk police.
Our only opportunity had been from a free kick just over the half way line. It was a clear offence, we saw it from 100 yards away or so, the assistant on the far side saw it, and yet the referee five yards away missed it. Graham Alexander took it quickly and played in Martin Paterson, but the striker failed to get a touch on the ball and the chance was gone.
At 1-0 there was always the worry that a second Norwich goal would end it as a contest, and certainly there seemed no likelihood of a goal at the other end. Then, out of the blue, we produced a good passing move and drew level.
It was all worked down the right, involving Rhys Williams and Robbie Blake. It was Blake who played a 1-2 with Paterson before shooting. David Marshall couldn't hold the shot and it dropped ever so nicely for Steven Thompson who hit home from close range.
We were fortunate to be level and within two minutes we nearly weren't as Norwich missed a good opportunity to regain the lead. That was about it for the first half and I have to say I was thankful to be going in level, we'd hardly deserved to.
Having got through that first half and scored the equaliser, I was confident we'd come out a better, more determined side in the second half. The truth is it was worse than the first half.
We didn't create a single opportunity until stoppage time whilst at the other end of the pitch we were thankful once again to our goalkeeper. He made one routine save, made another that he failed to hold before recovering superbly, and made one terrific stop down to his right. I'm sure Norwich at that stage couldn't have believed they weren't in front, but we were still in the game at 1-1.
We made a double substitution, with Chris Eagles and Kevin McDonald coming on for Wade Elliott and Robbie Blake. That caused some arguments just in front of me to my left with some fans voicing their concerns at the withdrawing of Blake.
No matter what, the substitutions made absolutely no difference. Neither player was able to get into the game and somehow we managed to get to ninety minutes with a point intact.
Then, incredibly, we missed those two chances. Firstly Eagles got down the left and played in the perfect low cross. All it needed was a touch but there was no reaction from Paterson who really should have scored. And then, in the fourth and last minute of stoppage time, Eagles found himself clear in the box with only Marshall to beat. He blazed it over the bar and the last chance was gone.
It really would have been a rank injustice had we won, we were second best for all of the game and I thought this performance was as bad as anything we've seen all season. There was no spark, no energy, in fact no anything. We should be very thankful we got a point. This was certainly not two points dropped but very much one gained.
Man of the match? There's only one candidate. Without the saves from Brian Jensen we would have got what we really deserved, nothing.
The teams were;
Norwich: David Marshall, Jon Otsemobor, Gary Doherty, Jason Shackell, Jonathan Grounds, Lee Croft, Mark Fotheringham, Sammy Clingan, Wes Hoolahan (Ryan Bertrand 83), Carl Cort (Chris Killen 68), Jamie Cureton (Luke Daley 78). Subs not used: Stuart Nelson, Darel Russell.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Rhys Williams, Michael Duff, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott (Chris Eagles 62), Chris McCann, Robbie Blake (Kevin McDonald 63), Steven Thompson (Jay Rodriguez 82), Martin Paterson. Subs not used: Diego Penny, Joey Gudjonsson.
Yellow Cards: Michael Duff.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).
Attendance: 24,363.