It's the first time we've scored five goals in a league game since beating Forest 5-0 in March 2009 and the only downside was the attendance of 13,265 was the lowest for a league game at Turf Moor since that previous demolition of Forest brought in only 13,055.
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| First Turf Moor league goal since Feb 2009 for Chris McCann |
On that night Jay Rodriguez was one of the goalscorers and he was headlining last night after hitting a brace for his first two league goals of the current campaign. He headed home the first two and from that moment on there really was no way back for a shockingly poor Nottingham Forest side and their beleaguered manager Steve McClaren.
Ross Wallace and Chris McCann added to Jay's goals in the first half whilst leading scorer Charlie Austin wasn't going to miss out and completed the scoring in the second.
With Junior Stanislas passed fit there it was no surprise when the news came through that Eddie Howe was going with the same starting eleven as had played so much better against Southampton, and with Keith Treacy still not ready it was the same five substitutes.
A quick look at the Forest team showed plenty of experience but also included the name Chris Gunter which is enough to light up the life of any Claret. Gunter was the Spurs right back torn apart by Robbie Blake in the Carling Cup and just a few weeks later he made his Forest debut at left back in that 5-0 game when he was similarly dealt with by Wade Elliott. He was all set for another interesting night, albeit one that wasn't to last as long as he might have expected.
The game kicked off with no sign of the former England coach in the technical area. It was suggested that he likes to watch from the stand, others suggested it was because Burnley don't do umbrellas and cappuccinos on the Bob Lord Stand touchline.
Recently we've been conceding goals very early in games and it really does put you on the back foot. The game plan can go out of the window before you've really got started. Here we turned the tables completely and took command right from the start.
There were less than five minutes on the clock when Jay Rod's close range header hit the net. It was a goal that owed just as much to Junior Stanislas and Austin. It was Stanislas who got in the cross from the left that Austin expertly headed back across for Jay to score, a favour returned from Saturday when Charlie was on the end of Jay's header back.
That really lifted Turf Moor and Stanislas in particular was having a good start against Gunter so it was no surprise when it was from down that side we created the second goal just ten minutes later. Again Junior got the better of the Forest full back; this time his cross was met by Jay who got ahead of his defender to head home past Forest's Camp goalkeeper.
This game was never one way traffic and that's something we shouldn't forget. Forest had chances; some good chances, but they contrived to miss most of them. The first of those chances came soon after our second goal when Wallace lost possession which led to a cross that Ishmael Miller should surely have scored from.
Even so, Forest were second best and McClaren suddenly appeared on the touchline having come down from the directors' box. He received a 'Megson at Bolton' or 'Laws at Burnley' type reception from the away fans in the cricket field stand.
There seemed to be some heated debate going in but eventually he found the culprit and hauled off Gunter, replacing him with Robbie Findley whilst the manoeuvring of the rest of his players was extended as any Government reshuffle.
The arguments continued on the bench as they sat and watched Burnley's third just a couple of minutes later, and no surprise it came via a cross from the left wing, this time from a corner. Stanislas took it and Andre Amougou fired at goal. It was blocked but only as far as McCann who made no mistake from close range.
The captain, as good as anyone on the pitch in this game, is right back in form and this was his first league goal at Turf Moor since he scored our first in that horrible 4-2 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday in February 2009.
3-0 up; it almost seemed like a dream, and we retained that three goal cushion right up to the last couple of minutes of the half thankfully as Forest missed two more golden opportunities. Then, just to put some icing on top of the first half cake, we got number four.
Wallace latched on to the ball around the half way line and moved forward. He stepped inside a defender and from just outside the box placed a left footer right into the bottom corner to Camp's right.
Half time: Burnley 4 Nottingham Forest 0.
The interval brought it's questions.
When did Burnley last score four goals in the first half of a game? The answer to that was against Watford in April 2003. In that game we were 5-4 down in a game we eventually lost 7-4.
When were Burnley last four goals up at half time? I think this could have been the game against Chester City in February 1993. It was 4-0 at half time and we went on to win 5-0.
The interval was also quite funny as the Forest players were ordered out early only to find the pitch full of kids. They were booed whilst the kids, I think benefiting from our big lead, were cheered.
As is often the case with such a lead, we lost our way a bit in the second half and only came to life once Forest had pulled one back. Miller robbed David Edgar far too easily and this time made no mistake.
Our response was Marvin Bartley opting to shoot over the bar when he perhaps should have played in Rodriguez but for the pessimists in the ground the alarm bells then rung when Forest went down and hit the woodwork.
Suddenly that half time lead wasn't looking quite as secure as it had, and as it should have been, but thankfully we put the game to bed with a fifth. Brian Easton hoisted over a cross beyond the far post for Austin to loop a header over Camp and in.
Wes Morgan cleared but the officials decided it had crossed the line. There have been strong suggestions that they got it wrong and that Morgan had cleared but who cares?
That was the cue for the substitutions and one of our subs, Zavon Hines, was oh so close to getting number six. Played in, he dinked the ball over Camp only for Morgan to get back and clear off the line before Forest ended the game by having one shot saved by Grant and then hitting the woodwork again.
Another Forest goal would have been no more than a poor consolation from a shocking performance but we do need to be aware of just how many chances they created in this game despite playing so poorly.
But let's look at the positives. We scored five goals, could have had more and, attack wise, played as well as we've done in some considerable time. That was the sort of performance that we've been waiting, the sort of performance that has been lacking. Long may it last. The opposition for the remainder of the season might not be as poor as this Forest team but teams will struggle with us if we play like that.
The teams were;
Burnley: Lee Grant, Kieran Trippier, Andre Amougou, David Edgar, Brian Easton, Ross Wallace, Marvin Bartley (Alex MacDonald 80), Chris McCann, Junior Stanislas (Zavon Hines 76), Charlie Austin (Dean Marney 76), Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Jon Stewart, Ben Mee.
Nottingham Forest: Lee Camp, Chris Gunter (Robbie Findley 27), Luke Chambers, Joel Lynch, Wes Morgan, Clint Hill, Jonathan Greening, Guy Moussi, Andy Reid (Radoslaw Majewski 45), Matt Derbyshire (Lewis McGugan 75), Ishmael Miller. Subs not used: Paul Smith, Marcus Tudgay.
Yellow Card: Luke Chambers.
Referee: Eddie Ilderton (Tyne & Wear).
Attendance: 13,265 (including 551 Nottingham Forest fans).