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And so here we were, with Burnley once again playing in Europe. A cosmopolitan mix of French and New Zealanders were getting a head start to the Millennium Stadium, amidst just a few English traversing the Severn Bridge into the principality, but thankfully our passports were not required.
In a season that has seen some excellent results away from home already, and a better than average points haul, the travelling Clarets must have been cautiously optimistic that their team could reverse a trend that had seen four consecutive defeats, as well as eight unanswered goals, at Ninian Park since Cardiff City were last elevated to the Championship. However, the Bluebirds fans had not seen a league victory on the green green grass of home since March, and so this was yet another reason to be hopeful.
Ninian Park is an old-fashioned football ground, and a rarity these days at this level of football, due to the large areas of terracing. However, the Welsh have tried to compensate for this by ameliorating the match day experience with the luxury of a large screen in one of the corners. A brand new stadium is supposedly in the offing, hence the temporary reprieve for the terraces. However, with numerous delays already for the new stadium project, it would be no surprise to one day see Cardiff City make the move just a short distance across to the home of Welsh rugby, particularly if they were to end this season with promotion to the top flight.
When the Burnley team was announced, there was just the one change, with Wade Elliott making way for David Unsworth who would make just his second league start. There were any number of theories as to how this might affect the formation, but in the end Burnley started 4-1-4-1, with Kiraly in goal, and a back four of Jordan, Caldwell, Carlisle and Alexander. Unsworth was then positioned just in front, with a further bank of four midfielders ahead of him. Blake began on the left wing, with Mahon and Spicer in the middle, and Lafferty on the right. Andy Gray was positioned in the lone striker role, with the hope that Blake and Lafferty would be able to push up and support him from the flanks. Jensen, Elliott, Akinbiyi, McCann and Harley had to be satisfied in their roles as bench warmers, at least at the start of the game.
Meanwhile Cardiff City had their two highest profile signings from the summer playing up front, namely Robbie Fowler and Jerrel Hasselbaink. A combined Premiership goal tally of almost 300, and still plenty of goals left in them at 32 and 35 years of age respectively, it is a threat that no team this season should underestimate. Former Burnley loanee Peter Whittingham was also belatedly promoted to Cardiff's starting eleven, due to Stephen McPhail being affected by illness in the warm-up.
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On more than one occasion, Robbie Blake and Kyle Lafferty swapped wings, but the Cardiff midfield was still dominant enough to prevent these two getting forward enough to support Andy Gray. John Spicer was having a solid game in the centre of midfield and looked like Burnley's best player for much of the first half. David Unsworth's role in front of the back four nullified the threat of Fowler and Hasselbaink, but a distinct lack of width appeared to be Burnley's main weakness. The Bluebirds were forced into a very early change on 23 minutes with Darren Purse replacing an injured Glenn Loovens, but Purse is an experienced defender and proved to be more than a match for Andy Gray.
Definitive chances at either end were few and far between. A good shot on goal from Robbie Blake went just over the bar, and later Peter Whittingham was unable to convert a ball that fizzed across the Burnley box, but it appeared for a long time as if the first half would remain goalless. However, with just nine minutes to go until half-time, the deadlock was broken, and it was poor marking that allowed Joe Ledley to ghost in like a boy from nowhere and head the ball down like a Thunderball past a helpless Gabor Kiraly to break the deadlock. Such was the amount of space in the box, that it was almost like the Clarets defence had told the Cardiff midfielder to 'Help Yourself'.
Ledley could easily have made it two with a shot from distance shortly afterwards, which would have given a very unfair reflection of the first half, but thankfully a fine save from Kiraly denied him this time. Following one extra minute, and then the half-time whistle, the Burnley players returned to their dressing room to ponder the lack of marking for the goal as well as the isolation of Andy Gray.
As the half-time break came to an end, we had rather a novel sight. No - not an announcement that England had beaten Australia in the Rugby World Cup (who do Wales play in the quarter-finals, incidentally?) but Steve Cotterill taking decisive action and making all of his available substitutions in one fell swoop. And so on came Ade Akinbiyi, Chris McCann and Wade Elliott, in place of Kyle Lafferty, Alan Mahon and David Unsworth. The decision to start Andy Gray as a lone striker with Kyle Lafferty and Robbie Blake on either side of a midfield four had left Andy Gray rather isolated up front for much of the first half, and so the changes gave rise to a more traditional 4-4-2 formation. The intention must have been to address that issue, as well as utilising the steel of McCann in midfield and the trickery of Elliott on the wing.
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And address it, it did. Burnley began the second half with a renewed sense of purpose, and it was no surprise that after a good spell of pressure, Ade Akinbiyi headed the Clarets level from close range on 50 minutes, after getting on the end of a Stephen Jordan cross. I recall saying that if Burnley could keep things steady for the next ten minutes or so, that we would have an excellent chance of going on to win the game, and so it was a pleasant surprise when Andy Gray almost made it 2-1 within two minutes, when he turned and shot only to see Michael Oakes palm the ball away from goal.
However, the surprise turned to disappointment and the tight ten minutes that we had all been hoping for did not materialise. Cardiff began to push more and more into Burnley territory and it was they who took the lead on 55 minutes courtesy of Paul Parry, when he was a allowed to make a lateral run and was not closed down properly. The strong low shot from the edge of the 18 yard area gave Kiraly no chance, and the locals found their voices once again. In truth, Cardiff even had the better chances after this with Ledley and Parry again getting forward well from midfield.
Robbie Fowler made way for Steve Thompson on 66 minutes, but as time went on Cardiff began to defend deeper and deeper, almost inviting Burnley to push on. These tactics, combined with the winless home streak, did seem to cause a few jitters on and off the pitch, but Burnley were unable to turn enough of their possession into good chances on goal. A tired-looking Hasselbaink was replaced by Aaron Ramsay with just four minutes remaining, but still Burnley pushed in desperation for another equaliser. However, despite a very nervy four minutes of added time at the end of the second half, the home side clung onto their slender lead, leaving the Clarets pointless in Wales for a fifth successive time.
On the balance of play most fair minded Clarets would admit that the better team won on the day, but it was by no means a one-sided contest. If Burnley can show a little bit more concentration on their travels for the remainder of this season then it would be no surprise for them to add significantly to their tally of away wins.
For me to compile a match report, and get this far without mentioning the referee is testament to the fact that Andy Penn controlled the match very well on the whole. He made good use of the advantage rule for both sides and only showed two yellow cards, both to Burnley players, which were probably deserved. Despite his diminutive stature, he is worth two of Trevor Kettle any day.
And so after the game, I'm coming home once again, and although it's not unusual to see Burnley lose on their travels, this was by no means a wasted journey. Although my mama told me not to come to Wales today, I'm nevertheless still glad that I did.