|
The manager started with the same eleven who had given such a good account of themselves against the Foxes. One can only imagine that Marlon Beresford knows of some dark secret involving the gaffer, as given his recent ineptitude between the sticks there can be no other reason for his continued selection. Yet there he was, lining up behind a back four of Gnohere, Diallo, Davis and West. Briscoe, Cook, Weller and Little made up the midfield, and with Gareth Taylor serving the final game of his two match ban, Blake and Moore paired up at the head of the 4-4-2.
With Turf Moor bathed in glorious sunshine, both sides struggled to get a foothold in the opening stages. Burnley had the first chance on 7 minutes when a flowing move was capped by a tame Glen Little shot which scarcely trouble Grimsby keeper, Danny Coyne. It was to be a quarter of an hour before the next significant action when good work from Ian Moore and Robbie Blake set up Paul Weller on the edge of the box. His shot troubled no-one except for the visitors housed high at the top of the Cricket Field Stand.
Shortly afterwards, Grimsby threatened to spark into life as Darren Mansaram fired high and wide into the Jimmy McIlroy Stand. As the half progressed, the natives grew increasingly restless and frustrated with what looked from the stands like a distinct lack of effort and enthusiasm on the part of the home team. On 25 minutes a visibly out of form Steve Davis was out-muscled by the rangy Mansaram and had to recover to block his shot which was eventually bundled away by Diallo.
Burnley’s only other effort of the half was a wayward header from Little as he got on the end of Lee Briscoe’s centre. As thoughts were beginning to turn towards half-time refreshments, disaster struck. A long punt out of defence seemed innocuous enough, but The Skip let the ball bounce, perhaps unaware that Stuart Campbell was in hot pursuit. Campbell needed no second bidding and nipped in to nick the ball away. Davis, never the fastest, was never going to catch him and Campbell advanced into the area to slip a low shot beneath the helpless Beresford. Seconds later it should have been two. The goalscorer picked out Mansaram, but fortunately the striker’s effort was weak enough to cause Beresford no difficulty.
The half-time whistle was greeted with a crescendo of boos from many Burnley fans, after what had been a listless and uninspiring opening 45 minutes. At half-time we were reminded that there is always someone worse off than you as Sky Sports brought us the news that Gillingham were getting thumped 5-0 by Wolves, the team occupying the play-off slot we were hoping to occupy.
The second half saw the immediate introduction of Alan Moore for the totally ineffective Robbie Blake who looked as though he had found his diving boots again. In fairness to Blake he had been hampered throughout the first forty five minutes by a complete lack of good quality balls in to his feet. Burnley began to look interested. Arthur Gnohere powered his way to the bye-line and swung over a cross from the left. Ian Moore converted and most of Turf Moor punched the air. Unfortunately, so did the linesman who waved his flag for offside with gay abandon.
Five minutes later, the Clarets were level. Glen Little fired in a corner from the right which Steve Davis rose and headed down into the six yard box. Alan Moore was first to react and his stooping header gave Coyne no chance and Burnley a glimmer of hope.
On 55 minutes the risible side of Ian Moore’s game came to the fore. After a good run into the box, during which he had opportunities to release the ball to better placed colleagues, Moore found himself crowded out by defenders and threw himself to the ground. He should have been punished with a yellow card for cheating, but referee Fraser Stretton was not interested. Just before the hour, Alan Moore’s afternoon came to an untimely end when he pulled his hamstring and had to be replaced by Papadopoulos.
On 63 minutes, a long ball over the top found Dimi in space. His weak shot rebounded off a defender to Ian Moore who was unable to convert with his follow-up. Other than Glen Little appealing for a penalty that just about signified the end of Burnley as an attacking threat. Paul Cook made way for Tony Grant with 17 minutes remaining.
On 86 minutes Mansaram was prevented from having a clear run on goal by a superbly timed Drissa Diallo tackle. Paul Groves went close minutes later with a shot straight at Beresford from a John Oster corner kick.
The five minutes of injury time seemed to stretch on for an eternity and were further punishment for a crowd which had endured a game which had a meaningless end of season feel to it. Thanks to results lately, we have a few more of those kind of games in the pipeline. The season is set to end on a low note. Crowds will dwindle and the only game anyone will get excited about is when local pride is at stake when PNE come to Turf Moor. And to think, it was only a couple of weeks ago that people were talking excitedly about the possibility of two trips to Cardiff in one season…