Harry's gone to Portsmouth

Either way it was very quickly evident to the Burnley fans that Sir Clive Woodward had not assumed control, the goal posts were still there, we continued with eleven a side and the ball was still round.

Dave ‘Harry’ Bassett was the man in charge we learned although that nasty little piece of work Dennis Wise was down on the touchline, trying to look the part in a suit and with pen and paper in hand. He was joined by his former Wimbledon manager towards the end when they finally realised they were not going to beat us.

They didn’t deserve to beat us, certainly not after our second half showing, and the equaliser from Ade Akinbiyi was the least we deserved on our first ever visit to St. Mary’s.

The goal owed much to Graham Branch but it was something of a surprise to see him even in the side. He’s been out injured since that terrible challenge from Shaun Derry seven weeks ago and had played just one reserve game this week.

However, needs must and not only was he back but he found himself in the position in the side that a couple of years ago had Burnley fans turning on him, he was John McGreal’s replacement in the centre of defence.

We’d been led to believe that Johnny Mac would be fit to play, but he didn’t travel after receiving stitches to a head wound sustained in last week’s win against Crewe. Keith Lowe, who came on as a substitute for him in the Crewe game, filled in at right back for the suspended Michael Duff whilst Southampton fan Wade Elliott was back in place of Southampton player Nathan Dyer who was not allowed to play.

The game started with the sizeable contingent of Burnley fans taunting the home support with chants of “Harry’s gone to Pompey, Harry’s gone to Pompey” but we quickly saw that many of the Southampton fans were on their feet joining in with us. Make no mistake, they are glad to see the back of him.

A slightly less polite song followed whilst the home support concentrated on chants of “We want Rupert out”. They are quite simply sick to the back teeth of the way chairman Rupert Lowe runs the club. And some Burnley fans at times dare to criticise Barry Kilby.

The Southampton players would obviously have been affected by all this and although we were hoping it would have been a detrimental effect we soon found otherwise once the game got underway. In the opening exchanges we looked all at sea, couldn’t get hold of the ball and the home side got themselves well on top.

They should have scored in the first few minutes. The chance fell to Brett Ormerod but he looked like a player who hasn’t scored for almost three months and thankfully placed it very carefully wide of the post.

We were struggling though especially with the runs from the youngster Theo Walcott. Now I’d been warned that Walcott was fast, in fact that he was very fast. He’s not, he’s a hell of a lot quicker than that and he gave Jon Harley a difficult time. I think the only way to deal with him is to have a full back with the strength and pace of a Steve Kindon giving him an introduction into the physical side of football.

No matter what we tried, we just couldn’t get going but the one consolation was they didn’t give Brian Jensen too many anxious moments given the way they were able to get forward. And thankfully that early pressure eventually came to an end with us still level.

We started to come into the game, passing the ball well, getting players forward to support Ade and the game was becoming a more even contest. Antti Niemi had to be very alert to get down on the ball as John Spicer came in following a good move down the left, and just a couple of minutes later a defender just got across to block a shot from James O’Connor.

It was a lot more even a contest now but that was about to change. The Beast was called into action to make his best save of the game from Walcott but it gave Southampton a lift and within a couple of minutes they were in front.

Referee Brian Curson turned in what can only be described as a home performance but there weren’t too many complaints from the Burnley players when he pointed to the spot after a foul by Micah Hyde.

Regular penalty taker Nigel Quashie was out suspended so defender Danny Higginbotham stepped up and made no mistake, sending Jensen the wrong way. It gave the home side a lift and for the rest of the first half they were the better side again and I would say they 1-0 lead they held at half time was a fair reflection of that first half.

There was a Burnley shout for a penalty just a few minutes before that half time whistle. It was for a foul on Wade Elliott but the referee was having none of it although I suspect he would have been very eager to point to the spot at the other end. All we did get was a yellow card for Garreth O’Connor for protesting.

We started the second half a lot better and were hardly being troubled by the home side, but we needed to do get ourselves back into the game and with an hour gone, and the score still 1-0, Steve Cotterill changed things by bringing on Gifton Noel-Williams. That meant 4-4-2, it also saw Branchy go out onto the left of midfield, Keith Lowe move into the centre of defence with Wade Elliott taking the full back spot.

They proved to be inspired changes from Steve and within just a few minutes we were back in the game. We could have been level within a minute of the change. Garreth O found Gifton in the box but just as he was about to get in a shot, a challenge came in to clear the ball.

But in our very next attack we were level. The record books will show that the Burnley scorer was Ade Akinbiyi but this was Branchy’s goal in all but name. He received the ball from Harley and made a run down the left hand side. He beat Southampton’s Delap with ease before hitting a pin point cross to Ade who headed home.

We were right back in it now and the new look Southampton management team looked as bemused. Bassett came down from the stands and they instantly made two changes, replacing two strikers with two strikers. I wonder if Steve Cotterill will ever have that luxury as a Burnley manager.

One of those substitutes was the devout cheat Ricardo Fuller and he was at it again. He made only two contributions and needless to say the first of them was to go down, untouched, in the box claiming a penalty. Even Curson was having none of it.

He was having none of it either when he challenged with Jensen for a cross. To be fair the Beast made a mess of it, he really should have been catching the ball. But he certainly caught the cheating former Preston striker who was down and out and needed treatment before he could continue.

We could have won it with a late chance but it was the home side coming forward in the latter stages but there was never going to be a way through for them given the way we had defended for much of the match and they didn’t force Jensen into making a save as the Burnley fans went into taunt mode again.

It ended 1-1, and make no mistake we deserved that point, and I thought we were the better side overall in that second half. You have to make and take chances to win games and Southampton weren’t able to, and no surprise given the form of our defenders yesterday.

Keith Lowe played for an hour at full back and the last half hour in his more familiar central defensive position. He was outstanding from start to finish, his defending in both positions was superb and when he was able to get forward from full back his use of the ball was excellent.

Under usual circumstances I would have nominated him as man of the match but on this occasion I can’t, simply because of the defender alongside him, our captain Frank Sinclair. He was quite simply awesome, I don’t recall him losing out once all afternoon and the home forwards must have despaired trying to get the better of him. It is incredible to think that some were writing him off after a couple of not too impressive games at full back earlier in the season.

But it wasn’t just about Frank and Keith, there were good performances all over the pitch against a team that have one of the strongest squads in the division. The Burnley fans travelled home happy again, this is quite simply a far cry from the early season away performances at such as Crewe and Plymouth, two games I really would like to play again now.

As for the Southampton fans, some of them were off looking for Harry whilst the rest were preparing to protest against Rupert Lowe. They needn’t bother looking for Harry though, he’s off to Pompey.

The teams were,

Southampton: Antti Niemi, Darren Kenton, Darren Powell, Danny Higginbotham, Rory Delap, Djamel Belmadi (Neil McCann 74), David Prutton, Matt Oakley, Kamil Kosowski, Theo Walcott (Kenwyne Jones 67), Brett Ormerod (Ricardo Fuller 67). Subs not used: Paul Smith, Martin Cranie.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Keith Lowe, Frank Sinclair, Graham Branch, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, John Spicer (Gifton Noel-Williams 60), Micah Hyde, James O’Connor, Garreth O’Connor, Ade Akinbiyi. Subs not used: Lee Grant, Duane Courtney, Chris McCann, Danny Karbassiyoon.

Referee: Brian Curson (Leicester).

Attendance: 21,592.