Had we not done so then it would have been an injustice. Whilst not at our best by any means we were the better side and were behind only because of a wonder goal just five minutes into the second half from Tokelo Rantie, Bournemouth's best player on the day.
I was a little bit later than usual getting into the ground yesterday. That was due to one supporter and his brother (well known to this message board) turning up without their season tickets and causing further delays along the way.
I did get to my seat in good time for the game, and for the preceding minute's silence ahead of Remembrance Day. Again, but just as it should be, it was observed impeccably by the supporters of both clubs as silence descended on Turf Moor other than the playing of The Last Post.
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| David Jones was outstanding in midfield |
When the game got underway, with Dean Marney back in the Burnley side for David Edgar, it was Bournemouth who provided us with a couple of uncomfortable moments. First Rantie shot over the bar and then Brett Pitman, often a Burnley target during the Howe era, saw his shot loop up off a defender before Tom Heaton expertly tipped it over the bar.
That was soon forgotten as we just about dominated the rest of the first half. Sam Vokes had the first chance to inflict pain on his old club, but he couldn't keep his header down from a cross from the excellent David Jones.
The former Wolves midfielder was involved in everything. He played a ball over to Michael Kightly who saw his shot saved by Lee Camp and then, from a corner, found Jason Shackell whose goal bound header was spectacularly cleared by Pitman just inches from the line.
Vokes might have done better when the Camp goalkeeper could only parry a long range Marney shot into his path but he lost his balance and the ball went out for a goal kick.
It was hard to believe we weren't in front and the pattern of play continued right up the half time whistle as Ings almost got onto a ball during the stoppage time added on, presumably for all the time wasting from the visitors.
Since the opening minutes Bournemouth had offered precious little other than Harry Arter's little spat with the appalling referee Mick Russell.
Arter was rightly yellow carded for returning to the pitch without permission after going off for treatment, but he argued the toss with Russell, aided and abetted by Simon Francis for some time. I was half expecting to see the second yellow and it should have come when Arter went into round two of abuse as the referee walked away.
Still, 0-0 at half time was good enough as I expected us to come out in the second half and turn our domination into goals. Ten of our fourteen home goals in the Championship had come in the second half of games and there was no reason to suspect we wouldn't get any in the second half.
The second half started with Burnley going forward but then, five minutes in, the game changed in spectacular fashion. It came from a Bournemouth clearance that was headed on for Rantie who hit a sensational shot from 25-yards.
Heaton believed it was going over the bar but it dipped dramatically as it flew in leaving the Clarets' stopper with absolutely no chance of keeping it out.
It certainly hit us. We lost our way for the next ten minutes or so and Sean Dyche reacted by replacing Kightly with Keith Treacy and the wide man's first touch incredibly saw him get a header on target.
Treacy did have an impact on the performance and we were back in the ascendancy with Vokes next to fire in a shot that Camp just about touched onto his post.
An equaliser was looking likely and when Ings was through on goal he was stopped only by a foul from Bournemouth's Elliott Ward. There could only be one outcome. It was a penalty and Ward had to be sent off. Incredibly Russell did nothing other than wave his arms about to indicate he was giving nothing. It was a shocking decision but no surprise from this referee.
Ings should have been taking a penalty against a ten man Bournemouth and I thought there was another a few minutes later when Vokes was clearly hauled back by a defender. Again nothing.
The clock moved on. Junior Stanislas replaced Scott Arfield, and he, like Treacy, had a positive effect on proceedings.
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| Junior Stanislas, his cross led to our goal |
Bournemouth were hanging on and we won a corner on the left, taken by Stanislas. They cleared it but the former West Ham wide man raced back to collect the ball again and deliver (Sean Dyche's word, not mine) a ball into the box. Ings got it just right; the Camp goalkeeper didn't.
Shackell it was who won the ball from the ball played in by Stanislas. He got the almost perfect touch but there was still much to do. Camp's hesitation helped and allowed Ings to get in and head home.
There was still time for a winner but the closest we came was from a free kick on the edge of the box that presented niggly Bournemouth with their fourth yellow card of the afternoon. Camp redeemed himself with a good save as Treacy's kick was heading for the top corner.
Five added minutes offered nothing and so we had to settle for that point. It was two less than we wanted but one more than we looked as though we were going to get with just a few minutes of the game to go.
Dyche said he was proud of his players for the way they came back, just as they'd done at Millwall a week earlier. He's right. Sometimes you have to battle away to get anything from a game and that's what happened here.
You can't win every game. Things can turn against you. A wonder goal, the like of which he's unlikely to score again, and the most blatant of penalties turned down. There isn't much you can do when things like that go against you.
We weren't at our best, far from it. We can play much, much better than that but even so we had done more than enough to win this game.
We've got two weeks now to rest up our small squad, except those going off on international duty. Hopefully we'll be back to our best to beat Little Billy the self proclaimed Sherriff of Nottingham.
The teams were;
Burnley: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Michael Duff, Jason Shackell, Ben Mee, Scott Arfield (Junior Stanislas 76), Dean Marney, David Jones, Michael Kightly (Keith Treacy 60), Danny Ings, same Vokes. Subs not used: Alex Cisak, Kevin Long, Danny Lafferty, David Edgar, Brian Stock.
Bournemouth: Lee Camp, Simon Francis, Elliott Ward, Steve Cook, Charlie Daniels, Lewis Grabban, Harry Arter, Eunan O'Kane (Shaun MacDonald 90+6), Marc Pugh (Richard Hughes 88), Tokelo Rantie (Wes Thomas 84), Brett Pitman. Subs not used: Shwan Jalal, Ian Harte, Tommy Elphick, Andrew Surman.
Yellow Cards: Harry Arter, Eunan O'Kane, Charlie Daniels, Brett Pitman.
Referee: Mick Russell (Hertfordshire).
Attendance: 12,221.