Leeds take the points

As was the case last season the game kicked off early, a decision that certainly kept some people away, and Steve Cotterill not surprisingly named the same side that had won at Wolves in our last game just over a fortnight ago.

Kevin Blackwell included Robbie Blake in his starting line up with the first boos for the former Claret striking up at the mere mention of his name. Ian Moore, having spent the week slagging off his former employers, had to settle for a place on the bench.

We started brightly enough but the first real chance of the afternoon fell to Blake who was clearly some distance offside, but with the flag down he looked a certain scorer only for Brian Jensen to save well to keep out his effort. His striker partner Rob Hulse, only cleared to play after a fitness test, was involved in that move but he made little impact in the first half to be honest other than trying to wind everyone up.

The Clarets seemed to get on top and we caused Leeds some major problems at the back with Sean Gregan in particular having trouble in containing us. He got away with one wayward clearance and then almost sliced the next one into his own goal.

A goal at this point would not have been undeserved but it didn’t come and instead we were dealt a blow just before the half hour when Graham Branch was forced out of the action. The foul that caused the injury earned Shaun Derry a yellow card, he was fortunate that’s all it was. It was a shocking challenge, reminiscent of the sort of stuff that built Leeds a reputation in the Revie days.

Youth player Chris McCann came on but in truth it all looked too much for Chris today and he struggled to make any impact. The change affected us without doubt and we didn’t seem to be able to put them under quite so much pressure.

The half ended with Hulse making a complete fool of himself. He was flagged offside but decided to continue and fell over as he tried to go past Brian Jensen. Referee Dean, who to be honest got very little right, was adamant that Hulse would not be permitted treatment. There was no injury, just a tantrum from Hulse who took off a boot and threw it.

At the half time whistle Sam Ellis had a real go at the officials on the pitch, was this really the same Sam Ellis who in six years at Burnley never showed any emotion whatsoever? Suddenly he’s whinging because one of his cheating players was refused treatment.

We were probably worth a lead in the first half but had to settle for 0-0, the second half though was a different story. Right from the off Leeds looked the better side and we really struggled to get into it. They won corner after corner and put us under pressure, but we held on and on the hour broke away and got ourselves in front.

Ade Akinbiyi, who was not at his best today, got onto the end of a long ball from Garreth O’Connor down the right hand side, he turned into the box and was fouled by Gregan and the referee had no hesitation. The lack of any sustained complaint from Leeds showed it to be a clear penalty.

Up stepped Garreth O’Connor and he made no mistake from the spot to give us the lead with his fourth goal in the last four games, the first time we have seen that since Robbie Blake scored in four successive games in December 2003.

We came to life and could have doubled the lead shortly afterwards, but the game was soon to be turned on its head after the introduction of David Healy. He’d been on the pitch no time when he chased a long ball which was stopped when the assistant flagged for a foul by Jon Harley.

Harley was furious and clearly indicating that Healy had fouled him, but the decision stood and from the free kick Eddie Lewis scored with ease as Healy caused chaos in the penalty box.

Four minutes later and Hulse got the winner. Again Lewis was involved and he beat Duff down the flank before crossing for the former West Brom striker to get between our defenders and powerfully head home.

We reacted by making a double substitution, we certainly put Leeds under some pressure and only a good save from Sullivan prevented Garreth from getting his second of the game. But it was all frantic and desperate as we tried to repair the damage caused in those four minutes when we turned victory into defeat.

It didn’t happen and we just had the pleasure of seeing Ian Moore on the pitch once more, incredibly this nasty waste of space wasn’t booed despite his attacks on our club this week, I really don’t understand Burnley fans sometimes. What the non-scoring striker did do was try and claim a penalty when nothing had happened, some things don’t change.

Steve Cotterill lost it as he kicked the ball across the pitch in temper and then there was one last chance for Garreth O’Connor who just couldn’t quite get a shot in before the referee blew to signal a defeat.

Overall Leeds probably just about deserved to edge it although they certainly weren’t a lot better than us. They were Leeds of old in their style though, a real ugly side to have to watch but that’s no surprise when you see a partnership like Blackwell and Ellis in the technical area.

For us, there’s no doubt there were some good individual performances. Both O’Connors and Micah Hyde played well in midfield and the two central defenders again had good games. I’m going to go for Garreth O’Connor has my man of the match, simply because he always seemed to be the spark that might just get us a goal, and he did come so, so close to an equaliser.

It’s a disappointment though after the last two results, the loss of Branchy really did cause us some problems and there were times when we weren’t able to get the right support up alongside Ade. Hopefully we can get that right now for our next three games, all of which are away from home.

The teams today were,

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Frank Sinclair, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Garreth O’Connor, James ‘Connor, Micah Hyde, John Spicer (Wade Elliott 77), Graham Branch (Chris McCann 29, Gifton Noel-Williams 77), Ade Akinbiyi. Subs not used: Keith Lowe, Karl Bermingham.

Leeds: Neil Sullivan, Garry Kelly, Paul Butler, Sean Gregan, Dan Harding, Frazer Richardson (David Healy 69), Shaun Derry, Jonathan Douglas, Eddie Lewis, Robbie Blake (Gylfi Einarsson 88), Rob Hulse (Ian Moore 86). Subs not used: Ian Bennett, Matthew Kilgallon.

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).

Attendance: 16,174.