Little to show for it

Star Geezer - Arthur Gnohere

Clarets took to the field with warm applause greeting the returning Little, in for the injured Chadwick, for who a place on the bench was a pleasant surprise, given the state of his injury last week. Otherwise there were no surprises as Stan selected from the sixteen declared fit, Grantona getting the nod in midfield in front of Farrelly, courtesy of Weller's absence through injury.

As the sparse crowd began to take their seats, Clarets got off to the brighter of starts; Little's threaded pass to Chaplow setting up the youngster for a first time shot that ended just wide of Alexander's post.

The game was a slow starter - not all the blame could be attributed to the early start, due to the threat of Cardiff's pond life element and the local plods cautious attitudes, but slowly Cardiff began to play in Clarets half of the pitch and Branch was at full stretch when cutting out a shot from the endless whinger John Robinson on twelve minutes as the visitors attacked down Clarets right seeing West as the weakest link.

Clarets had their brightest moment of the half on twenty minutes, Blake's toe poke seeing Facey onside and the loan man's whipped low cross was inches in front of the in rushing Chaplow with Alexander & Co well beaten. A minute later and Moore's cushioned header set up Blake whose first time shot was screwed just wide as Clarets continued to carry the threat, though little would actually trouble the under worked Alexander in the visiting goal.

Branch had a good chance to open the scoring but he got too much contact back heading Blake's free kick, the ball sailing over rather than into the net. It was half an hour into the game before Cardiff threatened Jensen's goal and their first attempt at goal should really have been the opening goal. Jensen was favourite to collect an innocuous high cross, but amazingly came second to Gordon whose header went just wide of the upright, the big Dane curiously looking to his defenders by way of blame apportionment.

With Moore and Little becoming increasingly absent from the game and short corners entering the Clarets repertoire of misdemeanours, the home side were struggling by the break to carry any sustained threat to the visitors who nearly stole the lead in the final minute of the half, Kavanagh's well struck free kick being well saved by Jensen. Mr Webb's half time blow on the whistle was something of a blessing in bringing to a close the rather dire half.

There were no changes for the second half, neither in playing staff, formations or tempo. The game did improve though some five minutes in as Clarets took the lead. West fed the ball in to Little who beat his man before turning the ball across to the near post from where Chaplow neatly side footed across Alexander and into the far side of the net for only the second goal of this promising youngsters playing career to date.

Star Gazer - Ian Moore

Twenty minutes in and Clarets wasted a glorious opportunity to seal the game, when Moore elected to selfishly shoot from eighteen yards with Facey and Little completely unmarked and better positioned to his right. The looks on their faces as the shot was blocked said a great deal about the ineffective striker’s selection and effort.

Yet another short corner move broke down allowing Cardiff a quick counter attack and the home side could be thankful to Jensen for a smart save at his near post as the more direct approach of the visitors showed Clarets how best to make the most of chances.

Boland's well struck first time effort from the corner, caught the home defence sleeping and once again Jensen needed to be alert to keep the score sheet blank. Facey embarrassingly fresh aired a shot when well placed, before the visitors gained a somewhat undeserved equaliser.

Under minimal pressure on the edge of his area, Branch had the simple task of controlling the ball before clearing, but inexplicably lost control of it conceding possession to Kavanagh. Kavanagh's first touch showed Branch a thing or two and a neat pass inside to Earnshaw gave the diminutive striker his only chance of the game.

Spinning neatly in the "D" allowed a shot on the turn into the top right corner of Jensen's net and a thousand or so Taff's enjoyed the moment as Branch shook his head in embarrassment.

Clarets tried to reply albeit mostly futile, Chadwick replaced a hobbling Little, Farrelly replaced a disappointing Blake and almost immediately Chadwick was injured along with Facey in two totally separate incidents.

The changes seemed more to disrupt Clarets who struggled to the end, allowing the Bluebirds the chance to steal all the points in the final minutes as they enjoyed the better of possession. The last hope faded as Facey's long range free kick was comfortably saved by Alexander, both sides extending their unbeaten runs as a consequence of a largely disappointing affair.

Att:- 10,886

Ian Moore. Another performance from his collection of chameleonic performances. Able to disappear and blend into the back ground without a trace, here was another ninety minutes of anonymity and a canter around the middle of the pitch.

Five draws in the last eight games sees the points trickling in and can someone please explain the benefit of short corners. What is their point, the opposition always win the ball and has any team ever scored from one?

Arthur Gnohere. A close call with the sponsors man of the match, Chaplow, but Arthur hardly put a foot wrong in a commanding defensive display of power and self belief. It's neither his fault nor Branch's that Arthur is the main man in defence but he looks focused and in confident mood at the moment.

Two defeats in the last eight, proves this team comprises the right quality. Is it possible to have the quantity as well, then a consistency in winning may result instead of disappointing draws?