Plastic Fantastic

Last updated : 10 March 2009 By Ben Redman
Chris McCann
Chris McCann - tripped for a stone wall penalty
The seating plan at the Emirates arena resembles a mazy, curvy, never-ending sea of blood-splattered plastic and if you look for long enough you'll feel nauseous. It was 90 minutes until kick off and here we were again, massive underdogs and out of our depth against a big club packed with quality from all corners of the Earth.

We arrived at Cockfosters car park at 9.30am, four hours in advance and already Burnley fans were scattered about. An uneventful tube journey to Arsenal station was followed by a walk round the impressive structure that would be hosting Burnley on the next chapter of a so far magic season. We purchased an (albeit fairly average) matchday programme and eventually ended up in a McDonalds, which was already conquered by fans draped in claret and blue.

After indulging on the food chain's finest beefburger it was back to the ground and waiting around for the turnstiles to open. I chuckled to myself as a Burnley fan with a well-worn face and long grey hair passed and exchanged funny looks with an Arsenal fan wearing a flash suit and perfectly gelled hair. It's going to be a good day, I concluded.

As the clock counted down to kick off, team news started to filter through and, as I watched the bowl gradually fill up, I studied Arsenal's side. Wenger had included a few fringe players as well as some regulars, similar to last season at the Turf where they had got the job done.

Gallas, Sagna, Arshavin, Eboue, Diaby, Song and Eduardo all started. Maybe our line up wasn't as glamorous, but we had done more than enough this season to share the pitch with such talented footballers and everyone knew we were going to have a go. Jensen, Alexander, Caldwell, Carlisle and Kalvenes made up the back five, as I had predicted pre-match over the fast food while McDonald (excuse the pun!), McCann, Eagles, Blake and Gudjonsson lined up behind the lone Paterson up top.

Soon enough, 1.30pm had slowly crept closer and the teams were emerging. Our seats were right on the barrier by the Arsenal fans meaning we were guaranteed a bit of banter, although some idiots are always going to go too far as I'll explain later.

We started with understandable confidence but the game was comfortably deadlocked for the opening twenty five minutes. That was until the talented Mexican Carlos Vela broke away after a moment of sloppiness from Eagles, nutmegged Carlisle and gathered momentum into our box. We chased, tugged and heckled but couldn't get near him and he divinely chipped into the net just as I thought he'd spooned it high and wide.

A couple of excellently timed last ditch tackles from both centre halves kept us in it as the break approached. The closest we came was a corner flapped at by Fabianski, but our effort at goal was weak and Arsenal had enough bodies back to clear. Beast palmed an Eboue effort wide in the half's last attempt and 1-0 it stayed. As far as I was concerned, the game was far from over; everyone remember Chelsea?

Dreams and comparisons of Stamford Bridge, however, soon evaporated six minutes after the restart. Arshavin chased a lost cause and kept the ball in play. The £15 million man set up a neat passage of play which allowed the impressive Song to pick out a cross. The Cameroonian duly obliged and expertly picked out Eduardo who had lost Kalvenes with considerable ease.

What happened next was a moment of class that signalled the end as far as we were concerned. As the ball got nearer to him, the Croatian adjusted his body and bizarrely, yet stunningly, volleyed the ball into the top corner with the outside of his ankle. As we all turned to see what had just happened on the big screen behind us, you had to just take a step back and appreciate what was a fantastic piece of skill and an exceptional goal. You don't particularly mind when you lose out to moments of quality like that, or maybe it just hurts less.

As we chased a lost cause, Coyle threw on Elliott for Eagles, who'll be as upset with his own performance as we were, and, soon after, Thompson for Gudjonsson. We picked ourselves up well and started getting in their faces more, synchronised with some tidy football. This led to a few half chances but Arsenal always had men in the way and broke so quickly that they were more of a threat than us constantly: newly introduced van Persie and Walcott, as well as Eduardo, all missed good chances to wrap the game up. Alex MacDonald was brought on for what will be a priceless experience to replace McDonald in Coyle's last roll of the dice.

A third goal for the hosts, again after a breakaway, was wrongly ruled out for offside, but we weren't complaining. Man of the match Robbie was doing all he could to create for us, but it was a step too far and Arsenal were happy to soak up the pressure and go back at us with pace, which, in the end, proved to work perfectly for them as they grabbed a third and final goal.

A slick team move carved us open and a backheel by Song released Eboue who powered his strike into the bottom corner. As he did his little jig in the corner, I hoped that would be it for goals now and that we could see it out like this, emerging with our heads held high once more.

And that was how it ended, but not until we'd had another little spell of pressure. Caldwell hit the bar with a firm header and McCann was tripped for a stone wall penalty, but it was too little too late and the occasion was bought to a close by Mr Foy who had done well himself bar the penalty claim. A goal would have been nice and the 5000 Clarets would have celebrated like they had won I'm sure, but never mind, I reckon everyone had a memorable away day.

The idiots I referred to before were escorted out of the ground before the end of the game, not that they'd have known it though as I'm not sure they even looked at the pitch once, bar a couple of times maybe when they were racially abusing Arsenal players through slurred, embarrassing chanting. Enough on them though; they don't represent this club and are a waste of breath.

A trek back towards Arsenal tube station awaited us and we joined the hefty queue that, fortunately, moved along quickly. The journey back to Cockfosters was enjoyable enough, with fans from both sides chattering nicely about the game. The majority were Burnley though, presumably with the same plan as us. A tedious queue to get out of the car park followed for half an hour but we eventually escaped and were on our way past the mansions, heading North.

A great away day and one we'll be hoping to get the chance to repeat again in the near future. It was a treat seeing our boys up against some top class players and, once again, giving a good account of ourselves. A big push now in our 'ten cup finals' in the league and we'll be able to dream again. Big thank yous to Owen, his staff and players on what they've achieved for this club so far and here's to more happy memories in this season and beyond. Keep the faith and up the Clarets.