Burnley were within just a few minutes of recording a ninth away win of the season but had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw as Stoke came back with a late penalty equaliser.
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 | Clarke Carlisle - Man of the Match |
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It was cruel on the Clarets who had withstood everything Stoke had to offer along with their assistant Howard Webb, and there were just a few seconds of normal time left when he pointed to the spot. Even then our luck was out as the spot kick from Liam Lawrence came back off the post to rebound into the net off Gabor Kiraly's head.
We held the lead for virtually all of the game and it was a massive disappointment not to hold out just those few extra minutes, a win would have put us back within two points of the play off positions.
It was hardly a classic game of football but there again you wouldn't expect much else at the Windy City (and yes it was windy today). It was though a strong, committed performance from the Clarets that was very much needed after the disaster at Hull on Tuesday. The last disaster at Blackpool was followed by the wonderful game against Arsenal but today was never ever going to be like that.
Owen Coyle had to make one change with his captain Steven Caldwell out injured but the team that took to the field at Stoke showed no fewer than five changes to the one that kicked off at the KC. Caldwell was replaced by well again Stanislav Varga whilst the defence also saw the return of new dad Jon Harley which meant David Unsworth missing out.
It was no surprise at all to see Gabor Kiraly back in goal at the expense of Brian Jensen and in the midfield Mark Randall got his first start as a replacement for the injured Chris McCann. Finally with Andrew Cole suffering a slight calf problem he was named as a substitute with Robbie Blake back in the starting line up.
This was going to be a tough one. Stoke had lost their previous two games and were looking to get their promotion charge back on track but there was something in our favour, this is a ground where we don't lose very often.
And it was the Clarets who got off to the best of starts. It took just a couple of minutes longer than last year to take the lead (that was Andy Gray in 35 seconds) and it was a first for Kyle Lafferty since the home defeat to Preston in December.
Ex-Stokie Akinbiyi nipped in to win the ball and played it for another former favourite there James O'Connor. The midfielder played the ball delightfully into the path of Lafferty who made no mistake as he hit home past debutant keeper and male model Carlo Nash.
What a start and it could, and should, have been doubled but for the second Saturday in succession Ade missed a good chance. This was nothing like as bad as the one he missed against Watford but he appeared to make a real hash of a chance at the back post following a corner. It could have been game over with little more than five minutes on the clock.
The response from the home side came. In true Pulisball style we had to contend with ball after ball being hammered into our box. We dealt with them all superbly even when they were getting up to their tricks at set pieces. The way they try to block the goalkeeper is just plain ridiculous but they get away with it and so continue to do it.
They didn't create anything resembling a clear cut opening during the opening half whilst at the far end we had a couple of opportunities, one from a free kick and one from a mazy run by Robbie but he couldn't get anything on his shot.
The nearest Stoke came was firstly when they tried to punch the ball into the net. That was spotted by referee Webb who incredibly took no further action. Then, from a left wing cross, right winger Liam Lawrence was almost onto it at the far post - had he got to that it would have been one for his home movie collection.
But at half time we led 1-0 and in fairness deserved it. We'd had to withstand a battering but had done it extremely well.
Stoke stepped it up early in the second half and caused us one or two problems, particularly through Ricardo Fuller. He's still the same as he was at Preston. He's a good player but he always seems to want to cheat his way to decisions. He did again today. Having said all that he should have equalised but put his shot wide.
We needed to change things and we did with Alan Mahon coming on for Randall. It had been a tough first start for Randall, I bet he thought this was nothing like Arsenal as Stoke hammered ball after ball into the air.
Gabor made one good save following a shot from distance but we were looking comfortable enough but the clock did seem to have slowed down somewhat. If only we could have got another goal it really would have been all over but we were hardly featuring as an attacking force, pulling players back time and again to defend against the bombardment.
We made two more changes with John Spicer and Cole coming on and it was Cole who almost did double the lead. He perhaps should have squared the ball for the unmarked Wade Elliott but instead hit a snap shot from a tight angle that Nash did well to save.
It looked as though we'd done it. We'd gone past 89 minutes, and then came the penalty. It looked a mistake from Varga but possibly he was fouled (it wouldn't have mattered either way, we weren't being given free kicks). The ball dropped for Richard Cresswell and when he went down in the box Webb pointed to the spot despite Burnley protests.
Then came that cruel equaliser and it could have even been worse as Stoke won a couple of free kicks in dangerous positions and a couple of corners. Another goal would have been a rank injustice but we held out and at least came home with a point.
I can't say we played well, I thought we were too often happy to defend what we'd got rather than taking the game to them. We just didn't seem able to get the ball down often enough and pass them off the park. Instead the game was too often played in a way that favoured Stoke with this direct style they have.
But we needed a performance of some commitment and desire. We needed that after Hull and that is exactly what we got, and with any luck at all we would have been coming home with all three points.
I said in my report from Hull that there was no man of the match, and there wasn't, but this time there were a number of candidates. Possibly Varga who did well on his return, and then there was Lafferty who had his best game in some time. There were others too, but in the end it came down to a choice between Clarke Carlisle and James O'Connor.
I thought O'Connor was simply outstanding in the midfield, but at the back Carlisle turned in an immense performance against the battering rams of Stoke. He stood up to the lot and I lost count of how many positive headers he won.
One point from the two away games is less than we needed realistically to keep up towards that top six. It has left us in need of winning both these home games this week against Charlton and Wolves. Still, at least that's Watford and Stoke behind us, we can get back to football now.
The teams were;
Stoke Carlo Nash, Andy Griffin, Leon Cort, Chris Riggott, Danny Pugh, Liam Lawrence, Salif Diao (Jon Parkin 84), Rory Delap, Richard Cresswell, Mamady Sidibe (Paul Gallagher 70), Ricardo Fuller. Subs not used: Steve Simonsen, Andy Wilkinson, Ryan Shawcross.
Burnley: Gabor Kiraly, Graham Alexandra, Clarke Carlisle, Stanislav Varga, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, James O'Connor, Mark Randall (Alan Mahon 63), Kyle Lafferty (John Spicer 78), Ade Akinbiyi (Andrew Cole 81), Robbie Blake. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, David Unsworth.
Referee: Howard Webb (Rotherham).
Attendance: 18,432. |
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