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It was a really positive feature of the performance that Walsall were never at any stage allowed to settle on the ball with our defenders, midfielders and attackers alike all battling hard to get the ball back.
It was the sort of commitment that will always lift a crowd and there’s no doubt about it that once again today the two teams, the one on the field and the one in the stand were as one.
The atmosphere was brilliant in the "£7 overcharged stand" where there were not enough seats to go round and some Burnley supporters, including the editor of this web site, were left to stand at the back throughout the ninety minutes.
The players were greeted with another Bradford style welcome with the best reserved for skipper Graham Branch and goalkeeper Brian Jensen which must have given the two of them a massive lift.
Dele Adebola wasn’t fit enough to play, Chappy only made the bench so the only change from the Norwich defeat was Mark McGregor coming in for the suspended David May with Lenny Johnrose taking Macca’s place on the bench.
There was to be no nervous start from the Clarets and we took the game to Walsall right from the first whistle and although there were no clear cut chances we could so easily have been in front as we totally dominated play for the first twenty-five minutes.
It was then we nearly fell behind, it would have been cruel on us, but it came after we defended a right wing cross badly and the ball eventually dropped to Paul Merson on the left hand side.
His chip looked goal bound but the Beast tipped it over in what was probably his only difficult save of the afternoon – come to think of it, that was the only time we really so Merson who really did give the impression that his football career was over.
It was then back to the previous pattern which was Burnley attacking and Walsall being forced to defend. Robbie Blake shot wide and then Tony Grant got a shot on target.
For those of you who don’t believe that I’ll repeat it – Tony Grant got a shot on target. As well as he has played this season he is still not the best when it comes to testing goalkeepers and although this one was easily saved he at least did force Walsall keeper Walker into making a save.
But then the chance came, and in games like this you really do have to take them. It came, not surprisingly, from the work of Robbie Blake and he set up Neil Wood but the Manchester United loanee put his shot wide when he really should have done better.
It was the best chance of the half, there were others though, but at half time we had to settle for a 0-0 scoreline after dominating just about throughout the entire period.
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Not on your life, nothing changed after the interval and it was just a continuation of the first half with Burnley doing all the attacking.
"We need a goal," I said with just about ten minutes gone in the second half. "We really need a goal." And within seconds it duly arrived, and from an excellent move. We attacked Walsall down the right hand side with Moore and Blake involved. Blake hit the ball across and it was met by Paul Weller a few yard outside the penalty box on the left hand side.
Weller expertly headed it into the path of the advancing Wood who was brought down by Craig Burley just as he moved into the box. A clearer penalty you will not see, there was no hesitation from the excellent Steve Bennett as he pointed to the spot, and there was no real complaint from any of the Walsall players.
It seemed to take an age before Robbie was able to step up and take the spot kick but when he did he gave Walker no chance as he beat him to his right.
Walsall boss Colin Lee took a gamble and brought on Mark Wright and Jermaine McSporran having already made a substitution at half time. The two players going off were Merson and Burley.
They were probably two of the names on the Walsall team sheet that made us somewhat nervous before kick off, players with a pedigree who could possibly cause us some major problems. We made them look like two players whose careers were behind them.
The last throw of the dice from Lee made no difference and it was still all Burnley and we could so easily have doubled the lead. Robbie set up a couple of chances for Glen and Weller and in between Ian Moore came within inches of doubling the lead from a tight angle.
The miss from Weller proved to be his last contribution and for those Burnley fans not there can I report that he left the field to a standing ovation after a very impressive performance in the midfield.
His replacement Richard Chaplow was not to give us his longest appearance in a Burnley shirt and less than seven minutes later the midfielder, considered doubtful before kick off, limped off to signal the appearance of one Leonard Johnrose.
The ‘two bob a week man’ according to Stan arrived to a superb reception from the overpriced end of the ground with the inadequate seating.
The last ten minutes or so were to prove a bit more difficult than the previous eighty as Walsall eventually tried to apply some pressure. Luke Chadwick came on for Moore but we were suddenly, for the first time in the afternoon, having to do some defending.
Walsall won a succession of free kicks outside our box but mainly put them wide. They did force Jensen into one save. They didn’t score, probably didn’t come anything like as close as we thought at the time, and in any case it would have been a rank injustice had this been anything other than an away win.
I’m told that Walsall were poor, well I’m not having that. They have been in good form recently and today was all about the fact that we were better than them and didn’t allow them to play.
We had good performers all over the park, and in particular in midfield where we totally dominated against the likes of Keith Andrews, Burley and Merson. Grant played well, when does he not, as did Weller but alongside them Neil Wood had his best game in a Burnley shirt by far.
He was excellent and alongside Mark McGregor at the back should probably be competing for my choice as Man of the Match. They don’t get it but only because, "We’ve got Robbie Blake", who turned in one of those performances that really make you wonder just why he is not playing Premiership football. I'm not complaining though.
What are our chances now of staying up? I think it is right to say that if we play like that for the rest of the season there will be no danger of us going down. The question is though, how many times will we play like that in the last six games?
We have shown what we are capable of with this performance, the attitude from the players was absolutely magnificent and that was matched by another brilliant performance from the fans.
Much more of that and we will not go down. Come on you Clarets.
The teams were,
Walsall: James Walker, Darren Bazeley, Neil Emblen, Ian Roper (Matt Carbon 45), Zigor Aranalde, Simon Osborn, Craig Burley (Mark Wright 62), Keith Andrews, Paul Merson (Jermaine McSporran 61), Lee Bradbury, Jorge Leitao. Subs not used: Andy Petterson, Kris Taylor.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Lee Roche, Mark McGregor, Graham Branch, Mo Camara, Glen Little, Paul Weller (Richard Chaplow 70, Lenny Johnrose 77), Tony Grant, Neil Wood, Robbie Blake, Ian Moore (Luke Chadwick 82). Subs not used: Nathan Abbey, Alan Moore.
Referee: Steve Bennett (Orpington, Kent).