Ton up Grezza Grabs Glory

Last updated : 01 November 2009 By Tony Scholes
Tyrone Mears
Tyrone Mears - went down for the penalty
A first half penalty, no matter how dubiously awarded, and a 25-yard striker twenty minutes from the end ensured Grezza would have something to remember on reaching a century of league games for the Clarets.

Not only was it number 100 yesterday, but that's out of a maximum 101 league games we've played since Steve Cotterill signed him at the end of August 2007. To save anyone looking it up, the one game he's missed was the 1-0 home defeat against Bristol City at the end of December 2007 and that was through suspension.

Last week he received some criticism following his performance against Wigan, so much so that manager Owen Coyle made a point of defending him in his pre-match press conference this week. Yesterday Grezza answered those critics with a top performance and the match winning goals.

We knew the focus would be on the man with the fake tan in the away dug out. Ironically he'd been stood in the Turf Moor technical area as Steve Cotterill's time with Burnley came to an end but this time it was his turn in the spotlight and he was up against a Burnley side who were keen to get back to winning ways at home after the Wigan defeat.

Owen Coyle named an unchanged side and an unchanged bench from last week with both Brian Jensen and Stephen Jordan having come through late after injury to keep their places.

It was a quiet sort of start to the game and the only time either of the goalkeepers was brought into action was when Seyi George Olofinjana hit a shot straight at Brian Jensen who had no problems with it.

Hull tested out referee Mike Jones early when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, whose name is far more memorable than his football based on this game, made contact with Tyrone Mears' head. Nothing given from the less than alert officials.

But on twenty minutes Jones saw the awful foul by Stephen Hunt on Mears as the once again impressive full back went down in the penalty box. Without hesitation he pointed to the spot amidst a massive protest from the Hull players.

Mears was played in superbly by Wade Elliott's pass inside the defender but I have to say it didn't look a penalty to me at the time. I've changed my mind now after seeing it again - it most definitely isn't a penalty and we'd have been up in arms had that been given against us. But it was Hunt, so maybe Jose Mourinho would have appreciated it.

Grezza needed no second invitation. With that straight on run he hit it low to Matt Duke's right and Burnley were a goal up.

For the remainder of the first half you wondered just how we didn't extend the lead. We were so much the better side and could have had the game wrapped up by the break. The closest we came was a shot from an angle by Elliott well saved by Duke and another from Chris Eagles which Duke parried almost into the path of Elliott.

Still a lead's a lead and we went in 1-0 up as Ray Pointer came out to make the half time draw and the former centre forward from our glory years of the late 1950s and early 1960s received a warm reception from the home fans.

Hull were a bit better in the second half for a while. You'd hardly say they stepped it up but they had improved and might have even equalised after the Dutchman with the long name played in Olofinjana who wasn't prepared to take the responsibility. As Clarke Carlisle came in it was played to Kamel Ghilas but his shot was straight at Jensen.

We weren't playing particularly well but in Hull weren't really troubling us and it had all become somewhat scrappy. The only real excitement was a double substitution by Hull that saw removed Paul McShane turn in a memorable show on the touchline.

Water bottles were both kicked and thrown by the irate player, one of a squad that is apparently 1 million percent behind manager Phil Brown. I can confirm he was behind him when the bottles went flying.

It was still 1-0 though and that scoreline came very close to changing after another almighty cock up by the referee. This was bigger than any beach ball incident, he got things horribly wrong.

Hunt made a run towards the Burnley goal but went down under his own steam just outside our box. Incredibly Jones awarded Hull a free kick for a non-existent foul by Steven Caldwell.

Up stepped Geovanni with the voice to my left (my brother) suggesting he was going to put it right into the top corner to draw Hull level. He didn't, he got it on target but too close to Jensen who somehow got his hands to it but couldn't keep it out.

It wasn't very good goalkeeping but he needn't have worried, there was Jones awarding Burnley a free kick for pushing in the wall. Did Olofinjana push Elliott? He probably did, although ever so slightly, but it was before the free kick had been taken and so Jones, who wasn't even looking at the kicker, should have at least ordered a re-take.

Now if Hull weren't happy with the penalty they certainly weren't happy with this and poor Geovanni, who had looked about as effective as a chocolate fireguard all afternoon, decided to have a word with the ref and was yellow carded for it. That was soon to cost him dearly.

Just five minutes later he fouled Steven Fletcher and out came the second yellow. It really did look as if he had slipped but by now an odd mistake from the referee was hardly noticeable and Geovanni left us for the proverbial early bath.

Coyle rung the changes with his substitutions and we got that second all important goal. The first of the subs, Kevin McDonald, played the ball across from the left hand side for Grezza who stepped forward before unerringly hitting his long range shot past Duke and beating him right in the bottom corner of his near post.

The game was up for Hull and we really should have added to that scoreline as we created some very good opportunities. But 2-0 was how it stayed and it was enough to take us back into the top half of the Premier League.

We hadn't been at our best, but forget the referee for one minute because this was a game where we fully merited the win. We might not have reached the standards we've set previously but we were very much the better side here.

I think every Burnley fan was genuinely delighted for Alexander, not just his goals but his overall performance. Those goals have moved him up one place in the list of oldest players to score Premier League goals. He's sixth now having moved ahead of Gary Speed. I worked it out that a goal early in the 2012/13 season could see him go top.

But it wasn't just Alexander. There were some good performances all over the pitch. The full backs were again outstanding, the two central defenders gave little away and no doubt the creative department were much more on their game than had been the case a week earlier with Eagles in particular causing more problems. Up front Fletcher is now really beginning to look the part in his natural position.

Last night someone on the message board asked if we were pleased with this start in the Premier League. I said no, I'm thrilled to bits with it. We've a long way to go yet, but we've come a long way. Five home wins so far is superb, wouldn't it be brilliant if we could top that and start getting a few points now on the road?

The teams were;

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Andre Bikey, Chris Eagles (Fernando Guerrero 85), Wade Elliott, Robbie Blake (Kevin McDonald 72), Steven Fletcher (David Nugent 78). Subs not used: Diego Penny, Michael Duff, Joey Gudjonsson, Steven Thompson.
Yellow Cards: Wade Elliott.

Hull: Matt Duke, Paul McShane (Bernard Mendy 59), Anthony Gardner, Kamil Zayatte, Andy Dawson, Kamel Ghilas, Dean Marney, Seyi George Olofinjana, Geovanni, Stephen Hunt (Nick Barmby 70), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Jozy Altidore 58). Subs not used: Tony Warner, Steven Mouyokolo, Kevin Kilbane, Richard Garcia.
Yellow Cards: Jozy Altidore, Geovanni, Bernard Mendy.
Red Cards: Geovanni.

Referee: Mike Jones (Chester).

Attendance: 20,219.