Too little, too late

Last updated : 18 March 2003 By Steve Cummings
Robbie Blake - came on at half time
This 3-2 defeat was another dispassionate affair from the lacklustre Clarets who came up well short in terms of effort, desire and ideas. Those who arrived late due to an accident on the M6 were the lucky ones; this was dreadful.

The first disappointment of the day arrived prior to kick-off with the news that Little and Blake had been consigned to the substitutes’ bench. The news was greeted with dismay. Here we were, about to go in to a game we desperately needed to win to have a shot at the top six and both match winners were to spend the first half twiddling their thumbs on the touchlines.

Marlon Beresford retained his place in goal despite an unconvincing display at Bramall Lane. In defence Dean West was, ahem, rested as Mark McGregor took his place. Branch, Cox and Diallo made up the remainder of the back four.

Burnley’s skipper, Paul Cook, lined up as a buffer between midfield and defence with A. Moore, Grant, Weller and I. Moore across the middle. The heroic Gareth Taylor was all alone up front.

Despite reservations amongst the strong travelling support, it was Burnley who began the brighter with the better football. But it took 14 minutes for the first incident of note. Gareth Taylor won a header in the Walsall box and for once there was someone on the end of it. Unfortunately Alan Moore’s shot was held by Walker in the Saddler’s goal.

Four minutes later, Walker was again called into action as this time Tony Grant fired a decent effort goalwards from 18 yards. To be honest, that was about as good as the first half got as Walsall woke from their mid-afternoon slumber and started to put some moves together. On 21 minutes Diallo gifted the ball to Pedro Matias whose shot all but took a coat of paint off Beresford’s right-hand post.

Three minutes later Burnley weren’t so lucky. A Zigor Aranalde cross floated to the far post six yards out. It seemed innocuous enough – particularly as Cox, Diallo and Beresford were there to clear it. But none of them did. And as they stood transfixed by the flight of the ball, Jorge Leitao gleefully nodded the ball past the collection of statues. Advantage Walsall.

In the ensuing 10 minutes, Burnley struggled to get a foothold in the game, and nervousness was visibly spreading throughout the ranks. Nowhere was this more apparent than on 34 minutes when Marlon fumbled a Vinny Samways corner. Suppressing his urge to laugh at loud at the goalkeeping gaff, Matt Carbon lashed the ball home from close range. Big-game Burnley were blowing it again. How very predictable.

And that was pretty much the story of the first half. The general consensus was that Burnley had approximately 45 minutes to save their season. Whilst it was highly unlikely, the omens at least were promising. Three quarters of an hour too late, the players who should have been on from the start took their places on the pitch. Blake replaced Grant, Little replaced Ian Moore and out-of-sorts Cox was replaced with The Skip.

The effect was not instant. On 47 minutes, Graham Branch had to execute a well-timed tackle to deny Leitao. Walsall’s pressure was incessant as they looked to nail the game. Leitao was again tormenting the Burnley defence and as he squared the ball from the right hand side, the Brazilian, Junior somehow scooped the ball over Beresford’s bar. Two minutes later, Junior was in the thick of the action again. This time he almost capitalised on a mix-up between Marlon and Davis, before The Skip managed to clear the danger.

Sixty seconds later it was game over. A Paul Cook shot was charged down by Vinny Samways whose swift, incisive pass found Jorge Leitao on the break. Leitao’s initial shot was half-saved, half-fumbled by Beresford. The on-rushing Matias needed no second bidding. Not for the first time in the week, some of Burnley’s supporters, badly let down, made an early start on the traffic.

Now well and truly beaten, we started to play a bit. Robbie Blake’s excellent through ball found Gareth Taylor who pushed the ball past James Walker. There was definite contact as Taylor tried to round the keeper, and referee Walton had no hesitation in both pointing to the spot and dismissing Walker. Junior was withdrawn, and ex-Claret Gavin Ward took Walker’s place. Blake v Ward – number 27 v number 27. Blake converted and Burnley had a life-line. Burnley tried to push on. On a couple of occasions, The Skip won headers at the far post knocking them down into Walsall’s six-yard box. Frustratingly, no-one had even made the effort to run onto them.

With full-time almost upon them, Glen picked the ball up on the edge of the area and curled in a left-footed effort. It was by some considerable margin the best goal in the game, but like the substitutions, like the desire and like the effort of the players it proved to be too little, too late.