|
You need to score goals to win a football match so I suppose the result of this one was in doubt until we got the first, but so good were we that there was surely no way back for the visitors once we went in front.
Owen Coyle, hardly surprisingly, opted for the same starting eleven as Saturday with the same five substitutes. We'd finally got our first win of the season at Forest, we'd found the winning formula and now we really had to go out and get a result at home.
Many eyes were focused on the potential clash between Wade Elliott and Blackpool's all too familiar left back, named as Mohammed Camara on the big screen. The last time we'd seen these two up against each other at the Turf it is fair to say the then visiting winger came off best.
We had a minute to wait to see it in action and Elliott cruised past him to get a cross in that home debutant Steven Thompson blazed into the rock eating away fans. Elliott was to have the beating of him all night, well until they took him off, even though at times the delivery wasn't up to the usual Wade standard.
That early effort set the pattern for a first half that was totally dominated by the Clarets. How on earth we weren't in front by half time I don't know but former Burnley keeper Paul Rachubka had something to do with that, as did referee Moss who somehow missed a penalty shout that looked a certainty.
Rachubka's first big save came from a Burnley free kick about five yards outside the box. The expectant home crowd waited for Graham Alexander to step up but on this occasion he took on the supporting role in a move similar to that which led to the first goal at Forest.
This time it was Chris McCann who hit it, and when I say hit it I mean hit it. The shot powered towards goal but the American keeper got down to save brilliantly.
The goal had to come surely, but it just wouldn't, although almost immediately referee Moss should surely have pointed to the spot for handball as Evatt got in the way of a Wade effort.
Even the defenders got in on the act. Russell Anderson got in a shot and then the goalkeeper again saved well, this time from Clarke Carlisle after his defensive partner Steven Caldwell had headed on a corner.
As we approached half time there were still no goals and in the final action of the half Kevin McDonald made something of a mess of a chance. He'd done brilliantly to get onto the ball but shot wide.
As the half time whistle blew it really was hard to believe we weren't in front. I can't remember the last time we'd dominated a side so much for 45 minutes. But you have to score and that could be the only regret given the outstanding football we'd played.
We just needed to continue that into the second half but it wasn't the case and in the early stages we were less dominant and the passing wasn't anything like as good as it had been in the first half. You could say it was Blackpool's best spell of the game, but only because for a short period they weren't facing a constant wave of Burnley attacks.
In fairness they probably had the best chance in the first quarter of an hour of the second half but then, finally, we got ourselves in front on the hour. Wade set it up initially, making a run at the Blackpool defence.
He then played the ball to Martin Paterson and he did the rest. Virtually on the corner of the penalty box on the right hand side, he stepped inside a defender and then hit a left foot shot right into the far corner to Rachubka's right. He'd no chance of stopping it, none at all.
Pato seemed to enjoy it, and so did Ade Akinbiyi on the touchline and both of them celebrated with a few press ups on the touchline, further evidence of real togetherness in this squad.
Once in front, the result really was in no doubt, but there had to be some doubt regarding our second goal. We won a corner on the left hand side after Wade had got in a shot and it was Wade who went to take it.
Waiting for it to come over I saw Evatt having a real go at Caldwell in their box, pushing and shoving. Over came the corner, down went Caldwell and suddenly the assistant was flagging like crazy in front of the Bob Lord. As the referee looked over the flag went across the chest and Moss pointed to the spot.
Had the corner been taken before the push? If not, then it was a bit dodgy to say the least. Moss went over to speak to him but there were to be no Alan Wileys here and there were to be no heroics from Rachubka as Alexander hammered home his second penalty in three days.
For the statisticians, I believe the last time we won penalties in successive games was in the last two games of the 2004/05 season. Jean-Louis Valois scored against Plymouth at home but Micah Hyde missed the following week at Millwall.
It was all over now for Blackpool, their fans were streaming out crunching on their rock. I was told it had 'Burnley 2 Blackpool 0' written all the way through it.
What they missed was Burnley coming close to more goals as we totally dominated. We'd simply battered them. There should have been another penalty for a foul of Wade, but incredibly the same flag waver didn't bother this time and the bemused referee, who hadn't bothered making any decisions all night, didn't even seem to notice it.
It really was all Burnley now. The three subs who had influenced the game at Forest all came on, but that was in the last few minutes with the game won. Even so Ade almost, and probably should have, scored from a Wade cross.
By then we didn't care, the game was won, and the ovation received at the end was as deserving as any could be. This was a far different Burnley from the one that had played against Ipswich and Plymouth in the previous home games.
Now to the man of the match. I could say it is a difficult choice. Everyone played well but some of the players were outstanding. I considered Steven Caldwell, an inspiration at the back. Also under consideration was Graham Alexander who turned in another top, top performance in midfield.
Then there was Kevin McDonald. Any doubts about this lad's ability were surely washed away with this performance. He's so comfortable on the ball but allied to his movement and intelligent running last night this was another top performance. And of course Martin Paterson. Another exciting game from him with a superb goal to add to it.
Sorry though to all of those players, and to the rest of the team. My choice is Chris McCann. I read an interview with him recently where he said he could no longer play the young lad in the team card, that he now had to step up his game.
He's done that alright this season, and had this performance been in a Premier League game live on Sky I'm sure we'd have heard the co-commentator saying: "Take a bow son, take a bow". Chris for me last night was magnificent, his performance had everything. He won the ball, he made great runs, his passing was a delight, and he came so close more than once to getting a goal.
But it was a magnificent performance in a great team performance. Blackpool never had a chance against us in that form. We gave them a right good lashing, we really did make them look like donkeys.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Russell Anderson, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott, Kevin McDonald (Joey Gudjonsson 86), Chris McCann, Steven Thompson (Ade Akinbiyi 83), Martin Paterson (Robbie Blake 85). Subs not used: Diego Penny, Alan Mahon.
Blackpool: Paul Rachubka, Shaun Barker, Ian Evatt, Rob Edwards, Mo Camara (Joe Martin 70), Adam Hammill, Keith Southern, Claus Jorgensen (Alan Gow 70), David Vaughan, Gary Taylor-Fletcher (Daniel Nardiello 76), Ben Burgess. Subs not used: Zesh Rehman, David Fox.
Referee: Jon Moss (West Yorkshire).
Attendance: 13,752.