We've bought our ticket

Last updated : 04 May 2009 By Tony Scholes
Clarke Carlisle
Clarke Carlisle - Man of the Match
After the home win against Sheffield United almost two weeks earlier we had two chances to grab that one win needed to ensure a top six finish, and after missing out at Southampton we made no mistake with what proved to be our second biggest win of the season.

Once Preston scored that winner at Birmingham, as we made our way home from Southampton, I was expecting to have a week full of nerves and concerns. I'm not always the most positive when it comes to Burnley winning important games but that's probably due to years of being a fan.

"They always let you down," is something I've heard over and over again through the years and yet this time it was different. Maybe it was because I had two supporter events to arrange, the Player of the Year Evening and the Bad Beat Banquet, so maybe I didn't have time to dwell on the game and start to worry. There again it might have been because I was so confident that we wouldn't have any problems.

I first started to feel nervous leaving the pub to make my way to the Turf and realising just how big the game was. Once inside and at my seat I was fine again and all ready for the game. It would be just before half time when the nerves started to jangle again.

It was fantastic to see the three home stands full, and it was equally ridiculous to see one end with not many over 350 inside. Whoever was responsible for this decision should be taking a long hard look at themselves. It cost our club money and it cost some supporters the opportunity to see the game.

It wasn't a surprise though, and neither was the team news when it was confirmed. The line up was exactly the same that had played at St. Mary's eight days earlier with the only change seeing Steven Thompson, who has been out of action for some weeks with an ankle injury, returning via the bench in place of Michael Duff.

Bristol City manager had warned of a high tempo start from the Clarets and he was absolutely right. We went at them from the start and in that first ten minutes of the game were so unlucky not to have taken the lead we so needed.

With less than half a minute gone we'd won our first corner which Steven Caldwell headed over the bar. Then Chris McCann got an opportunity but shot narrowly wide. We kept on coming and Chris Eagles, fed by a ball from Wade Elliott, crashed a shot against the bar with the cheating Brazilian goalkeeper Adriano Basso well beaten.

There were no sign of nerves on the pitch, and the start had lifted the decibels inside an already noisy Turf Moor. However, the goal didn't come during that bright start and as usually happens we saw Bristol City starting to come into the game.

They started to get more and more of the ball with former loan player Dele Adebola heavily involved most of the time. Still, they weren't really creating much and apart from one ball that went across our box I wasn't unduly worried. Indeed the nearest we came to a goal during this period was at the other end when Wade headed an Eagles cross over the bar.

Then came the news we didn't want. The rather large striker from Preston had given the home side the lead after a calamitous piece of QPR defending. At that point, had the scores remained the same, we would have finished seventh.

You could hear the muttering all round the ground, but mutters can explode within a couple of minutes, especially when one Wade Elliott makes a run into the box, he's clearly pushed over and referee Clive Oliver points to the spot.

You know Graham Alexander is as safe a bet as you can get with penalties and yet again he made no mistake, hammering home to Basso's left. In front, and remember we only needed to win. Yet that's when I started to get really nervous. Suddenly we'd got what we wanted and had something to hang on to.

Those nervy moments lasted less than two minutes thankfully. We won a corner on the left and Robbie Blake hit it across to the far post where Caldwell headed back and there was Wade to hit a left foot volley home and double the lead.

I was relaxed again, and enjoyed seeing the young players receive a warm reception at half time when they were presented with the totesport.com Central League after clinching it six days earlier.

Bristol City came out very early for the second half but once it was underway they never threatened to get back into the game. The only problem we had was caused by injuries that saw Elliott and Clarke Carlisle both replaced either side of the hour mark.

Initially Rhys Williams moved to the centre with Alexander dropping to full back but that was quickly changed with McCann taking the central defensive role and both Williams and Alexander reverting to their original position.

Both Wade and Clarke had played well. Wade had won the penalty and scored the second whilst Clarke at the back had hardly made a mistake and dealt with the Adebola threat superbly. Such was his performance that, despite good performances all over the pitch, he was my man of the match.

It was all going very nicely. We were 2-0 up and seemingly content with that and Bristol City didn't look as though they were ever going to come close to getting back into the game. So just to wrap things up very nicely indeed the other former Burnley loan player from 2003/04 season, Bradley Orr, decided to give another penalty away with what looked a very needless handball.

There was no complaint from him towards the referee, to be honest he'd have looked pretty stupid had he done so. Now I didn't know Grezza had twins so having scored a penalty for one of them he had to get another. This time he hit it to Basso's right, with just as much venom giving the keeper just as much chance as he'd had with the first one.

That was it, the Bristol City suitcases were not just packed now I think some of them had already checked in. We scored one more and it could have been plenty. That fourth came after Robbie cross from the left, Eagles' shot was well saved by Basso but Joey Gudjonsson turned in the rebound from close range. I suppose it was fitting that our last league goal of the season was scored by a substitute.

All we needed to know now was who else were in the play offs and who we would play. Preston pipped Cardiff, I bet that 6-0 defeat the Welsh side suffered at Preston recently will now be haunting them, and we've got Reading.

Fans had been asked to stay off the pitch but some did go on. Not the usual kids but some numpties who were quickly removed. And that allowed Owen Coyle to bring his squad out to do a lap with even some of the Bristol City fans remaining to applaud our players, all credit to them.

So, it needed us to get 76 points in the end. Had we not won then we'd have been the ones finishing seventh. But we deserve to be there, we've played some superb football at times this season and won more points than we've ever done at this level since we went to three points for a win.

I'm relaxed now but whether I will be in a few days I don't know but I suspect not. Turf Moor has had one of its busiest ever days at the ticket office and we are gearing up for the visit of Reading next Saturday.

We've won nothing yet, but if you don't buy a ticket you can't win anything. We've now bought our ticket. Three more performances will do it, and if we do then it will more than make up for that night against Spurs.

TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

The teams were;

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Rhys Williams, Clarke Carlisle (Kevin McDonald 61), Steven Caldwell, Christian Kalvenes, Graham Alexander, Chris Eagles, Wade Elliott (Joey Gudjonsson 57), Chris McCann, Robbie Blake, Martin Paterson (Steven Thompson 77). Subs not used: Diego Penny, Jay Rodriguez.
Yellow Cards: Rhys Williams.

Bristol City: Adriano Basso, Bradley Orr, Liam Fontaine, Izzy Iriekpen, Jamie McAllister (Jamie McCombe 80), Michael McIndoe (Ivan Sproule 55), Lee Johnson, Marvin Elliott, Cole Skuse, Nicky Maynard (Gavin Williams 55), Dele Adebola. Subs not used: Stephen Henderson, Peter Styvar.
Yellow Cards: Jamie McAllister, Marvin Elliott.

Referee: Clive Oliver (Shotley Bridge).

Attendance: 18,005.