Year ends with Goodison defeat

Last updated : 30 December 2009 By Tony Scholes
David Nugent
David Nugent - came closest with a shot against the post
A stirring performance against Bolton two days earlier sent around 3,000 Clarets off through the fog to Merseyside with some confidence of returning home with something, but it was not to be as everything went against us in the second half and two late goals for the home team ensured a ninth away defeat of the season.

It's a long time since we played at Goodison, January 1976 to be exact when Joe Brown had just replaced Jimmy Adamson as manager. Nothing much has changed there since, the old Bullens Road Stand still houses the away fans at what surely is the most traditional of grounds in the top flight.

They still have the toffee lady coming round and even the pre-match music hasn't changed as we went from 'They're a grand old team to play for' to the entrance music of the Z Cars theme which they have used for as long as I can remember. My view was far from brilliant, but give me this over the Emirates any day of the week.

With both Clarke Carlisle and Steven Caldwell still ruled out it meant Owen Coyle named the same side as had drawn with Bolton with the same seven substitutes on the bench. David Moyes was forced into one change, Yakubu replacing the injured Louis Saha.

It didn't start too well for us and we could have been a goal down in the first minute after Yakubu set up Leon Osman. We got away with that and we got away with another opportunity that came back off the post.

We did finally get into our stride and twice the Everton keeper Tim Howard was forced to make good saves, firstly from Steven Fletcher and then from Wade Elliott.

But Everton always looked the more likely in the first half, with Brian Jensen twice making good saves, and I think we could count ourselves a bit fortunate to go in at half time with the score still at 0-0. We were 1-0 down on the yellow cards though with Stephen Jordan having been booked and that was to prove significant in the second half.

Jordan's role in the second half was to prove decisive, as was that of the appalling Howard Webb supposedly our number one referee.

Before either of them could play their part we played much better in the opening fifteen minutes of the half than at any time during the first half. Chris Eagles, who had offered precious little in the first half (and not the only one) was beginning to cause Everton some problems down our left hand side.

Kevin McDonald should have done better than hit his shot over after one Eagles run, and from the next we won a corner which Everton half cleared onto the other side of the pitch. Wade Elliott, another to really disappoint, got the ball to David Nugent and the Evertonian, in his first appearance at Goodison, got his shot from a tight angle past Howard only for it to hit the far post.

By now Webb had started to come into the game and have more of an influence. He'd carded two more Burnley players. The one given to Elliott brought no complaints but the one for Andre Bikey was just too ridiculous for words. With a good vantage point he got it stupidly wrong as he did a penalty shout at the other end when an Eagles ball in was clearly handled.

Webb's next move was to give Jordan a second yellow. We couldn't complain, it was hardly the most disguised shirt pull we've ever seen, and in fairness the referee had no option. Jordan had got it wrong, he'd made a mistake. It certainly didn't warrant the abuse he received in the ground or on this site's message board where one former poster wished him a long injury.

Coyle immediately introduced Christian Kalvenes. It was the right thing to do but I admit to being astounded that Nugent was the man to come off. He'd looked our most likely all afternoon.

It was probably a matter of defending the point by now and in truth we did it without too much concern, that is until seven minutes from the end when James Vaughan, just on as a substitute, scored from close range.

Suggestions of offside proved unfounded, there was nothing wrong with the goal, and there we were staring at another away defeat.

All that was left was for Webb to get another one wrong and for Everton to score again in stoppage time. This time Webb yellow carded Tyrone Mears for winning the ball cleanly. He was in the perfect position again but once again he got it ridiculously wrong. That decision has cost Mears a suspension that otherwise would not have been the case.

We can forget the Everton second, even though it did come seconds after I'd proclaimed it was the first time we'd conceded less than two goals in an away game this season.

I think, in the end, Everton probably just about deserved it, but had Jordan not done anything silly and had Webb handled the game in a fair way, something he most certainly did not, then we might well have got something out of it.

That's nine without a win now and we are going to have to start finding points from somewhere very soon. Hopefully starting with the next league game against Stoke.

The teams were;

Everton: Tim Howard, Tony Hibbert, Lucas Neill, John Heitinga, Leighton Baines, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (James Vaughan 81), Leon Osman, Marouane Fellaini, Steven Pienaar, Tim Cahill (Phil Neville 60), Yakubu. Subs not used: Carlo Nash, Seamus Coleman, Shane Duffy, Kieran Agard, Jose Baxter.
Yellow Cards: Steven Pienaar.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Michael Duff, Andre Bikey, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott (Robbie Blake 85), Kevin McDonald, Graham Alexander, Chris Eagles, David Nugent (Christian Kalvenes 63), Steven Fletcher (Steven Thompson 81). Subs not used: Diego Penny, David Edgar, Joey Gudjonsson, Fernando Guerrero.
Yellow Cards: Stephen Jordan, Andre Bikey, Wade Elliott, Michael Duff, Tyrone Mears.
Red Card: Stephen Jordan.

Referee: Howard Webb (Rotherham).

Attendance: 39,419.