Bury 0-0 Burnley

The woodwork twice denied the Clarets as we were held to a 0-0 draw last night in the second pre-season friendly at Bury. Andy Gray and Alan Mahon were the unlucky men as the post and bar kept them out respectively.

It was a less than entertaining affair as Bury battled away without really threatening too much, whilst the Clarets were again guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net, with Alan Mahon once again being the exception to the rule.

We started off with a much stronger side than in the first half at Accy, with the Beast continuing in goal, whilst the back four was made up of Frank Sinclair at right back, Jon Harley at left back, with a central defensive partnership of Stephen Foster and the captain for the night, Wayne Thomas.

The captain’s armband certainly seemed to inspire Thommo as he put in another impressive performance as he had done at Accrington. He was in constant communication with the back four, reminding his central partner Stephen Foster of his positional play, as well as encouraging Steve Jones as he faded in the second half.

The midfield consisted of Spicer on the right, McCann and James O’Connor in the middle and Mahon on the left, with Steve Jones partnering Andy Gray up front. Bury certainly had the better of the play in the first ten minutes, before the Clarets finally came into the game. Steve Jones had our first real chance as he switched the ball from his left foot to his right foot, only to be denied by Bury keeper Alan Fettis.

Mahon hit a long-ranger that was always going over, before John Spicer missed a sitter on the half-hour mark. After good work down the left from Jones, he squared the ball for a relatively simple tap-in for Spicer. Unfortunately, Spice Boy got it all wrong and scuffed his shot over the bar. Jensen saved at the other end from Bishop… and that was about it as far as Bury’s chances were concerned.

Just before half-time, some fantastic work in the midfield from Micah Hyde, who had replaced Chris McCann, created a chance for Andy Gray, who did everything right in shrugging off his man and placing his shot across the keeper, only to see the post deny him.

The second half didn’t offer much, as the usual procession of substitutes ensued just after half time, and it wasn’t until the 74th minute that Burnley really threatened again. Alan Mahon was fed the ball, but seemed to have nothing on until deciding to hit a cracking shot from 25 yards that Fettis did well to tip over.

It was Mahon again that next tested Fettis just three minutes later as he curled a very similar free kick to the beauty he scored at Accy. This time though, the keeper was equal to it as the shot was tipped onto the bar and cleared to safety. Mahon really does look like he is going to cause teams serious problems with free-kicks in the coming season.

On 82 minutes, Jon Harley was put in the clear, only to be brought down by former Claret Chris Brass. Fortunatley for Brass the referee waved play-on as Brass gestured at Harley to get up. It certainly looked a penalty from where the visiting Clarets were sitting, and the boos from the Burnley fans showed just what they thought of the decision, it was the wrong one.

Finally, Kyle Lafferty, who looked very sharp after coming on, nearly succeeded in taking on the entire Bury defence, before just failing to get his shot away as the last defender stepped in.

All in all, not really inspiring stuff, but we were the better team. Now it’s a home game against Bolton, before the squad jet off to Sport Hotel Veronello to continue their pre season preparations in Italy.