How many times have I heard pundits and the like say that it is a sign of a good team when they can win despite not playing well? Well that was Burnley yesterday. We seemed to be saving ourselves for the Southend game for most of the 90 minutes but still managed to move up into second in the table.
After a two week break, I was looking forward to seeing a good, fast flowing, entertaining game of football and when Gifton Noel-Williams headed in his fourth of the season, he has now already doubled his goal tally from the whole of last season, on just under the quarter hour mark it seemed just too good to be true.
Unfortunately it was, from then on we sat back and defended our lead and only committed two or three men forward at a time. Not what I want to see when I have paid good money to be entertained.
It was three points all the same and it doesn’t seem right starting a match report so negatively after a 2-0 win sent us up into the automatic promotion zone. There were several good individual performances from the clarets, with Michael Duff, James O’Connor, Steve Jones and Gifton Noel-Williams impressing me throughout. The goals were both well worked too and it was great to finally see Michael Duff get his first goal for Burnley.
And no, I haven’t forgotten about his goal against Carlisle in the cup last season, but there is no way I am giving him that, I am still astounded as to how he was awarded it to be honest. He crossed the ball in and a Carlisle defender hit it into the back of the net, the cross was even going away from goal. So yeah, well done Duffo on your first Burnley goal.
And as for the Gift, it was great to see him hit the net again too. He has been a revelation this season and deserved his goal, and he looked like he enjoyed it. I don’t think you will find many players that can go from having such a terrible first season to playing like he is now. His current form is all the better for me, having stuck by him throughout last season claiming that he has great ability and will come good eventually. I was laughed down at the time, I’m the one laughing now, though. Well done Gifton and keep it up.
Hull came to Burnley after a respectable one-all draw against Crystal Palace, and despite winning three of their last five games (one of those wins coming via a penalty shoot-out against Hartlepool) many of their fans that I spoke to before the game were less than optimistic, one claiming that this was the worst he had ever seen Hull play in his life, and another saying that they were starved of goals, they couldn’t hit a barn door with a machine gun.
That prompted me to have a look at the league table, Hull were second bottom of the table and had scored a measly eight goals from their opening ten games, and when compared to Burnley, sitting third in the table with 18 goals, I could see why their fans were so downbeat.
Onto the game and we started brightly, Wade Elliott forcing a save from Boaz Myhill early in the game. Wade Elliott would against be involved soon after, his corner was met by John McGreal, who was denied a rare goal by a fine save from Myhill, but he would only tip the ball over the crossbar and the resulting corner would see us take our goal count for the season up to 19. Elliott took it again, this time from the left, and Duff was there to open the scoring after just ten minutes.
We’re making a habit of scoring early at the moment, Andy Gray scored in the first minute against Stoke, another early strike against Southampton and just three minutes after Duff’s early goal, Gifton would make it 2-0, and once again Wade Elliot provided the assist. Wade received the ball out wide, ran forward a little before sending in a fantastic cross for the Burnley number 21 to meet with a powerful header. The move was started by Micah Hyde, who put in a fantastic tackle before sending the ball forward to Elliott.
Soon after Gifton headed inches over the bar from a similar position to that in which he got his goal with the goalkeeper stranded, Steve Jones was running the show down the left and Andy Gray had a few good opportunities in the middle.
In between our attacks, Hull twice had good chances to get a goal back. Jon Parkin, who looked like he had turned up to the wrong Hull team such was the size of him (the rugby team were playing that night), got past Frank Sinclair and managed to get a shot away, but Duff was on hand to hit the ball behind for a corner.
Minutes later and the guy who seems to have been around forever and yet is only 28, Michael Bridges, got in front of goal and looked certain to score. The former Leeds striker, who has been plagued by injuries for the past six years, showed how far he has gone downhill after he once scored 21 goals in his first Premiership season after a £4.5 million move to Elland Road, when he just ran the ball into Brian Jensen.
Soon after Andy Gray had the chance to make it 3-0, but his shot was blocked. Never the less we had the initiative in the game and looked like we could go on to better the 4-1 win at Norwich. My mate, who travelled down to Carrow Road, told me that this was even better already.
Unfortunately though, as earlier mentioned, it wouldn’t last. Now don’t get me wrong, I can understand why Steve Cotterill told his players to sit back and defend the lead, to pass the ball about without running with it as much. I can understand why Brian Jensen used his awful time wasting tactics every single time he got the ball. We were in control against a team that looked just as awful as their fans told me pre-match. We have a tough game on Tuesday against Southend, and so we wanted to save ourselves. However, I go to the Turf to be entertained, and for the end of the first half and most of the second, I was anything but.
Hull ended the first, and started the second half on top without ever really threatening to get a goal. Danny Mills was moved to right back in an attempt to stop Steve Jones, who was running riot down the left in the first 45. Mills, whose career has also suffered an almighty plight since we played for England during the 2002 World Cup, was showing his typical self, taking Jones’ legs as many times as possible and he looked to be getting really frustrated and in the end it was surprising that he didn’t get a second yellow card.
The second half was as bad a 45 minutes of football you will see all season. Neither side created any chances, the closest to a goal was Jon Harley’s free kick, which Myhill did well to tip onto the post and out for a corner.
So, we won, we kept a clean sheet, Duff and Gifton scored, oh, and we are now second in the table. They are about the only positives I can take out of a game that will not live long in the memory.
Player ratings:
Jensen – 6 I think I’ve said my piece about him and his time wasting. Didn’t have much to do.
Sinclair – 7 Did well both in defence and attack. Put some good crosses in.
Duff – 8 Fantastic performance and deserved his goal.
McGreal – 7 Kept Hull quiet with Duff.
Harley – 6 Didn’t do much wrong. Didn’t get forward much.
Elliott – 7 Two assists in the first half but disappeared for the second.
O’CONNOR – 8* My man-of-the-match- what a season he is having
Hyde – 6 Too sloppy too much.
Jones – 7 Did well in the first half, impressed in the second but Mills did much better against him.
Gray – 6 He can be excused having a poor game.
Gifton – 8 As with Jimmy O’C, having a fantastic season so far.
Hull: Boaz Myhill, Alton Thelwell (Danny Coles 45), Danny Mills, Michael Turner, Andy Dawson, Craig Fagan, Ian Ashbee, Dean Marney (John Welsh 73), Mark Yeates, Michael Bridges, Jon Parkin (Nicky Forster 67). Subs not used: Matt Duke, Ryan France.
Referee: Andy Penn (West Midlands).
Attendance: 11,530.
