Burnley 3-2 Preston North End

What a night!  That is what it’s all about.  That is why we put all that money into the club for tickets.  That is why we keep on coming back.

I must admit, I was worried in the week building up to the game, everyone was telling me how much they were looking forward to it and yet I failed to find that same excitement, to me it was just another game.  Walking up to the ground, though, I more than made up for my lack of pre-match enthusiasm.  A packed Harry Potts Way was buzzing and you could feel something in the air, this was not just another game, this was the Burnley PNE Lancashire Hot-Pot. 

We were under no illusions, beating Preston was going to be tough.  Paul Simpson had his team playing his way, and an 11-game unbeaten run had sent them up into second in the Championship and a win at Turf Moor would send them level on points with leaders Cardiff.  Star striker David Nugent was suspended though, and the remaining strikers were all struggling for fitness.

The game was to be broadcast on Sky TV and until a year or so ago, this could have been seen as a sign of bad luck, with televised wins being a rarity.  However, as the cameras rolled into the Turf Moor car park last night the Clarets had won the last few games on the box, the latest being the 4-1 demolition of Norwich last month.  The PNE fans were armed with their bananas and happy-clappers, the scaffold TV studio was set up in the corner of the ground between the Longside and the Cricket Field Stand, the cameras had been set up around the ground and the commentators took their seats for the start of the game.

Thommo came back into the team as captain in place of Steve Foster and other than that we were unchanged from the team that extended our unbeaten away record with a 0-0 draw at Plymouth six days earlier.  The visitors started the game with Patrick Agyemang and an in-form Danny Dichio in attack, the latter going into the game on the back of a double against Hull the previous Saturday.  Agyemang was the only change to the PNE lineup, coming in for Nugent.

The game started brightly with both teams getting the ball down and playing some good football and Danny Dichio thought he had scored the first goal eight minutes in, but the linesman had his flag up, with the big striker offside by some distance.  The game overall was rather even, Burnley were creating the majority of the goalscoring chances however, and Carlo Nash was called into action on the quarter hour mark, with Micah Hyde producing a shot from the edge of the area which the former Middlesbrough stopper held with ease.  Soon after it was Jimmy O’Connor’s turn to try to open the scoring, and after finding space in the area his shot cannoned off Gifton and flew out for a goal-kick.

In between our chances, however, Dichio attempted to put PNE ahead from outside the box, but his shot was poor and lacked pace and Brian Jensen had no problems in stopping the ball.  Chris Sedgwick was another player to try a long range effort which despite more than making up for Dichio’s shot in terms of speed and power, lacked accuracy as the ball flew past Jensen’s goal. 

Soon after, Jones had a long range shot blocked and Andy Gray headed wide and it seemed as though we had seen the last of any meaningful action in the first half and just as many fans headed inside for their half time ‘soup with a crust’ James O’Connor hit the ball into the back of the net in the last minute of first half normal time. 

Gifton received the ball in the box from Jon Harley and should really have got his shot in first time, but instead he tried to dribble round the defender, he couldn’t and the man in yellow got a foot to the ball, it could only fall to Ginge though, who made no mistake in blasting the Clarets into the lead.  The Irishman had only been discussing his good goalscoring record with the Clarets the night before on TalkSport radio, and that was his third of the season already.  We were winning, but we couldn’t get complacent, we know all about comebacks after the Barnsley game, and Preston are comeback specialist theirselves, beating Ipswich 3-2 a few week back despite trailing by two goals at half time.

We could have given ourselves a more comfortable scoreline early in the second half, but Chilvers came to the rescue of the visitors and managed to knock the ball away from Andy Gray and behind.  The resulting corner saw Wayne Thomas, who had been immaculate in the first 45, make his mark on his return to the team as he forced a smart save from Carlo Nash with a volley from the corner of the penalty area.

Preston could easily have been a man down soon after, with Dichio lashed out at Duff and Thommo, who a few weeks earlier might have lost it himself, following a stamp from the former.  I’m going to be controversial here and say that I was pleased when I saw the colour of the card was yellow and not red.  Red cards ruin games, and to have a man sent to the dressing room in the Lancashire Hot-Pot would really have ruined what was so far a fantastic game of football.

Soon to follow was a move which Steve Cotterill raved about after the game.  A smart passing move saw the ball find Wade Elliott on the right and his chip over Danny Pugh was a delight to watch and Andy Gray almost seemed surprised when the ball reached him and he will have been disappointed with his header which ended up the wrong side of the post.

Agyemang was unable to complete 90 minutes after returning from 3 weeks out of the team injured, and his replacement Lewis Neal took Up Whalley’s right midfield slot allowing Whalley to move forward into attack.

Soon after Jimmy O’Connor, who was enjoying a fine game, tested Nash and Alexander forced a fantastic save from the Great Dane Brian Jensen.  Dichio then followed Agyemang onto the bench, replaced by Blackburn boy Brett Ormerod, who had an instant impact, heading the ball down for the eye-catching Whalley to fire into the back of the net to equalise for PNE.  With not long to go, it seemed as though Burnley had thrown their lead away once again, but it was to get worse two minutes later when Ormerod made it 2-1.  Big Frank was at fault, allowing the ball to fall to the former Blackpool man who tucked away his first goal since returning from a broken leg.

10 minutes to go and we were behind. The Preston comeback was complete. Why does it always happen to us?  Surely we're due a win over Preston?  The visitors were waving their yellow happy-clappers expecting the three points when up popped Sean St ledger who headed in the fourth goal of the game, past Carlo Nash. Frank made up for his earlier mistake by delivering a superb ball into a crowded penalty area where St Ledger had to make contact with the ball to prevent Andy Gray having clear sight of goal, however, his attempted clearance flew into the back of the net to send the Clarets level.  It was St Ledger’s second own goal of the season, his first came in their only defeat so far, on the opening day of the season, could this be an omen for the Clarets to go on and find a winner with just eight minutes remaining.

The crowd were really behind the team now as they pushed forward looking for that winning goal and although I would have been very pleased with a point, all three would be fantastic.  Thomas worryingly picked up an injury and was substituted for Foster on 84 minutes and Lafferty came on for the fantastic Elliott.  With two minutes left Turf Moor erupted.  Jones crossed the ball in from the left and Andy Gray glanced the ball into the back of the net before celebrating his winner in front of the thousands of Preston fans.  As I said at the start of my report, it is moments like that that makes you proud to be a Claret, and makes you keep coming back even after the biggest disappointments.

Wow.  UMBABA.  What a great game, and a fantastic advertisement for Championship football, and Burnley Football Club.  The crowd, almost 15 thousand, was higher than I expected for a televised game and hopefully those that did stay at home will decide to walk on to the next game after such a fantastic performance.

Man of the match?  Where do I start?  Thomas, Harley, Elliott, Jones and O’Connor all stood out in a brilliant team performance but little man James O’Connor shaded it in what is surely his best performance for us since signing?  Him and Elliott have improved so much from last season, when I was a big critic of both, I’m sure eating my words now.

Burnley: Jensen, Harley, Duff, Thomas (Foster 84), Sinclair, Elliott, Hyde (Mahon 90), J O'Connor, Jones, Gray, Noel-Williams (Lafferty 84).
Subs not used: McCann, G O'Connor.

Goals: O’Connor 44, St Ledger (OG) 82, Gray 88

Preston: Nash, Alexander, Pugh (Davidson 87), Sedgwick, Agyemang (Neal 64), Dichio (Ormerod 71), St Ledger, Chilvers, Whaley, McKenna, Hill.
Subs not used: Lonergan, Wilson

Goals: Whalley 78, Ormerod 80

Player Ratings:

Jensen 7 - Produced a fantastic save from Alexander’s shot

Sinclair 7 - At fault for their second but had a solid game overall, great cross for the OG

Harley 8 - Linked up with Jones and got forward well, involved with the opener

Duff 7 - A poor man’s McGreal, read the game so well

Thomas 8 - Fantastic return to the team, proved his critics wrong

Elliott 8 - Continued his great form, fantastic flick over the defender at 1-0

Jones 8 - Gave the usually solid Alexander a torrid time

O’Connor 9* - He just gets better, ran the show

Hyde 7 - Again gave the ball away too much

Gray 7 - Great winning goal

Noel-Williams 7 - Great linkup between midfield and attack