Wigan 0 Burnley 0

By Longsider
September 30 2004

Burnley picked up a 4th clean sheet of the season last night. It could been so much better if Jean-Louis Valois had taken his chance in the last minute.

Steve Cotterill named the same team that beat Crewe in a 4-4-2 system before changing to 5 at the back so we played roughly as follows:-

            Coyne

Roche Duff McGreal Sinclair Camara

     Branch Grant Chaplow

        Blake Moore

It was a very wet night at the JJB with both sides creating very little in front of goal. Jason Roberts should have scored for Wigan in the 1st half but he shot wide after a mistake from Michael Duff, Graham Branch missed a great chance when he headed over in the 2nd half.

Neither goalkeeper made a save all night but Burnley should have won it in the last minute when John Filan made a mess of Ian Moore's cross, Jean-Louis Valois smashed the loose ball over the bar.

The referee made some very poor decisions, Richard Chaplow was outstanding in midfield whilst John McGreal and Frank Sinclair did an excellent job in marking the dangerous duo of Roberts and Ellington out of the game.

Steve Cotterill was really pleased with the performance and had this to say after the game

"I thought we worked very hard and deserved that point, We were fantastic at the back and didn’t give them too much of a chance. The lads really worked their socks off and I’m pleased for them. I thought we had the best two chances of the game in Graham Branch’s header and Jean-Louis Valois’ shot at the end too, so we could have sneaked it at the end."

"Jean-Louis has taken a bit of ribbing for not scoring that one. I am not sure how much he understands, but he will soon learn. It was quite a hurried situation, so we will give him a bit of grace."

 

"We did concede a lot of territory in the second half, but they didn’t have too many chances. Everyone knows about their two strikers and they have a strong spine to the team with Bullard and Frandsen in the middle of the park."

“But all the lads worked really hard and we matched them to deserve the point.”

 

Other Results last night:-

 

Brighton 0 Wolves 1

Cardiff 0 Watford 3

Crewe 0 QPR 2

Leicester 3 Sheffield Utd. 2

Plymouth 0 Leeds 1

Reading 3 Preston 1

Stoke 3 Ipswich 2

Sunderland 2 Nottingham Forest 0

West Ham 1 Rotherham 0