Cardiff 2 Burnley 0

By The Longside
February 11 2005

The Clarets suffered the first defeat of 2005 at Cardiff on Saturday. Cardiff won the game 2-0 and the result leaves the Clarets in 13th place with two games inhand on most sides around us in the table.

COTTERILL AGHAST AT CARDIFF 'TRAVESTY' Sporting Life Burnley manager Steve Cotterill claimed it was a "travesty" that his side lost 2-0 at Cardiff. The Bluebirds continued their climb away from the Coca-Cola Championship relegation zone but they were made to work hard by the Clarets. They opened the scoring in the 13th minute through Richard Langley and deserved to be ahead at the interval. However the visitors pinned City back for long periods of the second half and it came against the run of play when the home side doubled their lead through Graham Kavanagh. "We dominated the game but conceded two poor goals, one from a bad back-pass and the other from a deflection," said Burnley manager Steve Cotterill. "It was a travesty that we lost the game but we fell down in the last third with our finishing and the final ball. I'd have settled for a performance like this before the match but unfortunately today it didn't go our way." Midfield ace Richard Chaplow, the subject of a bid by West Brom, was left on the bench. Cotterill added: "Richard Chaplow didn't train yesterday as he took a knock against Liverpool so it was an easy decision to leave him on the bench." The wind and driving rain made the playing conditions difficult and both sides found it hard to retain possession. The Bluebirds went ahead thanks to the persistence of Alan Lee who battled away with Mo Camara before the full-back underhit his backpass to keeper Brian Jensen. Lee continued his chase and when Jensen tried to hack clear, the ball struck Lee and rebounded to Langley who sidefooted into an empty net. Goal chances were few and far between but Junichi Inamoto did strike the woodwork for Cardiff as the first half drew to a close. Cotterill brought on Graham Branch to provide additional firepower up front and for most of the second half they enjoyed the majority of the possession but could not trouble Neil Alexander in the home goal. Although penned back for long periods, City were dangerous on the break and in the 75th minute they put the game beyond the visitors with a goal from Kavanagh. He made space for himself before unleashing a shot which hit the roof of the net via a deflection. "The conditions were difficult and it was hard to keep your feet," said Kavanagh. "Although they enjoyed most of the possession apart from a free-kick at the very end they had few chances. "We have come a long way and a few months ago that could have well have been a draw or even a defeat. Burnley were a hard team to beat and it was important we scored the first goal." Delighted Cardiff boss Lennie Lawrence agreed with Cotterill's assessment of the game. "It is true that they had plenty of possession but their first attempt on target didn't come until three minutes from time. "We gave a solid team performance under difficult conditions and did well in both boxes."