Hi all, I went to the game yesterday, here's my thought on the game: I thought we made a good start to the season, with our key players being Yeates and Forsyth, however not for all the right reasons. Burnley were on top for the first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes, and these times coincided with when these two players were struggling to track back, the first 20 down to possibly underestimating the quality of Burnley's wingers and the last 20 minutes due to possible tiredness. When left on their own, Doyley and Dickinson really struggled against Wallace and Elliot with Burnley's full-backs only too happy to overlap and provide support in attack. The fact we didn't concede in the first half I felt was down to Mariappa, who played superbly in the first half with a number of crucial interceptions, and overall he was probably our man of the match. However, their best two chances in the first half came from crosses which Rodriguez got on to and sent narrowly wide, with their second goal coming from a cross which their right back had all the time in the world to provide. Nevertheless, Burnley most definitely did not have it all their own way. We played a very direct style, but it worked with Iwelumo and surprisingly Forsyth winning an awful lot of headers, which Sordell ran on to. He had two chances in the first half, one where he could have shot or crossed and did another, and another where he forced a good save from Grant. Our goal came from another long-ball, Jenkins catching the Burnley defence too high, and from the opposite stand it happened in almost slow-motion how Sordell crossed the ball, right on to the head of Forsyth to head in the opener on the stroke of half time as he steamed into the penalty area. We looked in control at the start of the second half, with our counter-attacking working well, and it lead to our second goal with Burnley stretched, allowing Sordell to play in Yeates to make it 2-0. But football can be a cruel game. A lucky deflected striker got Burnley back into the game, and we suddenly looked tired, with no outlet with Iwelumo taking off the pitch. Yeates and Forsyth particularly looked tried. The inevitable came with the equaliser, but I take solace from the fact that if we play like that all season, we will be fine.
Thanks for that emiatss . i just spoke to a friend who was also there, who said the same. He even used the words "we looked good after the first 20 minutes"...i'm feeling confident too that we will be okay this season
Thanks for that emiatss Good report So fitness still an issue with our newbies which is to be expected! I too think we will be ok this season ! Next up Bristol Rovers who played well against the wombles!
Good report - repped I saw the goals this morniong on the football league show. Didn't realise the first goal was as lucky as it was. The second, I agree the crosser had all the time in the world but the header was good and Scott had no chance. Apart from the goals, how did Loach look? More commanding or not really? I watched a lot of the Bristol Rovers game, they looked pretty good. Will be a good test from the boys!
cheers emiats, good report- when you say we played a direct style, are you saying we played a long ball game throughout the match?
