Connect with us

Burnley

Clarets drop 2 points

Derby county snatched an unlikely draw from the relms of defeat after Burnley failed to make their dominance count.

Midfield man Chris McCann had put The Clarets infront around the hour mark and afterwards they looked to be cruising, but they never created any clearcut chances and never increased their lead. The setback came 3 minutes into injury time as Paul Connolly headed past Jensen after a Teale cross to rescue a point for the undeserved Rams.

Surprisingly, Owen Coyle named an unchanged side for the third game in a row. The surprise was the inclusion of striker Martin Patterson, who has hit a baron spell and is still looking for his first goal in over 990 minutes of football.

The game started with a fast past. and Derby County were desperate to make their presence known, by trying to bully The Clarets. Three minutes into the match Wade Elliot looked to be in a lot of space in the centre of the park as he bared down on goal, but from nowhere Savage was up to his old tricks again as he blatantly swiped Elliots legs from underneath him.

Then minutes later Jay McEveley obstructed wide man Chris Eagles, and then thrust the palm of his hand into a protesting Wade Elliot. Another referee, another day, McEveley would and should have seen red.

The Clarets laughed off Derbys attempt at “football” and continued to get the ball down and pass it around. Burnley’s pateince stared to pay off as The Clarets started to create. Clarke Carlisle hit the bar, and loanee Rhys Williams forced Derby keeper Bywater into a fine save.

The pressure continued as Eagles forced yet another save out of Bywater after a long range effort, and Martin Paterson was denied a certain goal from a last gasp defensive lunge. Maybe a more confident Paterson would have shown more composure to see off the attentions of the Derby defence and slot home.

After the opening spell Gary Teale was the only spark in an otherwise dark Derby performance, as he forced a decent save out of Jensen from around 30 yards out. The Burnley keeper had to be alert again after another run from Teale set up Hulse who tried his luck from a tight angle.

Paterson recieved a booking after a sliding lunge on Connolly, who certainly made the most of the opportunity to show off his acting skills, and minutes later Derby were denied a penalty after half hearted appeal was turned down when Commons fell in the box.

Derby continued with their small spell of pressure, Burnleys defensive woes continued after afew aimless lunges in the box gave Derby an opening, Jensen had to show off his sharp reactions after a snapsho from that man Gary Teale. Derby came close again after a Savage free kick was deflective off Rob Hulse, but the deflection fell straight into the arms of the grateful Brian Jensen.

The second half came and the game calmed down slightly, and nothing much of note happened until the 59th minute.

The re-invented Clarke Carlisle calmly broke down a Derby attack, and then played a penetrating ball into the path of Chris Eagles. Eagles then ran with the ball and played a one-two with Elliot. Eagles got to the byline and played a hard low cross into that uncertain area for defences. Keeper nor defence fancied attemptting to clear it, and Chris McCann gleefully pounced to put the Clarets 1-0 up.

The Clarets then enjoyed large spells of dominance and looked more and more comfortable as the game went on, but the Clarets never put the Derby defence under any real pressure.

However, Robbie Blake came close after a quiet game, as he sent a rasping shot just wide of the goal.

The Clarets made afew substitutes as they looked to increase ther lead. Gudjohnson replaced Eagles and Rodriguez replaced Martin Paterson, and in the 53rd game of the season, the oldest player on the pitch Graham Alexander had to leave the picth and missed his first piece of action this season, thanks to a calf strain.

Derby looked tired, especially in defence and only poor control from Robbie Blake prevented Burnley from sealing all three late on.

As The Clarets looked to be going 7 points ahead of 7th place, Connolly ruined the day. That man Gary Teale swung in a perfecct cross and Connolly didnt need a second invitation as he powered his header past a stranded Jensen

Final Score
Derby County      1-1      Burnley
Connolly (90+3)             McCann (59)

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Burnley