This was a great result and thoroughly deserved. We held our own against the champions elect on their own ground.
I've never been much of a fan of international breaks, especially when two of our already-depleted squad are badly injured taking part in them. Anyway, we're back to business this evening and it couldn't be a tougher challenge as Burnley are surely going straight back to the Premier League as champions. In the home fixture we did well in the first-half but after a couple of telling changes in personnel and tactics they hammered us in the second and it could have been worse than 4-2. They've got a goal-difference of 45+ and we'll have a job keeping a clean sheet. Mowbray will have to make at least one change for this game and he's suggested that some of the younger squad members will be given a chance so I'm intrigued to see what our starting eleven is going to be. I'll be watching the game with a group of others from the London Branch and much as I'd like us to get something from the game I have to be realistic so my match prediction is a 2-1 defeat.
I got to the pub not long after 7.00, purchased a Guinness and sat down at a still empty table bearing a card saying ‘Sunderland 19.30 X15’, figuring that I fitted the bill. I checked the team-news and Ekwah was starting and so was Gooch while Ba and Michut were on the bench – they’d been some rumours that they’d be too worn out after international duty. There was just a small telly with no sound on and there was a live singer coming through loud and clear from the adjoining room so I hoped that things would improve sonically. Just after 7.30 one of the staff came over and asked if I was one of the SAFC group so I pointed to the badge on my London Branch jumper. (I bought two of them for a fiver a good while back - I don’t buy shite.) At 7.45 I noticed that a large screen had appeared behind my head so I switched seats for an optimum view. Nobody else had shown up but the singer had wound up her set. Next thing my London Branch compadre Steve arrived so I’d have his company at least. His prediction was 2-2. Just before kick-off the Sky signal went off…
It came on just in time and the sound was on too. Neil gave away a free-kick just outside our box in the fourth minute and that’s a bad habit we really should try to minimise. Patterson dealt with it easily anyway. The opening ten minutes went comfortably enough for us and Burnley hadn’t looked particularly threatening. A few other members of the faithful had arrived in the bar so we weren’t alone. Next thing for the second time we almost intercepted a pass out from Muric in goal and I could see us taking advantage of him if he wasn’t careful. We had a shot of sorts in the eighteenth minute when Ekwah hit a bobbly effort wide of their left post. By the midway stage not much had happened and that suited me.
We conceded the first corner in the twenty-sixth minute and in the melee Patto made a crucial block on the line from Harwood-Bellis. We promptly won our first corner and Muric grabbed it but next thing Roberts had a good run and shot, which warmed the cockles a bit. A volley from Neil was on target and things were looking brighter for us. Burnley were starting to look very slick as they broke down their left with Tella being hard to handle. With ten minutes to the break we lost the picture for a short while but when we resumed, it remained goalless. The home fans weren’t making much noise so we’d done well to at least hold our own. With five minutes to go Burnley had the best chance so far when we allowed Barnes far too much space and his shot went over the bar. Not long after that a Brownhill shot was deflected over the bar by Gooch and this was a worrying period for us. Thankfully there were only two minutes of stoppage-time and it remained 0-0 as the whistle went. Burnley had warmed up a lot after a nondescript start but we’d coped with them throughout and had managed a couple of efforts of our own. So far, so good.
We started the second period well, winning a corner and having a short on target from Roberts. Cullen got the first card of the game for a spot of wrestling and soon we’d weathered the first ten minutes of the half without any problems. Maatsen got a yellow for a biting tackle and then Zaroury shot well wide from a dangerous position. With sixty minutes gone and a few pints down the neck I was starting to flirt with the idea of us getting a point. I was also wondering what Amad and co could do if they came on soon. O’Nien and Tella had a bit of a tete-a tete on our goal-line after a shoulder interchange and for a millisecond I thought it might get worse but both parties cooled it. In the sixty-fourth minute Amad and Michut came on for Gelhardt and Ekwah. The ref Jarred Gillitt was giving us the rub of the green when it came to free-kicks and the home fans were getting angry.
In the sixty-eighth minute we broke quickly and an Amad shot came back from the bar. Burnley were soon up the other end and Patterson was there again to save the day. Twenty minutes to go and it was anybody’s game. Amad was looking class whenever he got the ball and I reckoned he could even nick us the winner. Pritchard and Roberts were replaced by Ba and Lihadji with just less than half an hour on the clock. That clock was ticking away remarkably fast too. Batth conceded a corner but we got it away. Steve reckoned Burnley didn’t seem that bothered and that he’d be a bit disappointed with a draw but a draw still sounded fine to me. Ten minutes to go and then Gooch made another crucial block to concede a corner that came to nothing for Burnley. Jordan had a mad moment and put the ball out for a corner for some strange reason. From the corner the faithful in the pub were whooping when it looked like we’d scored but the effort was ruled out for offside and the replay showed that this was correct, sadly. Cirkin came on for Clarke with a couple of minutes left.
I was expecting four minutes of stoppage-time, and groaned when six were announced. We battled on all the way till the final whistle and it ended 0-0.
