Burnley Let Bees Buzz, Sting and Finally Die!

The Clarets are through to the third round of the Carling Cup after they knocked out League 2, Barnet 3-2 at Turf Moor last night. They made hard work of it though in a game which had very close parallels to the first round tie at home to Burton Albion! Once again we faced League 2 opposition at home, once again we failed to keep a clean sheet (a problem all season so far!) and once again we let slip a two goal lead allowing the visitors to equalise in added time of normal time thus frustratingly for Clarets fans forcing extra time ! Just like last time though our experience and fitness counted in extra time and we got the lead again and managed to hold onto it although this time we did not run riot and had to be content with just a one goal advantage rather than three!

To give the buzzing Bees their due, they came here with a game plan and Lawrie Sanchez`s men continued to frustrate the Clarets throughout the match with our defence in particular at times looking woeful. Had they found their shooting boots and been more accurate in front of goal, we may have been getting the ground staff to remove the banana skins but thankfully we had enough in reserve to see the game through to victory despite needing extra time to do it. It really must be a concern for Eddie Howe though that we simply can`t keep a clean sheet this season and have now conceded five goals in two matches against League 2 opposition. We do of course have a new look back four these days with the departure of Mears, Fox and Carlisle but they must start to gel together quickly before some of the stronger Championship teams begin to run riot. At times we look like error-prone startled rabbits in defence and that simply has to change!

Once again, Eddie Howe resisted the temptation to field a weakened side and made just one change from the starting eleven he selected for the Saturday game at home to Cardiff. Wade Elliott returned to the side in the centre of midfield, with captain, Chris McCann dropping to the bench. Michael Duff was named captain for the match. There was no start, perhaps unexpectedly for new striker, Zavon Hines. The former West Ham forward had to be content with a place on the bench. Jay Rodriguez and Charlie Austin led the attack in 4-4-2 supported by Treacy and Wallace on the flanks. Andre Amougou was back on the bench after sitting out the last match against the Bluebirds for supposedly ‘tactical` reasons dampening speculation that Leicester may be interested in the centre back. Young Steve Hewitt was also named as a substitute and given shirt number 33; the one vacated by Chris Eagles!

In summary then we lined up as follows:

Grant, Trippier, Duff, Mee, Easton, Wallace, Marney, Elliott, Treacy, Rodriguez, Austin

Subs: Jensen, Edgar, Amougou, McCann, Hewitt, MacDonald, Hines

Staffordshire referee, Chris Sarginson got the game underway on a fairly warm and mild night in Burnley.

Burnley seemed to be slow to get going although dominated play in the first 25 minutes or so without being able to get that breakthrough goal. The Bees though did have a sting in their tail on occasions and in rare breaks did expose some of the weaknesses in our defence. In the opening exchanges Austin came close with a header from a Wallace cross but the ball flew wide of target. A shot from Rodriguez had to be parried away by the Barnet keeper, Dean Brill and then a Treacy corner found Ben Mee`s head but the ball frustratingly flew past the post. Our best chance though fell to Ross Wallace after being put clear with a sublime defence- splitting pass from Rodriguez. He could only drag his shot wide though and that seemed to give Barnet a boost.

Barnet looked certain to take the lead after Jason Price found himself unmarked in the six yard box. He looked suspiciously offside but the linesman kept his flag down and that probably made it worse for the Bees striker since he completely fluffed his shot in front of an open goal much to the relief of Lee Grant and all the Clarets fans! The Bees though now looked up for it gaining confidence by the minute. On 30 minutes Barnet were awarded a free-kick which was taken by Mark Marshall. The ball found the head of the big defender, Clovis Kamdjo but thankfully if flew wide and the Clarets could once more breathe a sigh of relief.

Marshall was causing all sorts of problems for the Burnley defence and once more he managed to get the ball in the box for this time Price to try and head home. Grant though on the line managed to snaffle up the ball as Clarets fans became increasingly frustrated by this Barnet spell of pressure and our failure to get our noses in front with half-time fast approaching. We need not have worried though. Trippier on a burst down the right flank got over a telling cross in the 39th minute to find Rodriguez. He gratefully headed home although the ball did take a deflection off Kamdjo. So the sighs of relief echoed around three sides of the ground as the Clarets went into the dressing room at the break having finally broken the stalemate to lead 1-0. The only bad news for the Clarets was that Michael Duff had to be replaced on the stroke of half-time having picked up an injury. Edgar had taken his place so one can only imagine what Amougou might have been thinking!

Howe made no changes for the start of the second-half and Edgar soon nearly made it 2-0 following a free-kick on 50 minutes. Trippier floated the ball over but Edgar could only poke the ball wide. Austin then came close with a power drive of a shot which flew just over the bar. Barnet though refused to throw in the towel and continued to look threatening on the break. On the hour mark, Izale McLeod, who had been getting into the action more and more went on a storming run to get over a cross. There was Sam Deery who looked certain to score but once again shooting accuracy deserted the Bees and the ball flew a few inches over the bar.

Three minutes later though and Burnley doubled their lead in impressive style. Trippier pushed the ball forward for Austin to neatly flick the ball into the path of Elliott. Charging forward, he side stepped the last defender to coolly thump the ball home past Brill.

It now looked like it would be a routine victory for the Clarets with maybe one or two more goals to rub salt in Barnet`s wounds. However, that did not take account of the Bee`s resilience and fighting spirit aided and abetted by some pretty woeful defending by Burnley.

Substitute Steve Kabba, often a thorn in Burnley`s side over the years reduced the arrears in the 73rd minute after latching onto a low cross by danger man, Marshall. He had only just returned from injury too and been just six minutes on the pitch! Clarets fans now just sensed it was going to be another long night! Kabba nearly got the equaliser too forcing a save from Grant after the keeper dived to his right. Frustratingly Burnley just could not put the game to bed and get that elusive third goal despite a number of half-chances.

Hines had replaced Austin in the 71st minute and again he looked lively up front having one shot blocked on the line from a corner and then charging forward to latch onto a pass from Treacy only to find that the angle was too tight. Chris McCann came on from the bench replacing Treacy with a minute of normal time remaining and he was probably not expecting to see much action!

Three minutes into added time with a minute to go though, the inevitable happened just as many Clarets fans were preparing to leave the ground or indeed already had! Grant appeared to have saved the threat from a Marshall free kick but the ball fell nicely to Holmes and he slotted home to make it 2-2 and ensure that yet again we would have to endure extra time.

With the final minute of the first period of extra time approaching, Easton got over a cross which caused panic in the Barnet defence and there was Chris McCann to slot home. It was enough for victory and we played out the second period of extra time without much incident

Match Stats

Burnley: Grant, Trippier, Duff (Edgar 45), Mee, Easton, Wallace, Marney, Elliott, Treacy (McCann 89), Rodriguez, Austin (Hines 71),

Subs Not Used: Jensen, Amougou, MacDonald, Hewitt.

Goals: Rodriguez 38, Elliott 64, McCann 105

Booked: Yellow card for Rodriguez

Barnet: Brill, Senda, Parkes, Uddin (Geohaghan 90+1), Kamdjo, Hughes, Byrne, Deering (Holmes 77), Marshall, McLeod, Price (Kabba 67)

Subs Not Used: O’Brien, Taylor, Cox, Vilhete

Goals: Kabba 73, Holmes 90+3

Booked: Yellow cards for Parkes and Holmes

Possession: 52% Burnley, 48% Barnet (Source: BBC Sport)

Ref: Chris Sarginson (Staffordshire)