Burnley Trips Up!

The Clarets suffered their first defeat at home since early September after going down 1-0 to Charlton Athletic at home on Saturday. The Addicks first win at Turf Moor since 1996 could only be achieved though against a ten-men Burnley side after the Clarets had Kieran Trippier sent off for a controversial handball in the area as early as the fifteenth minute. The incident of course led to a penalty but the Addicks didn`t score from it after Grant saved the day. Burnley held on until the 69th minute before Charlton got their noses in front thanks to a header from Danny Haynes and although Burnley fought hard for the equaliser they were easily contained making Charlton the first team to prevent the Clarets scoring on home soil this season. The game was a pretty dire affair to watch to be honest with few exciting moments and as a competition it was effectively killed off following Trips departure. The Addicks seemed to play at a stroll after that without seemingly firing on all cylinders almost expecting a goal to come. When they did get the goal, they took their foot off the accelerator even more which was probably just as well with their indifference helping us to preserve our goal difference. It was a miserable day all round for Clarets fans who also had to endure Blackburn Rovers moving back into 6th spot after crushing Peterborough 4-1 at London Road. Before the Ipswich game we were just one point off the play-offs with the chance to go above Rovers! Two defeats later we are now in 15thspot with 23 points from 17 games with the play-offs positions now looking further-and-further away! Annoying and frustratingly we are now five points behind the deadly enemy with our next home game of course against Blackburn on Sunday 2nd December. In the meantime we now face two away games; a tricky one against 4th placed Hull City on Saturday followed by a trip to the dreaded Oakwell to play the Tykes the following Tuesday.

Team Sheet

Ross Wallace was suspended for this game after picking up his fifth yellow card in the previous match at Portman Road. Ben Mee too failed to recover from his foot injury and missed the second match running after picking up the injury at home to Leeds earlier this month. Danny Lafferty continued to deputise at left back with Joseph Mills again having to be content with a place on the bench. Stanislas returned to the starting eleven with Paterson once again playing a wider role on the opposite flank. In summary therefore we lined up as follows :

Grant, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Lafferty, Stanislas, McCann, Marney, Stock, Paterson Austin

Subs Jensen, Mills, Edgar, Stewart, Bartley, Ings, Vokes

Full Match Report

West Yorkshire referee, Robert Madley got the game underway and the first real chance fell to the Clarets with just nine minutes on the clock. The Addicks keeper, Ben Hamer made a hash of a clearance allowing McCann to pounce. He could only lift his long-range attempt though over an empty goal and the Addicks could breathe a sigh of relief. Austin then came close after latching onto a perfect Trippier cross. Climbing above former Claret Leon Cort, Austin however could only find the side netting with his header.

That cross would be Trippier`s last foray forward and a few minutes later he was walking towards the dressing room after being sent off. Burnley in characteristic fashion this season were caught out on the break with both Soley and Haynes hitting the woodwork in quick succession. The ball though fell to Hulse and his shot was blocked on the line by Trippier. Trips though was harshly penalised with the referee judging that he deliberately saved with his hand even though on the replay the decision looked a little harsh to say the least. Judged to be illegal goal prevention, Trips was shown a straight red card and he now faces a match ban. The red card incensed the team, Dyche and fans alike but the decision stood with Burnley now reduced to ten men with still 75 minutes to play. At least the Addicks missed the penalty thanks to a superb save by Lee Grant who dived low to his right to turn Johnnie Jackson`s spot-kick around the post but the damage had been done and it was always going to be an uphill battle now for the Clarets with Charlton having the one man advantage.

It was perhaps a surprise decision with defensive options on the bench, but Dean Marney was given the task of taking over the right back spot, a position he hadn`t played in since his Spurs days! The comfort of knowing they now had a one man advantage seemed to reduce Charlton`s hunger for attack and Burnley held their own in this critical period even creating chances of their own. A superb half-volley by Stock struck from 30 yards out fully tested the keeper who managed to save well in mid air. Duff then saw his header from a corner blocked on the line. Towards the end of the first-half though, the visitors began to press their one man advantage. A mistake by Stanislas on the half-way line allowed the Addicks to pounce on the break. Salim Kerkar slipped the ball to Haynes and he attempted an angled drive towards the far corner of the net. Grant, though in superb form after his penalty save made another great stop to deny the Addicks striker. Kerkar was at it again minutes later putting over an impressive deep cross to find Hulse at the far post. Hulse may have done better trying to score himself but instead chose to head back across goal giving Shackell the chance to block the danger. The Clarets therefore had remarkably held on in the first half showing resilience and determination but how long could the ten men maintain the effort in the second-half?

Dyche chose not to make any changes for the start of the second half hoping the Clarets could get a breakaway goal with the defence looking solid and untroubled for most of the game so far despite the Addicks one-man advantage. In the opening fifteen minutes from the restart, the strategy nearly worked with two opportunities presenting Burnley with the chance to open the scoring. Austin, celebrating his Championship`s October player of the month award was involved with both attempts. Firstly, dispossessing Egert Jonsson, he charged towards goal before attempting to steer his shot from inside the box. The ball flew wide of target though. His second attempt came from a header following a Marney cross but he couldn`t get enough power on the ball to steer it into the back of the net.

Burnley looked reasonably comfortable at this stage and seemed to be keeping the Addicks at bay but it was always going to be only a matter of time before the likelihood of Charlton scoring proved to be the case and in the 69th minute the fears proved to be founded. A cross from Jackson found Hulse ideally placed to nod the ball back to Haynes. Haynes had the simple task of heading home and so he did to make it 1-0 to the visitors. Burnley now had to change things around with a sequence of substitutions to try and get back on level terms. Ings came on for the lacklustre Stanislas in the 72nd minute followed six minutes later by Edgar coming on to replace a hesitant-looking Lafferty. Dyche`s final roll of the dice came in the 83rd minute when he threw caution to the wind by bringing on another striker, Vokes to replace Paterson. It was all in vain though despite a valiant effort to get an equaliser. Our last chance to rescue a point came from Austin following an Ings corner. Both his header and follow-up attempt though were blocked on the line as yet another Burnley record slipped through the hotshot striker`s fingers. Had he scored he would have equaled a post-war record of scoring in seven consecutive games at home. It was not going to be our day though but it was a valiant effort let`s be honest and one which deserved something despite all the odds.

Match Stats

Burnley: Grant, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Lafferty (Edgar – 78), Stanislas (Ings – 72), McCann, Marney, Stock, Paterson (Vokes – 83) Austin

Subs Not Used: Jensen, Mills, Stewart, Bartley

Booked: Red Card for Trippier (15)

Charlton Athletic: Hamer, Morrison, Solly, Seaborne, Cort, Jackson,Pritchard, Jonsson (Fuller – 53), Haynes (Dervite – 86), Kerkar, Hulse (Taylor – 90)

Subs Not Used: Button, Taylor, Green, Wagstaff, Wright-Phillips

Goal: Haynes 69

Booked: Yellow Card for Jackson(80)

Possession: 50% Burnley, 50% Charlton (Source: BBC Sport)

Ref: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire)