Proud Burnley Go Down Fighting at St Marys!

The Clarets are out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle after narrowly going down 4-3 in the third round tie against Premier League, Southampton at St Marys yesterday. This was an exciting, proper cup tie with both teams going hell for leather at times. What fight and spirit the Clarets showed too! Burnley were 2-0 down after 28 minutes and a tonking looked to be on the cards but they contained the Saints and kept the score at 2-0 at half-time. Incredibly they then got back on level terms before the hour mark with first Vokes and then Ings getting on the score sheet. The Saints though then began to show their Premier League class and by the 73rd minute had regained their two-goal lead. It looked like game over but again proud Burnley came back after Kevin Long headed home from close range with three minutes left to play to make it 4-3. There should have been at least five minutes of added time but for some reason the fourth official only announced four and that was simply not enough time for the Clarets to find that deserved equaliser despite their best efforts. Burnley may be out of the FA Cup but they went down fighting and made a good account of themselves. Sean Dyche hit the nail on the head when he said in his post-match comments:

‘Southampton are a big club with some big players and we have more than matched them at the end.

‘We were still going at it at 4-2 and 4-3 and right to the end. One of our biggest mantras is to have no excuses, no fear and no regrets.

‘The harshness of the business is you don’t always get what you deserve. We possibly deserved a little bit more and didn’t get it, but if you perform like that often enough, you win more games than you lose.’

On another positive note, at least Burnley can now concentrate of the greater priority of achieving promotion to the top flight without any cup distractions and the potential for injuries and suspensions.

Team News

In the end Sean Dyche did not make that many changes to the starting eleven for this cup clash. He named just two changes to the Burnley side that beat Huddersfield Town in our last game with defensive duo Michael Duff and Ben Mee replaced with Kevin Long and Danny Lafferty. Mee had to be substituted against the Terriers following a recurrence of a thigh strain whilst Michael Duff also hobbled off in that game and was probably not risked against Southampton. Michael Kightly also failed to make the eighteen. He was not cup tied as some had feared but it is thought he too may have picked up a knock. In summary then we lined up as follows :

Heaton, Trippier, Shackell, Long, Lafferty, Treacy, Marney, Jones, Arfield, Ings, Vokes

Subs: Cisak, Stock, O`Neill, Edgar, Stanislas, Hewitt, Dummigan

Full Match Report

Clarets fans were somewhat disappointed to find ahead of kick-off that ‘one of our own` Jay Rodriguez was not in the Southampton starting eleven although at least he was named on the bench. 845 Burnley fans had made the long trek to Hampshire hoping to catch a glimpse of their former local-born striker and now full England international but they would now have to wait and hope he came on as a substitute at some point during the game. Controversial referee, Robert Madley was in charge of this clash and fans might remember the last time he was in charge of a match involving the Clarets. It was earlier in the season when we went down 2-0 at home to West Ham in the Capital One Cup. The West Yorkshire official sent Treacy off and awarded two penalties to the Hammers so we certainly didn`t want a repeat performance of that! With the match underway, Burnley got off to a flying start and nearly took an early lead after just 44 seconds. Arfield picked the ball up from Jones and turning to shoot on the edge of the box thumped a curling right footed shot inches over the angle. The Clarets at this point were on the front foot and taking the game to Southampton but the hosts too were also having chances to open the scoring. Sam Vokes had a shot blocked and then his strike partner, Danny Ings came close with a looping header that forced Saints keeper, Kelvin Davis into a save after grabbing the ball from under the crossbar. Disaster though struck for the Clarets when they found they were suddenly 2-0 down during a six minute spell of pressure by the home side. First, Clyne picked up a square pass in his stride and from outside the area thumped an unstoppable drive past Tom Heaton to make it 1-0 Saints in the 22nd minute. Burnley hardly had chance to recover when in the 28th minute following some neat approach work, Lambert collected the ball with his back to goal, turned, and fired past Heaton from 20 yards out to give the Clarets a mountain to climb! That was virtually the last action Lambert was involved in before being substituted and soon both sets of fans were cheering Jay Rodriguez onto the pitch with ten minutes of the half remaining. Two goals in six minutes had clearly taken the stuffing out of Clarets and it was now one-way traffic with Southampton looking like they might now get a panful. Somehow though, Burnley held on and there were no more goals in the first half although Heaton had to be alert to deny Luke Shaw after turning away his low shot to concede a corner. The half-time whistle couldn`t come soon enough for the Clarets and boy did they now need to regroup!

Sean Dyche resisted the temptation to make any changes for the start of the second half despite the pummeling the visitors took in the first half. It was clear the next goal would be all important. 3-0 to the home side and it would almost certainly be game over; 2-1 and it would be game on! What was about to unfold though would take everybody by surprise not least the Burnley fans who by this time had probably already been resigned to defeat. The Clarets six minutes into the half got a goal back after Trippier found Vokes with a superb cross. The Welshman headed across Davis for his 11th goal of the season and all of a sudden Burnley once again had hope. Now the home side were looking shaky and on the back foot and the Clarets took full advantage amazingly drawing level six minutes later. Ings outpaced Jos Hooiveld after picking up the ball from Trippier and from a very tight angle somehow managed to get the ball in the narrow gap between keeper and post to notch up his 20th goal of his season and send the visiting fans wild with ecstasy. The Saints were now shell-shocked and the nightmare of the first half nearly turned to one of the most amazing turnarounds ever when Vokes almost gave the Clarets a 3-2 lead. Vokes, latched onto a chipped ball from Ings. Davis though was equal to the threat pulling off a remarkable save to deny the Southampton-born striker. The Premier League side though now began to show their class and in the 66th minute they regained the lead. Unfortunately for Clarets fans it was Rodriguez who scored although there was almost a sense of celebration amongst the Burnley contingent that ‘one of our own` managed to get on the score sheet and to give JayRod his due there was no wild celebrations from the former Burnley striker. It was a strange goal though! James Ward-Prowse had fallen in the box after heading towards Heaton and the home side were appealing for a penalty. The referee did not seem to make any sort of decision with a number of players on both sides looking at the referee waiting for a response. In the mean time Heaton managed to stop Ward-Prowse`s attempt but the ball fell nicely for Rodriguez on the penalty spot and he slotted home to make it 3-2. It was a huge disappointment for Clarets fans but Burnley had not given up yet and continued to show resilience and spirit. A low delivery from substitute, Junior Stanislas nearly gave Ings a brace after he controlled the ball and on the turn unleashed a shot that stubbornly came off the foot of the post. Sixteen minutes from time though Southampton restored their two goal lead after substitute, Adam Lallana unleashed a shot from distance that flew past Heaton into the bottom of the net. All the hard work by the Clarets now seemed to have been undone and they nearly went further behind with Rodriguez once again the danger man. Heaton however did enough to put the striker off and his shot went over the bar. Once again though, the dogged determination from the Clarets paid dividends after Davis turned an Ings shot over for a corner with three minutes of play remaining. Stanislas took the corner and as the ball came over, it dropped towards Long in the six yard box and the central defender got a boot to it to notch up his first goal for the Clarets. A seven goal thriller and still the Clarets had not done yet. Vokes though should have done better late on after both strikers had charged forward on the attack. His shot though was too weak and with only four minutes of added time announced, Burnley could not get the equaliser they so richly deserved.

Match Stats

Southampton: K. Davis, Clyne, Yoshida, Hooiveld (Fonte-79), Shaw, Cork, Schneiderlin, S. Davis, Ward-Prowse, Ramírez (Lallana-59), Lambert(Rodriguez-35)

Subs Not Used: Gazzaniga, Chambers, Reed, Gallagher

Goals: Clyne 22, Lambert 28, Rodriguez 66, Lallana 73

Booked:0

Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Shackell, Long, Lafferty, Treacy (Stanislas-64), Marney, Jones, Arfield, Ings, Vokes

Subs Not Used: Cisak, Stock, O`Neill, Edgar, Hewitt, Dummigan

Goals: Vokes 51, Ings 57, Long 87

Booked:0

Possession: 59% Southampton, 41% (Source: BBC Sport)

Ref: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire)