Starting Line-Ups

Referee: Mike Pike (Cumbria)

Assistant Referees: Gary Mellor (Yorkshire) and Keith Wilkinson (Tyne & Wear)

4th Official: David Unsworth (Lancashire)

Attendance: 10496

Match Round-Up:

The Clarets lined-up in a 4:5:1 formation dropping Noel-Williams to the bench with Ade the lone striker upfront. In the first half Burnley seemed to be providing the most pressure with Ade being involved in a number of attacks. Ipswich had a few spells where they looked dangerous with former Clarets McEveley and Bowditch involved on a number of occasions. Following one of these spells however,the Clarets got possession and Akinbiyi slotted a pass to James O’Connor who scored via a wicked deflection on 33 minutes. Some luck at long last coming the Clarets way! A much more positive performance in the first half from the Clarets compared to recent games.

In the second half despite some early pressure from Ipswich who came out with a bit more purpose, the Clarets dominated and went from strength to strength with Ade doing anything but get that elusive goal and he may even have deserved a penalty after being pulled back! Frank Sinclair looked in trouble again with an injury but showed grit & determination to stay on for the rest of the game! Branch always a threat continued his good run of form and with about 30 minutes left to play was brought down for a free kick which led to the second goal. Garreth O’ Connor belted it into the net on 62 minutes from about 25 yards. It was just the tonic the Clarets needed. Chris McCann with 14 minutes left came on for Spicer and must have been delighted when he sealed a win for the Clarets with a superbly headed goal on 87 minutes from a corner kick by Garreth O'Connor.

This was a clean match throughout and a credit to both teams that nobody was booked

The Clarets overall performance was excellent and we needed it tonight .The confidence in the team must be on a high and we can look forward now to Friday’s game against Wolves

Stats:

Possession:
Burnley 57%
Ipswich 43%

Shots:
Burnley 14
Ipswich 7

Corners:
Burnley 8
Ipswich 4

Fouls:
Burnley 8
Ipswich 11

Burnley

B Jensen, M Duff, K Lowe, F Sinclair, J Harley, J Spicer (78 C McCann), J O'Connor, M Hyde, G O'Connor, G Branch, A Akinbiyi (89 K Bermingham)

Subs: W Elliott, G Noel-Williams, C McCann, K Bermingham, D Courtney

Ipswich

L Price, L Sito, J De Vos, R Naylor, J McEveley, D Currie, J Magilton (61 J Peters), K Horlock, O Garvan, D Bowditch (61 D Haynes), S Parkin

Subs: F Wilnis, J Peters, J Juan, D Haynes, S Supple

Steve Cotterill's Post Match Comments:

'I thought the win was thoroughly deserved and Im proud of each and every one of them. It was a big win because we know how good Ipswich are, so we're pleased'

Later comments:

 "That was a big, big win for us but one we deserved. We needed a bit of luck but we'll take a deflection as it's the only bit of luck we have had.

Other Full Time Scores:

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