By Tom Pickup
November 9 2004

Burnley went into Saturday's tie with second placed Ipswich Town boosted with confidence after the midweek 2-1 victory over Leeds United.

However, things were different from the start of the game. Graham Branch came in to replace the suspended Michael Duff, who picked up his 5th yellow card of the season in the 3-0 loss against Queen's Park Rangers last Saturday.

The game started lively with Burnley coming close to goal, and with some good passing movements put together. Burnley were forced into making a 7th minute substitution, with Frank Sinclair limping off the pitch to be replaced by 'Mystery-man' Amadou Sanokho. Sinclair is now on the 8 strong injury list, including the 3-month injury of goalkeeper Danny Coyne and 1-month injuries to Ian Moore and Richard Chaplow.

Ipswich earned a free kick on the edge on the box from a foul by John McGreal, which struck the bar and bounced back and was easily cleared by Graham Branch. But it was Ipswich who took the lead after only 15 minutes, completely against the run of play. A long kick from the Ipswich keeper Kelvin Davies was missed by Burnley's defence and in form Town striker and England U-21 International Darren Bent ran through to slot the ball past Brian Jensen.

3 minutes later Robbie Blake latched onto a Tony Grant pass to shoot past Davies, only to have the goal ruled out by a dubious decision by the linesman. Out of place Amadou Sanokho, who was playing as strike-partner to Robbie Blake up-front, shot from 25 yards only to see his rasping drive parried by 'keeper Kelvin Davies and smothered the ball just inches in front of Richard Duffy.

Mohammed Camara, Burnley's speedy left back, ran up the field and put in another long-range drive again to be parried by Davies only to be cleared by Naylor. Tony Grant was brought down by Jim Magilton on the edge of the box and was awarded with a free kick. Robbie Blake took it and struck the top of the bar and bounced out of play. At half time, Burnley went into the Tunnel the better side despite the score line.

The second-half started similar to the first, with both teams having chances on goal. On the 65th minute Robbie Blake lost the ball on the halfway line, which lead to the Ipswich counter attack, which left Darren Bent with the ball on the left wing. He looked likely to put in a cross before he cut inside on his left foot and curled the ball into the top corner leaving Brian Jensen with no chance.

Burnley came close twice in quick succession, both through Micah Hyde. Heading over from a Mo Camara cross and almost reaching a short pass from Robbie Blake which would have lead to an easy finish for the Jamaican International. Bent missed his chance to gat a hat trick close to the end of the game, only to see Brain Jensen save his shot from the edge of the box. Richard Duffy struck over the bar with a few minutes remaining but Burnley seemed to have conceded defeat.

Burnley now lie in 16th place in the Championship league table, being overtaken by Leeds United who defeated Preston North End 4-2 to earn the 3 points. Elsewhere in the league 17 game undefeated Wigan Athletic were beaten 2-0 by high flying Plymouth Argyle, which means Wigan can still be caught by second placed Ipswich who are now only 3 points behind Wigan on 36 points, with Wigan on 39.

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Burnley:

Jensen

Roche McGreal Sinclair Camara

Duffy Hyde Grant O'Connor Branch

Blake

Subs:               Sanokho for Sincalir (injury) 7 minutes.

Subs not used:  O'Neill, Pilkington, Yates, Scott

Bookings:          Richard Duffy, 39 minutes, foul.

                       Lee Roche, 60 minutes, foul.

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Ipswich:

Davies

Wilnis De Vos Naylor Diallo

Magilton Miller Horlock Westlake

Bent Kuqi

Subs:               Richards for Magilton (tactical) 76 minutes.

Subs not used:  Counago, Bowditch, Collins, Price.

Bookings:          Jim Magilton, 35 minutes, foul.

                       Tommy Miller, 49 minutes, foul.

 

Referee:           Mike Pike.

Attendance:     11,969.