Burnley 1 Wigan 0

Thome in for Jackson

The Latics lost their third game on the bounce and slipped to third in the Championship table after being hit with a sucker punch from an organised and hard working Burnley side.

The last game of 2004 for both Wigan and Burnley will have left both fans with contrasting views.

Burnley supporters will be buoyant after what will possibly be their greatest game of the year. A 1-0 win against promotion chasing Wigan.

Meanwhile the Latics followers will be gutted as lost our third game on the bounce, slipped third in the table, seventeenth in the form table and have in form Sheffield United to face on New Years Day.

Burnley boss Steve Coterill added to the speculation about Robbie Blake by leaving him out. He was to be an unused substitute.

Paul Jewell suprised most with his team selection. Matt Jackson made way for Emerson Thome and the suspended Jason Roberts was replaced by Gareth Whalley.

He employed a 4-4-2 formation, as ever but with the midfield taking the "diamond" shape. Graham was at the tip of the diamond and Whalley at the foot, with Bullard and Mahon on either edge.

The new style worked early on. Whalley had great joy in picking up loose passes in front on our back four and the trio of Mahon, Bullard and Graham enjoyed plenty of possession in front of him.

Without the strong running and hold up play of Roberts the Latics were forced to try and pass their way through Burnley who stuck everybody and everything behind the ball as they did in th 0-0 draw at the JJB earlier in the season.

Burnley took the lead through Graham Branch. Ian Moore had been thwarted by good defensive work from Ian Breckin and Emerson Thome before the deep cross found him unmarked at the back post, just six yards out. Filan saved the initial header but former Latic Graham Branch poked in the rebound.

This goal was - in my opinion - Filan's fault. The initial save from Moore was superb and he had no chance of saving the Branch effort. But the cross that led to the header fell into the six yard area. He should have come and collected it.

As soon as Burnley managed to score it was game over. Coterill has his side well drilled and they work incrediably hard on their defensive play, making themselves very hard to break down. Indeed, they have only conceeded 21 goals this season, one more as ourselves.

From this moment we struggled to break them down. Vast amounts of possesion led to little or nothing being created in front of goal. The best chance of the first half fell to Ellington anfter a neat pass from Whalley but he hit the roof of the net after beating lumbering Jensen to the ball.

Alan Mahon also had a good effort saved from a well worked free kick on the edge of the box.

Moore also had a colision with Thome - as he was put through on goal -which the Burnley fans seemed to think was a foul but on view from behind the goal there appeared to be little contact and Moore was just hunting for a red card for Thome. The referee handled this one well and let the game go on.

The second half was much the same story as the Latics dominated possesion but had little to show. David Graham and Jimmy Bullard were the creative sparks in the midfield area, while Eaden and Baines got forward as much as possible to give the side the width it was lacking. The Burnley defence however, refused to move.

Numerous chances reached players who were 25 yards out but there were no clear cut chances like the one that gave the Clarets their goal.

Mahon, Graham, Ellington, McCulloch, Bullard and Flynn (when he came on) all saw long range shots either sail into the crowd on get blocked on route to goal.

It was a pleasant style that Burnley adopted but it was effective and we had no way of breaking it down.

The aformentioned Flynn arrived for Mahon Just after the hour but was played on the left. Instead of reverting to the tried and trusted 4-4-2 - with Graham and Ellington up front, McCulloch and Flynn on the flanks with Bullard and Whalley in the middle - Jewell stuck with this new formation and Flynn was out of the left flank.

This showed no signs of working and Flynn was not getting the opportunity to run at players in the way he can.

Teale entered the fray - in replacement of Baines - at the request of the travelling fans, but he too was on the left flank, a position which he just cannot play.

David Graham: Impressed Again

As a result the time petered away and only Ellington's header right at the death after a goal mouth scramble gave the Wigan fans any hope of a point.

Another bad result in our hunt for the Premiership.

Do not take anything away from Burnley however. Their game plan worked at the JJB earlier in the season and it has worked again today. They have the three points and we have none.

They worked very hard without the ball and defended stoutly with everyman behond the ball. It was a true team performance and not just a collective bunch of impressive individual players as the Wigan game seemed to be based on.

In defence we had little to deal with and Emerson Thome's pace was a comfort against the speedy Moore. Breckin again looked uncomfortable in possession.

The midfield diamond worked well before the goal. After it however Burnley put everything behind the ball and we needed width which wasn't forth coming. Graham and Bullard in particular stood out as those trying to make a break through.

Whalley shielded the back four well which was something we have lacked in previous games this season.

Up front McCulloch did as we have come to expect from him and worked his socks off but had little joy off either of the impressive centre backs (Cahill and McGreal). While Ellington again seemed uninterested in the game. Something is not right with the Duke at the moment and it is a cause for concern.

Fair play to Burnley and congratulations on a deserved result. They also managed it without a certain Robbie Blake let us not forget.

Player Ratings

John Filan 5
Nicky Eaden 6
Leighton Baines 6
Ian Breckin 6
Emerson Thome 6
Gareth Whalley 6
David Graham 7 - Wiganer.net M.O.M
Jimmy Bullard 7
Alan Mahon 5
Lee McCulloch 6
Nathan Ellington 5

Subs

Mike Flynn 6
Gary Teale 6

Updated Table

Last game played on Tuesday 28th December 2004		Pld		Home						Away						Overall						Pts	GD
				W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A
1	Ipswich Town	26		11	2	0	27	9		4	5	4	23	22		15	7	4	50	31		52	+19
2	Sunderland	26		8	3	2	23	12		7	1	5	14	10		15	4	7	37	22		49	+15
3	Wigan Athletic	26		8	3	2	28	8		5	5	3	17	12		13	8	5	45	20		47	+25
4	Reading	26		10	3	0	24	7		4	2	7	12	18		14	5	7	36	25		47	+11
5	Sheffield United	26		5	6	2	16	11		7	3	3	20	21		12	9	5	36	32		45	+4
6	Millwall	26		9	1	3	20	11		3	5	5	11	12		12	6	8	31	23		42	+8
7	West Ham United	26		9	2	2	20	12		3	4	6	15	19		12	6	8	35	31		42	+4
8	Derby County	26		5	4	4	23	21		6	2	5	15	13		11	6	9	38	34		39	+4
9	Stoke City	26		7	2	4	11	7		3	6	4	7	11		10	8	8	18	18		38	0
10	Crewe Alexandra	25		5	4	3	27	19		5	2	6	18	25		10	6	9	45	44		36	+1
11	Burnley	25		6	4	3	16	12		3	5	4	6	9		9	9	7	22	21		36	+1
12	Preston North End	26		9	2	2	25	12		1	4	8	8	24		10	6	10	33	36		36	-3
13	Queens Park Rangers	26		7	2	4	21	16		4	1	8	15	24		11	3	12	36	40		36	-4
14	Leeds United	26		5	4	4	18	13		3	5	5	13	15		8	9	9	31	28		33	+3
15	Leicester City	26		3	5	5	12	13		4	6	3	15	13		7	11	8	27	26		32	+1
16	Plymouth Argyle	26		5	4	4	15	15		4	1	8	16	21		9	5	12	31	36		32	-5
17	Wolverhampton Wanderers	26		4	6	3	21	17		3	4	6	14	18		7	10	9	35	35		31	0
18	Watford	26		2	8	3	13	11		4	4	5	16	18		6	12	8	29	29		30	0
19	Coventry City	26		5	4	4	16	14		2	4	7	15	27		7	8	11	31	41		29	-10
20	Brighton & Hove Albion	26		4	3	6	11	15		4	2	7	9	19		8	5	13	20	34		29	-14
21	Cardiff City	26		4	3	6	12	14		1	6	6	14	20		5	9	12	26	34		24	-8
22	Gillingham	26		6	1	6	14	18		1	2	10	12	28		7	3	16	26	46		24	-20
23	Nottingham Forest	26		4	5	4	15	17		0	4	9	11	23		4	9	13	26	40		21	-14
24	Rotherham United	26		1	6	6	12	19		1	4	8	7	18		2	10	14	19	37		16	-18

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