Whites better Burnley… badly Gary November 21, 2011 Match reviews 11 Comments Hello and welcome to one of the more belated match reports in the history of The Scratching Shed. It seems somehow appropriate to be lagging behind – it almost feels like we were offered the O’Brien-related excuses after the act for this one. There’s no disguising one of the more lacklustre displays of the season so far – but a win’s a win and all that. In a sense, Simon was onto something after the game, when among – ahem – other things, he suggested a certain ‘levelling out’ from games we’d played much better and got nothing. The first half was characterised by us not doing much at all, with the little invention Burnley showed looking comparatively like Barcelona – their passing and pressing both more than outdoing Leeds, as the Whites seemed to opt more and more for aimless knocks towards the channels. A worrying sight was Aidy White significantly more overworked and exposed than he has been: while Sam’s undoubtedly more dynamic than Pugh, the latter’s unspectacular workmanship and positional sense can be overlooked. This was none more pronounced than for Burnley’s goal, where Lloyd had come under the illusion that he was a box-to-box central midfielder, leaving the quite impressive Trippier a free run and aeons to pick off the perfect cross. Rodriguez, and his pairing with Austin, had been worrying our somewhat static centre halves (and in turn, us) since the start, and it was with seeming inevitability that he popped up between Kisnorbo and a small desert’s worth of space to leave McCarthy with no chance. Sam was to atone for his positional error later, though. Side note: Alex McCarthy is really good. Being just one down at the break was largely down to him doing both the basics and the brilliant with equal assurance. Any chance we’ll be able to buy him and have an insane level of competition for the number one jersey? I suspect probably not – on a couple of levels. In many ways it was a tale of two keepers: McCarthy excellent, and Grant, bar a good readjustment to save McCormack’s swerving free-kick in the first half, looking a little suspect. He should have been off for a blatant handball in the first period, and it certainly looks like he could have done a lot better with the strikes that eventually proved Burnley’s undoing. Slightly better ball retention and more attacking thrust from White in particular brought some hope of a comeback in the early phases of the second half, but most attacks were thwarted by an extremely off-colour show from our first-choice strike pairing. ‘Blunt’ would not do their day’s showing justice – and so it was that the changing of our weapons of choice brought on the eventual kill. O’Brien may have said no, but the affirmative contributions of Grayson’s second-half subs made all the difference – also doing no harm to the cases of Messrs Becchio and Nunez for a starting berth. Improved hold up play from Becchio and a bit more dynamism from the Honduran suddenly had the Lancashire boys nervy, and they began for the first time to look very much like a struggling side, unconvinced of their ability to defend a lead. The Whites smelt blood; and in the end, it didn’t take much spark to win it. It came down to a little bit of class from Sam, Snoddy being in the right place and Grant sort of jumping over the ball by way of attempting to save it, and something scrappier but no less effective from Nunez causing defensive confusion that ended with another neat finish from the one-footed doyen of the fans. The outcome quickly decided with barely sweat broken. Overall, Burnley fans would be right to feel aggrieved, but it’s good to know that when the invite to win without reaching second gear is handed out, we’re all too willing to RSVP. That’s not the sign of a team short on belief and purpose, even when the quality’s decidedly lacking. Match highlights available on The Revie Way