Reid debut but another away defeat for the Clarets
Burnley were hoping to build on the midweek home win against Millwall when they travelled to Luton for what was the third away league game of the season, but it went the way of the previous two and we came home empty handed having been beaten 1-0.
A house fire in Perth Street came close to taking the lives of two young children but mum Jackie Mee was able to pass son Jay (nine) and daughter Kirby (three) out of a bedroom window to her brother-in-law Edward Gallagher who had climbed up onto a wall to try to assist. Mr Gallagher said: “I just did not have time to think. I just wanted to get them out. I think it is what anybody would do.” He added: “I was frightened but did not have a great deal of time to worry.”
All of them escaped unhurt, and the fire-fighters were also able to rescue the family’s pet dog who was fine having received oxygen, but the damage to the house was severe.
For shoppers in town came news of a potential new Sainsbury’s store. They were proposing to move from their base at the corner of Yorkshire Street and Church Street to a new store on the Prestige site and had received very positive feedback from the public.
This would be a much larger store and would include a Homebase DIY outlet as well as providing links with the nearby Burnley Central railway station and the Adelphi Hotel. The plan was also to include a business and technology centre with a cyber café and restaurant facilities. A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: “The people of Burnley have told us that they like our proposals which will being new jobs and businesses to the area and will provide a top quality Sainsbury’s.”
A new supermarket, but it was time to say goodbye to a Burnley pub that had been open since the 18th century. The Mitre had closed its doors and was going on the market as an unlicensed property although it was reported that an estimated £250,000 would need to be spent on the listed building to bring it back to its former glory.
Four years earlier, a grim discovery by landlord Michael Helliwell had brought a serious downturn in trade. The skeletal remains of a new born baby had been found hidden in a chimney breast, bound tightly in linen and wrapped in a 76-year-old copy of The Times. The skeleton remained intact but it was impossible to determine whether it was a boy or girl. A funeral was arranged with a burial at Burnley Cemetery afterwards. As for the pub, it really had fallen into a state of disrepair and it looked certain that this was last orders.
If you had found yourself in court on a drink/drive charge, then solicitor Linda Lasonby was perhaps not the best person to represent you. Ms Lasonby herself was due in court having been found to have driven while three and a half times over the limit. This was the sentencing, but she wasn’t there; she was instead at Gisburn Park Hospital receiving an alcohol related treatment programme. Sentencing was put back a month.
There was some off field and on field news coming out of Turf Moor ahead of the trip to Luton. Off field came the news that the club was moving into the future with the launch of their own internet site which would enable fans to keep in touch with all the latest news from the club who confirmed that the new site would include the fixtures, club information and, wait for it, a message board which would enable fans to wish the team well.
On the field, Stan Ternent had given opportunities to three trialists in a reserve team game and it looked as though things were progressing with two of them. Goalkeeper Frank Petter Kval was back and joining him were two defenders, Brian Reid from Scotland and Belgian Romuald Petit.
Ternent explained: “We are still sending kids on men’s errands, and although it won’t harm the youngsters, they are not the answer at the moment. We still need to strengthen the team.” He said he wanted to take another look at the three players but it was reported that he was particularly keen on Reid who had been released by Rangers. This followed on from failing to bring Steve Davis back from Luton. He wasn’t sure we’d have been able to afford him but he admitted: “We were knocked back and that’s that.”
In an interview with local radio, Ternent ruled out signing Petit because he didn’t speak the lingo but there was a surprise for Burnley fans arriving at Luton to learn that Reid had indeed signed and would play, lining up alongside Chris Brass and Peter Swan on the left of three central defenders.
The first half was a difficult watch for the Burnley fans. We were second best everywhere on the pitch. We struggled to put two passes together and, typically, having seen him line up against us, Davis twice came close to giving Luton the lead. He put one chance over the bar and then saw Gavin Ward save his header following a corner.
As we struggled to get into the game, Matthew Spring smashed a long range shot against the bar and as half time approached we hadn’t even troubled the Luton defence. Somehow, we got to half time with the score 0-0 and that in itself was good news.
If the first half hadn’t been good enough, the start to the second half was worse. In only the second minute, Luton won a corner taken by Ray McKinnon. Inevitably, it was Davis who met it, forcing Ward into a reflex save only for Stuart DOUGLAS to poke home the rebound.
It did prompt a response from the Clarets and the rest of the game was much more even although it has to be said that Luton were probably always the more likely to score a second rather than us draw level although we were so close to an equaliser at the end only for the other Davis, Luton goalkeeper Kelvin, to deny Swan with a brilliant save. It remained at 1-0, a third successive away defeat in the league for the Clarets.
The teams were;
Luton: Kelvin Davis, Graham Alexander, Gavin McGowan, Matthew Spring, Steve Davis, Marvin Johnson, Ray McKinnon, Sean Evers. Stuart Douglas (Andrew Fotiadis 73), Phil Gray, Michael McIndoe (Mitchell Thomas 81). Sub not used: Herve Bacque.
Burnley: Gavin Ward, Mark Robertson, Chris Brass, Peter Swan, Brian Reid, Gordon Armstrong, Glen Little, Ronnie Jepson, Paul Smith, Andy Cooke, Andy Payton. Subs not used: Chris Scott, Carl Smith, Colin Carr-Lawton.
Referee: Ken Leach (Wolverhampton).
Attendance: 5,554.
Stoke marched on making it five wins out of five to start the season, and on this occasion they beat second in the table Bournemouth. Luton, courtesy of this win against us, went second but Stoke were holding a five point lead at the top. We’d dropped four places to 19th with this latest defeat.
Division Two Results
Saturday 5th September
Blackpool 2 Northampton 1
Bristol Rovers 2 Preston 2
Chesterfield 1 Gillingham 0
Lincoln 1 Oldham 3
Luton 1 Burnley 0
Notts County 0 Wigan 1
Stoke 2 Bournemouth 0
Wrexham 2 Macclesfield 1
York 1 Colchester 2
Burnley Goalscorers
2: Andy Cooke, Andy Payton
1; Gordon Armstrong
Leading Goalscorers
5: Stuart Barlow (Wigan), Dean Crowe (Stoke), Barry Hayles (Bristol Rovers)
4: Shaun Goater (Manchester City), Graham Kavanagh (Stoke), Kurt Nogan (Preston)
3: Phil Clarkson (Blackpool), Steve Davis (Luton), Ian Hendon (Notts County), Jon Macken (Preston), Neil Thompson (York), Peter Thorne (Stoke)
League Table
| Pos | Team | pld | w | d | l | f | a | gd | pts |
| 1 | Stoke | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 18 |
| 2 | Luton | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| 3 | Preston | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Fulham | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| 5 | Bournemouth | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 | Walsall | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 7 | Wrexham | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 10 |
| 8 | Bristol Rovers | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 9 |
| 9 | Colchester | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
| 10 | Chesterfield | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 9 |
| 11 | Manchester City | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| 12 | Notts County | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 13 | Blackpool | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 8 |
| 14 | York | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 15 | Millwall | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 7 |
| 16 | Oldham | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 7 |
| 17 | Gillingham | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 18 | Wigan | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 6 |
| 19 | Burnley | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 6 |
| 20 | Lincoln | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 5 |
| 21 | Reading | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 3 |
| 22 | Northampton | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 3 |
| 23 | Macclesfield | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 2 |
| 24 | Wycombe | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 1 |
Share this page :