Burnley 0-0 Town - Match Report Saturday, 2nd Jan 2016 17:12 Town stretched their unbeaten away record to seven matches but were unable achieve a club record six successive victories on the road as they drew 0-0 with Burnley at Turf Moor. The result was a fair reflection of a game which was amongst the more entertaining 0-0s. Luke Hyam was handed his first Blues start of the season in a three-man central midfield in place of Jonathan Douglas, who missed out with a knee injury, in an otherwise unchanged side. Jonny Parr was back on the bench after a calf problem as the Blues chased a club record sixth successive away win. There was an early hold-up when Christophe Berra required treatment following an aerial clash with Sam Vokes. After lengthy treatment the Scotland international, who has been in the wars recently, losing teeth and suffering a cut to the head, was able to carry on. Once the game had restarted Kevin Bru, as at Brighton the most advanced of the three central midfielders, struck the first shot but saw his effort deflect wide. Following the resultant corner, the match was stopped again, this time for Burnley striker Andre Gray to undergo treatment. The Blues went closer on 10 when Freddie Sears crossed from the right following a Town corner and from a Bru shot Tommy Smith turned the ball to Clarets keeper Tom Heaton from close range. A foot or two either side of the former England U21 international and the Blues would have been in front. Michael Kightly, one of a number of Burnley players who were previously members of Mick McCarthy’s Wolves squad, scraped a shot wide soon after having cut in from the left, then on 15 the one-time Grays Athletic man shot well over from distance. Ryan Fraser had made a quiet start to the game by his standards but on 18 the Scotland U21 international almost conjured a goal out of nothing, picking up a pass from Sears and taking a couple of touches before lashing a strike which flew just past the post and hit the stanchion. The home side should have gone in front in the 21st minute when Kightly cut the ball across to an unmarked Gray inside the area but the former Brentford man somehow diverted the ball the wrong side of Dean Gerken’s left post. Town had a chance a minute later when Fraser cut the ball from the left to Luke Chambers arriving on the right of the area but the Blues skipper opted to cross rather than shoot - which was probably the better option - and the danger was cleared. The Burnley support was becoming increasingly frustrated with referee Peter Bankes for failing to give them decisions after Gray clashed with first Tommy Smith in a dangerous area midway inside the Town half and then with Berra on the edge of the box, although both incidents seemed six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. The game remained a hard-fought, tight, typical Championship contest and on 28 Sears - who had swapped flanks with Fraser - cut in from the left and shot straight at the keeper. Kightly was continuing to present the home side’s biggest threat and on 32 the winger was found in space by Joey Barton, cut in from the left and hit a shot wide. A minute later at the other end, Sears did much the same but powerfully hit his strike against Heaton at his near post. Burnley thought they’d grabbed the lead in the 39th minute when Ben Mee stabbed home following a David Jones corner but referee Bankes disallowed it for a push as the ball came across. Two minutes later, Kightly shot over when he might have done better with the Clarets looking the more dangerous side in the closing minutes of the half. Deep in injury time, Berra brought the ball out of the Town box following a Burnley corner and Bru’s cross-field pass which would have sent Sears away on goal was cut out by Matt Lowton. Shortly afterwards referee Bankes brought to an end what had been an evenly-contested first period. The official was booed off by the home support, irked by the disallowed goal and for the incidents involving Gray. Both sides had had chances - Gray’s opportunity for Burnley the best - with the home side all too often failing to find the target when they had a sight of goal, while at the other end Heaton got in the way of most of Town’s best efforts. Overall, Blues boss Mick McCarthy will have been happy enough with the scoreline at half-time. The home side threatened within seconds of the restart, Kightly beating Chambers and then sending over a left-wing cross which Berra did well to reach ahead of Vokes. The Clarets kept up the early pressure and Gerken was forced to save at his near post from Gray from a tight angle on the right. Town created their first chance of the second half on 50 after Fraser had been fouled on the left. Bru whipped over the freekick and the ball fell to Hyam beyond the far post but the midfielder’s shot was deflected behind by Stephen Ward. On 56, with rain now falling heavily, Kightly again cut in from the left and hit a shot which flew wide with Vokes close to adding a final touch. Soon after for the Blues, a Bru cross was knocked back to Sears by Smith but his shot was also too high. Fraser took a kick to the face from Lowton on 58 which saw the ex-Sheffield United man pick up the game’s first booking. Bru’s freekick was too long. Moments later the on-loan Bournemouth winger was replaced by Tommy Oar. Brett Pitman took over from Bru in the 64th minute as the Blues prepared to take a corner from which the ball just wouldn’t fall for several Town players. The home fans’ enmity towards the referee wasn’t diminished when Blues keeper Gerken caught a through-ball on the right edge of the box at pace before throwing it out as he exited his area. The home fans claimed he had handled outside his territory but the well-placed official said otherwise. George Boyd, who came close to joining the Blues from Peterborough during Paul Jewell’s time as Town boss, replaced the tiring Kightly in the 70th minute. A minute later, Daryl Murphy did well to win the ball on halfway as Town broke and fed Sears away to his right. The ex-Colchester man - who might have found Pitman in space to his left had he spotted him - took the ball on into the area but his shot was blocked. Soon after, Murphy was replaced by Luke Varney. As the game moved into its final quarter-hour the Blues’ main threat was on the counter-attack. On 76 Varney played in Oar to his left but Sears volleyed the Australian's deep cross well into the David Fishwick Stand housing the 885-strong Town travelling support. Varney flicked a header to Heaton with seven minutes remaining, then on 87 Smith headed Oar’s left-sided corner off a defender and wide with the Blues creating the late chances. As the match entered three minutes of injury time Barton was booked for a foul on the again lively Oar. Deep in injury time Burnley sub Rouwen Hennings volleyed wide from a freekick and seconds afterwards the referee signalled the end of an entertaining but goalless game. A draw was probably a fair result from an even affair in which both sides had chances but with both keepers rarely seriously tested. Town took a more conservative approach after the break and never really looked in danger of losing. The draw ends Town’s run of successive away victories at a club-record-equalling five but boss McCarthy is likely to be happy enough with an away point against one of the other teams in the play-off places, having beaten the Clarets 2-0 at Portman Road earlier in the season. The result means the Blues have taken an impressive seven-point haul from the three Christmas-New Year fixtures and remain sixth in the Championship, a point behind Burnley in fifth and two in front of Sheffield Wednesday in seventh. Town are next in FA Cup third round action against Portsmouth at Portman Road next Saturday. Burnley: Heaton (c), Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward, Kightly (Boyd 70), Jones, Barton, Arfield (Taylor 89), Vokes, Gray (Hennings 89). Unused: Gilks, Duff, Darikwa, Ulvestad. Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Hyam, Bru (Pitman 64), Fraser (Oar 59), Sears, Murphy (Varney 73). Unused: Bialkowski, Malarczyk, Parr, Maitland-Niles. Referee: Peter Bankes (Liverpool). Att: 16,307 (Town: 885).
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