WIMBLEDON fans were demonstrating about moving ground but Burnley boss Stan Ternent just wanted a bit more movement on the ground at Selhurst Park.
Ternent slammed the pitch as 'diabolical ... with the ball always up in the air' and he was relieved to come away with a point which keeps the Clarets promotion roll on track.
And Dons manager Terry Burton admitted, with Crystal Palace and themselves using the pitch, it was an uneven and bumpy surface that didn't make for an entertaining encounter.
Despite loud demonstrations after the game as Wimbledon fans protested about chairman Charles Koppell and his plans to relocate to Milton Keynes, it was the pitch which became the major talking point.
"With both us and Palace playing on it, it is taking its toll," admitted Burton. "It does not do our game any favours and it was a scrappy game.
"It makes it difficult for the wide players to produce telling crosses as they can't slow the ball down to get a cross in or for teams like us who like to pass the ball and break quickly.
"It is difficult for us and difficult for everyone else. You would struggle to walk on it, never mind play football."
The pitch yielded little in terms of chances and it wasn't pretty to watch.
Luckily a large number of Burnley fans missed it as there was only 7,675 watching - the Clarets lowest away crowd of the season in Division One.
Burnley entered the game on the back of a run which has seen them lose once in 12 games and there were boasts that Selhurst Park was a happy hunting ground for the Clarets.
Burnley have recorded three wins in their last three games against Wimbledon and have a four game unbeaten run at Selhurst Park.
Their last trip there, a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in December, saw the end of Ian Moore's 13-game goal drought and the Burnley fans who made the long trip were anticipating more of the same.
But with recent injuries to Gareth Taylor, Glen Little and Paul Weller and the long term casualties it immediately made it difficult for Ternent, who started with Ian Moore as the lone man up front and five packed in midfield.
Paul Cook made his first start following his loan spell at Wigan to occupy a left wing role while Alan Moore took over in Little's right wing slot.
But with Michael Hughes and Damien Francis in the engine room for the Dons and the pacey Jobi McAnuff and former Stockport man Kevin Cooper on the wings, Burnley were struggling to get a sniff on goal. Ternent was therefore forced to change things around pushing Alan Moore up front to partner Ian.
David Connolly and Neil Shipperley were proving extremely lively up front for Wimbledon and they forced Nik Michopoulos into a number of saves - although most of them were long range efforts which he didn't have too many problems with.
The Dons did also squander a couple of good opportunities, Michopolous pushing out a fierce Shipperley cross and Shipperley then turned provider passing the ball to the feet of Connolly who made a tight turn but blasted over just before half time.
Indeed, the goalmouth action was so limited, that one of the major incidents of the first half was Nik the Greek's shirt.
His dark one was ruled to clash with the blue shirts of the Dons and he was forced to change it after five minutes.
The battle was on to find a replacement and in the end, Dons second choice keeper Paul Heald had to tip up his number 14 grey shirt for Michopoulos - and from then on Burnley had two number 14s on the pitch!
"I blame the kit man on that one, I am not accepting any responsibility whatsoever for that," laughed Ternent. "We didn't have a green jersey so we borrowed one of Wimbledon's which was light grey as they didn't have any green or yellow ones either so we will have to order a couple!"
There was hopes there would be more talking points in the second half and as Burnley kept the 4-4-2 formation with the introduction of Greek Under 21 striker Dimitri Papadopoulos.
And the Clarets looked livelier, his speed and ability to run at defenders causing a few problems in the early stages as he looked for his first senior goal.
But he was only on the pitch just over 30 minutes before he took a knock and Ternent once more had to call on his strength in depth to bring on Tony Ellis for the final 12 minutes.
Wimbledon still looked the more likely to score and there was some great tackles from both wingbacks Dean West and Graham Branch as Burton's men looked to find a breakthrough.
They both played well in the second half as did the ever-solid Ian Cox in the centre of defence and Arthur Gnohere certainly knows how to clear danger - he hoofed the ball out repeatedly much to the relief of the Burnley fans.
Michopoulos though was relatively quiet in the second half despite the pressure but it was his American counterpart Ian Feuer who must have been fed up.
He did have two pieces of action in the first half - tipping over Branch's dangerous cross and then a Cook corner - but in the second half he was only called into action once. Papdaopoulos did fire an effort wide but Burnley's only shot on target came from Ian Moore in the 73rd minute - a 25 yard effort that was easy for him.
The fans weren't warmed up on a cold day with the entertainment on the pitch but at least as Selhurst Park lost it's tag of the 'Happy Hunting ground.' The Clarets won't mind now if Wimbledon do move.
RESULT:
WIMBLEDON...0
BURNLEY...0
at Selhurst Park
Attendance:...7,675
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