On a road to nowhere

A YEAR after the nightmare of hour-long traffic queues outside the Majedski, Reading have thankfully solved their access problems with the opening of an impressive new road system.

And what a relief that would have been for the die-hards who must have been desperate to get away from this game as quickly as possible.

As entertainment goes it ranks right up there with a trip to the dentist.

But this is a results business and Burnley will at least take some satisfaction from the fact that they regained third place in the Second Division and extended their recent run to one defeat in seven League games.

A seventh clean sheet in eight games also meant their goal difference remained good enough to leave just North-West rivals Preston and Wigan above them in the table.

And, if it goes down to the wire, the Clarets' admirable rearguard could be a trump card.

However, the Clarets will have to play a lot better if they are to interrupt Wigan's progress on Saturday and if they are to win more of the away games they will need to to occupy a top-two place come May.

Burnley had the measure of a limited Reading side, struggling to escape the bottom four, after negotiating a testing first 15 minutes.

But they lacked the quality on this occasion to push home a slender advantage.

The Clarets missed the invention of a below-par Paul Cook, who was never able to settle into his repertoire of probing passes. And, while Glen Little and John Mullin each created moments of danger from out wide, there was no end product either for or from the strikers, four of whom were tried by Burnley boss Stan Ternent through a combination of necessity and choice.

Wigan may not be quaking in their boots. But by the same token they could well face an entirely different Burnley in the top-of-the-table clash.

So adept on the counter-attack this season, Burnley will get that opportunity at the JJB Stadium.

Last night, apart from an adventurous opening in which Reading's wing-backs got well forward to cause the visitors problems, Burnley had to force the pace.

And against a rigid three-man central defence and a packed midfield they didn't find that easy, but weren't helped by some poor passing.

You could hardly blame referee Kevin Lynch for not allowing the game to flow.

But such was his leniency that the match almost degenerated into a free-for-all at times.

Ternent's anger spilled over at one point and he received a ticking off from Lynch, who had just allowed Little and Cook to be clattered from behind.

The rising passions at least brought some edge to the contest and Burnley were on the receiving end of Lynch's benefit of the doubt when the industrious Mullin bumped Andy Bernal to the floor in a revenge mission and then caught Phil Parkinson with a high tackle, the result of which was just one yellow card. Mullin and Little, occasionally swapping wings and in Mullin's case helping out in a slightly more central position, were Burnley's most likely source of a goal and Mullin had the only genuine chance of the night after 25 minutes.

Having played their way into the game after a couple of early scares from Nicky Forster, the Royals' best player, the Clarets weaved their way through the Reading defence courtesy of Steve Davis and Andy Cooke.

Cooke's lay-off fell perfectly for Mullin, although the angle was slightly against him and Phil Whitehead was able to block the effort with his legs.

Cooke and Mullin then looked to combine again on the stroke of half-time and although Mullin failed to connect with a near-post cross, Andy Payton stuck out a leg to bring another save out of Whitehead.

However, neither keeper did enough to warrant a shower as the struggle for cohesion went on after the break.

Burnley played with far the greater urgency and crosses from Little promised much without falling kindly for Payton or Graham Branch, who had replaced the injured Cooke.

Reading were restricted to innacurate long-range efforts, although the impressive Steve Davis had to avert one moment of danger when turning a Forster cross away from Jim McIntyre.

In such games, set-pieces can often provide salvation and a timely winner.

And Burnley weren't without their chances late on.

Alan Lee, who did well in his late cameo role, twice won free-kicks in inviting positions near the edge of the penalty area.

The Burnley supporters behind the goal in question willed Davis and then Cooke to swell the net.

But neither could oblige and two wasted corners from Little right at the death rather summed up the night.

Roll on Saturday.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.