FULL TIME: Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Burnley
Lawrence whips a cross into the Burnley box from the right. Duffy rises to meet it with a power header. It’s straight at Heaton, who tips over, then claims the resulting corner kick. And that’s that! Burnley make it two in a row! Hanley thinks about taking his frustrations out on Duff, but the home side are allowed to continue with their celebrations. Rovers can count themselves unfortunate to have lost that one, but that’s not to say Burnley weren’t impressive in their own right. They take the three points, precious in the context of their promotion push, but it’s not really about that today. They maintain their good form in this fixture: five unbeaten, and the last two won. Turf Moor in March, then, everyone?
Updated
90 min +2: Marshall is in space down the right. Blackburn have sent plenty of men forward. An awful ball inside allows Arfield to tear upfield and eat up plenty of the clock.
90 min +1: The first of three added minutes comes and goes.
90 min: Barton slides in on Conway as the Blackburn winger makes off down the left. Another chance to load the box at a free kick. Duffy clatters into Heaton as the ball comes in. There goes that pressure!
89 min: Blackburn are giving it a go, but nothing’s coming off. Evans tries to latch onto a cross from the right, but gets it all wrong. Heaton takes his time over the goal kick, professional clock management at its finest.
87 min: Marshall goes on a trot down the right. He looks to cut inside, and is clipped to the floor by Jones. Free kick. A chance for Blackburn to load the box. Conway curls it in. It drops to the feet of Duffy, on the penalty spot. He’s inexplicably been given time to shoot by the Burnley defence, but suffers a rush of blood and swipes a weak and hellish effort over the bar. He almost faints to the ground, his head lolling around in muddled despair.
86 min: Long replaces Gray, who has been unusually quiet today.
84 min: The frame of the Burnley goal is still gently oscillating. That really was some strike. Conway as unfortunate as you can get.
82 min: Blackburn so unlucky as Conway clatters the woodwork! He cuts in from the left wing, drops a shoulder to make himself some space, and unleashes a stunning riser which crashes onto the corner of the left upright and crossbar. Heaton beaten all ends up! A simply wonderful screamer that was deserving of a goal. But no.
81 min: Barton clatters into Akpan on the edge of the Burnley box, winning the ball. Totally legitimate, and very old-school. The away fans enjoyed that.
80 min: A low cross into the Burnley box from Olsson on the left. It makes it through to the six-yard box, where the box-fresh Taylor takes a fresh-air swipe. Keane clanks clear. Neither team appears to be keeping particularly calm right now.
79 min: Blackburn send on Taylor, with Delfouneso making way.
78 min: Conway again delivers a ball into the Burnley box from deep on the left. Keane beats Rhodes to the header. Blackburn are enjoying more of the possession, but seem unable to do much with it right now.
75 min: Another high ball into the Burnley box, this time sent there from the Blackburn left. Duff rises to clear, Rhodes and Lawrence unable to meet it. The visitors are looking pretty comfortable at the moment.
73 min: A dismal clearance down the Blackburn right by Mee is picked up by Lawrence, who combines with Delfouneso to win a corner. The set piece is looped into the mixer. Hanley, of all people, picks up possession on the penalty spot, and looks to turn and lash a shot goalwards. He gets an effort away, but it clanks into his own man Delfouneso. Hanley wanders off with a pained expression, perhaps wondering whether this is simply destined to be Burnley’s day.
71 min: This won’t be news to anyone. But the Burnley fans are giving it plenty right now.
70 min: Conway, out on the left, cuts back up the wing before snapping a high cross to the far post for Delfouneso. That’s a lovely ball, and one which very nearly finds its man. But Heaton is out quickly to claim before Delfouneso can plant the nut on it.
67 min: Lawrence, whose awful miss earlier now looks so costly, searches for atonement. He lashes a low shot goalwards from 30 yards, through a thicket of players. It’s not the worst idea, especially if it takes a little nick off someone, but the ball makes its way through the crowd safely, and straight into the arms of Heaton.
65 min: Blackburn nearly respond immediately, a cross from the right wing met by Akpan, who should head home from eight yards, but flaps his effort straight at Heaton.
GOAL! Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Burnley (Arfield 63)
What a finish by Scott Arfield! A free kick down the Burnley left. It’s hoicked into the Blackburn box. Some head tennis ensues. Mee, on the penalty spot, takes a fresh-air swipe at the ball. It breaks back to Arfield, on the edge of the area. He sidefoots with power into the top right, then races off down the other end of the park to celebrate with his fans. Bedlam, bedlam, bedlam!
62 min: A long ball down the Blackburn inside-right channel. Keane should deal with it, but allows Rhodes to bring it down behind him, then turn him on the inside. Rhodes has space just inside the area, but squirts a lame shot straight at the keeper. Heaton doesn’t claim first time, but Rhodes can’t get to the loose ball.
61 min: Hanley clatters into Gray down the right, with the striker going nowhere. A free kick for Burnley in a dangerous position. Jones loops the ball into the box, but Steele rises to claim with confidence.
59 min: Marshall bursts in from the right, and is upended by Mee. The referee waves play on, though, because Evans is about to latch onto the loose ball for a shot. He fizzes one towards the bottom left. It’s got the beating of Heaton, but it’s also inches wide of the post. So close. And fine refereeing.
58 min: It’s lovely and open, now, this. First Gray very nearly turns Hanley down the inside-right channel, but Olsson is quickly across to cover. Then Conway burns down the left, so close to opening Burnley up, but he over-runs the ball slightly and can’t keep his cross in as he tries to clip one on the byline.
55 min: What a miss by Lawrence! He bursts down the middle, and slips the ball wide right to Rhodes, who returns it first time. It’s a perfect pass, right in front of Lawrence, just inside the Burnley box. Burnley have been ripped apart. Lawrence is clear, and he doesn’t have to break stride as he meets the perfectly placed ball. He opens his body, and sidefoots at pace towards the top right. Too much pace, and it flies wide and high. An awful miss. It would have been a picture-book goal as well. Oh my.
54 min: Gray, under no pressure whatsoever down the right wing, batters a Jonny Wilkinson style penalty miles over the bar. A cross? A shot? Either way, it was risible, and one the majority of the crowd enjoyed.
53 min: A Blackburn free kick in the midfield. They load the box. The ball drops to Marshall on the edge of the area. He attempts a spectacular. Nope!
52 min: Marshall, deep on the right, launches long towards Rhodes, on the edge of the Burnley box. Duff should clear, but opts to leave the ball for his keeper, and his decision very nearly allows the striker in on goal. Fortunately for Burnley, the ball’s just a smidgen ahead of Rhodes, and flies through to Heaton. The crowd OOH in unison, knowing full well how close Rhodes was to latching onto that unexpected treat.
50 min: Arfield scampers clear of Marshall down the left wing, selling the Blackburn man an outrageous dummy with a drop of the shoulder. He’s clear in the box with men in the middle, but lashes a hopeless shot into the side netting, causing Steele no bother whatsoever. That looked so promising for Burnley, but what a sorry end.
48 min: Duff slides a pass down the inside-right channel for Gray, who very nearly turns Olsson and breaks into the area. But the defender stays on the striker’s shoulder, and the flag goes up anyway for a (slightly dubious looking) offside position.
47 min: And it’s a bright start to the half by Conway, who drifts in from the left and skelps a shot over the bar from the edge of the box.
And we're off again!
Burnley get the ball rolling for the second half. They ping it around in pretty triangles down the left, but soon go backwards, and Keane is very nearly robbed by Rhodes. Then Rovers come again at Burnley, Conway getting the better of Darikwa down the left. His deep cross only just evades the eyebrows of Delfouneso at the far post. A bright start to the half.
Half-time entertainment: The Joy of Six on Blackburn’s last major trophy, secured by Andy Cole in 2002 ...
... and Burnley’s last big win, their league title of 1960.
HALF TIME: Blackburn Rovers 0-0 Burnley
Lawrence slides the ball across the front of the Burnley box from the left. Rhodes takes a touch and converts for some rugby union points. And that’s that for the half. A slow burner which eventually became pretty damn entertaining. Both sides should have been awarded a soft penalty - Burnley arguably two, though they were part of the same incident - but neither was given. Honours even, then, and the second half promises to be a rare old party. Don’t go anywhere!
45 min: The red mist comes down on Gray, after Marshall buys a cheap free kick by going over the striker’s sliding challenge. A bit of nipple barging. The referee reminds everyone of their ages, and we move on.
44 min: Conway curls a high cross into the Burnley box from deep on the left. Rhodes, rising on the penalty spot, meets the inswinger and powers a header towards the top left. It’s a little high and wide.
42 min: More space for Olsson down the left, but this time his cross is nowhere near a team-mate, deep and out of play on the far side. However this is better from Blackburn, who had let their rivals take control for a wee while.
40 min: Olsson drops a shoulder to make some space down the left. His low cross is picked up by Lawrence, who is barged over from behind by Barton before he can shoot. That should be a penalty too, but again the referee isn’t interested. The resulting corner comes to nothing.
38 min: Finally Steele has something to do. Barton slides Arfield down the inside-left channel. Arfield looks to curl one into the bottom right with the inside of his right boot. A lovely effort, which is parried out to the side by Steele. A magnificent save. Gray, from the Burnley right, loops a cross to the far post, where Arfield again gets involved. But he can’t connect properly. Blackburn survive. The away side are beginning to look dangerous now, after a slow start to the match.
37 min: Burnley go up the other end and have a belt from distance themselves. Vokes drifts in from the right, and looks for the bottom-left corner from 25 yards. Not quite. The ball fizzes well wide of the left-hand post.
36 min: Lawrence cuts in from the Blackburn left and sends a pearler of a daisycutter towards the bottom-right corner from 25 yards. It’s a fine effort, and only gathered by Heaton after a fashion. Had Rhodes or another Blackburn player been on the front foot, there was a rebound there to batter home.
34 min: Quite an interesting replay of the Hanley-Barton penalty incident. Seconds after Barton got up, the ball long battered upfield, he was deliberately tripped by Hanley in an off-the-ball incident. The ball was miles away, but the ball was in play. A penalty in itself? Technically, yes. Mind you, you’d have to be a brave referee, with 24 eyes constantly rotating around your head, to give it.
32 min: Boyd busies himself down the right wing and very nearly springs Gray clear with a pass along the flank. Just a little overcooked. Burnley are beginning to get a grip of the midfield. Meanwhile here’s JR in Illinois: “Speaking of derbies, here in the US this game is being shown on the BeIN Sports channel. In the upper right hand corner of the screen they have permanently affixed a graphic which consists of the Barcelona and Real Madrid logos and the words: EL CLASICO 28 DAYS LEFT. I’m not even sure what to say about that. Uh, make your plans now, I guess. Mercy.”
30 min: Burnley respond, Barton rolling a pass down the middle for Gray, who very nearly shuttles it further forward to release Arfield into the box. But the final ball is lacking. It’s not quite sparking into life, this game, though not for the want of trying. Both sides are showing willing in attack; it’s just not quite coming off for them. Yet.
27 min: Blackburn pin Burnley back in their own box for the best part of a minute, but none of their crosses or balls inside pass muster.
25 min: Gray and Barton exchange crisp passes down the inside-left channel. Suddenly Barton is in the Blackburn box. He cocks his right leg to shoot. Hanley, coming in from behind, brushes his planted left leg. Barton goes over. That should be a penalty, albeit a very soft one. But it’s not given. Barton, as you’d expect, is livid. Blackburn nearly add insult to injury as Delfouneso makes good down the left on the break with Burnley light at the back, but his cross isn’t accurate.
23 min: Mee goes haring after a long ball down the left, and for a split second looks to have the better of Marshall. But just before he takes up possession and tears into the area, Marshall finds a little bit of added power, and reasserts himself in the footrace. The ball’s ushered out of play for a goal kick. A quarter of the way through, and neither keeper has had a save to make.
20 min: A corner for Blackburn down the right, Arfield put under a little pressure to give it up. Vokes heads powerfully clear. Marshall has yet another look at goal from distance, and once again his shot isn’t up to much. It’s high velocity, low quality so far. In that sense, quite a lot like the Premier League, only the fans are singing.
18 min: A clumpish Evans backpass has Steele in all sorts of trouble. He slides across to save a corner, but this is a throw deep in Blackburn territory down the left. The ball’s flung to Vokes, who hooks over his shoulder from the left-hand corner of the Blackburn box. Steele gathers with a yawn by the right-hand post.
17 min: Conway and Mee go up for a ball on the halfway line. Mee’s elbow crumps into Conway’s lug. Conway rolls about a bit, then gets up and frowns quite a lot, making his displeasure known in trenchant terms. The referee gives Mee a good talking to, but he’s not going to get his card out for that. A long free kick is humped into the Burnley box. After a bit of head tennis, Marshall has two attempts at a shot from the right-hand corner of the Burnley D. Both are blocked pretty much at source.
15 min: Vokes tries to feed Boyd into space down the right by flicking a header along the flank, but Duffy steps in to blooter the ball away. Burnley come again down the left through Mee, but Hanley sweeps his cross clear with ease. A little better from the visitors. Baby steps.
13 min: Burnley are struggling to stay on the ball right now. Blackburn, that Rhodes half-chance apart, aren’t creating much, but at least they’re stringing a few passes together. The visitors aren’t on their game yet.
10 min: Then, suddenly, Blackburn spring into life. Olsson strides down the left, and curls a ball into the Burnley box. It’s dropping on the penalty spot. Rhodes, coming in from the right, and with his back to goal, gets in ahead of Duff and, with the outside of his right boot, flicks a stunning first-time effort towards the top left. If that’s on target, it’s in. Not quite: it just flies over the bar. But not by much. What a wonderful piece of improvisation by someone who should play for Scotland more often.
9 min: Blackburn continue to pass it around the back, in no hurry whatsoever. Clearly they’ve decided to draw a bit of the sting from the atmosphere, with a view to building something thereafter. It’s not much of an early spectacle, but it’s all about the result today.
6 min: Finally a period of calmer play. Blackburn stroke it round the back awhile, getting a feel of the ball with the confidence of a team who haven’t conceded a goal at home for four matches. Burnley are fancied to chalk up only their second win against Rovers since 1979 today, but if they want it, they’ll have to work for it.
4 min: It’s all a bit hectic at the moment. Completed passes at a premium.
2 min: Gray goes on a wander down the right. He’s going nowhere, but is rugby tackled to the ground by Hanley. A pointless challenge by the Blackburn captain, and a free kick to the right of the Rovers area. Jones whips the set piece into a crowded area, but it’s cleared by the first man Rhodes. The ball’s hoicked into the middle of the park, where Darikwa shuttles it back to his keeper. And he gives it a real belt, causing Hutton a panicked scramble back to his line. He chests down and clears, but that’s some shaky business at both ends already.
And we're off!
Blackburn get the ball rolling. The ball’s hoicked out of play down the left within five seconds. The blood pumping.
The teams are out! There’s no need for flowery descriptions of the atmosphere. Bloody hell. Visually, it’s a Victorian treat, with Blackburn in their beautiful blue-and-white halves, Burnley in their gorgeous claret. Classic looks for a classic fixture! We’ll be off in a minute.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche has been on the talk! “We demand a lot out of ourselves. We don’t really worry about what goes on around us. In theory this is game is no different, but of course the attention on it and the atmosphere around it can change that. In theory the good practice we put in on a daily, weekly basis means our players know what to do under any circumstance. We’ll see if that works today!” Both bosses appear relaxed and smiley. Let’s see how long that lasts, then.
Blackburn boss Gary Bowyer speaks! “The local derbies are the games you really look forward to. You wish you were a player, playing in them, but unfortunately I can’t do that. You’ve always got to play with passion and today will be no different. Hopefully we can get a little bit of luck today, as recent decisions have gone against us, but that will come with the honesty and hard work we’ve displayed all season. Four consecutive clean sheets at home, that’s the first time since 2003, which has been a magnificent record, but we’ve got to go again against Burnley.”
It’s not great news if your name is Taylor today. Craig Conway returns for Blackburn Rovers, which means Chris Taylor drops to the bench. Burnley make one change too: George Boyd has won his race against fitness, and he nudges Matt Taylor down to the cheap seats.
The teams
Blackburn Rovers: Steele, Marshall, Hanley, Duffy, Olsson, Delfouneso, Akpan, Evans, Conway, Lawrence, Rhodes.
Subs: Henley, Spurr, Kilgallon, Williamson, O’Sullivan, Taylor, Raya.
Burnley: Heaton, Darikwa, Duff, Keane, Mee, Boyd, Jones, Barton, Arfield, Vokes, Gray.
Subs: Lowton, Kightly, Taylor, Hennings, Gilks, Ward, Chris Long.
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire)
North London. Manchester. Merseyside. Glasgow. The regard given to local derbies is only ever commensurate with scale. This East Lancashire cotton-mill affair might not quite boast the worldwide renown of British football’s most celebrated local brouhahas, but it’s got cachet, baby. It’s got cachet up the yin-yang!
Blackburn have the historical edge in this fierce rivalry. They’ve won 41 matches in league and cup to Burnley’s 38, though factor in friendly scrapes from the pre-league era, and the teams are level on 45 wins apiece. Burnley won the last one, Danny Ings sealing a 2-1 win at Ewood Park, and what a victory that was: their first against the old enemy since 1979. The Clarets having broken a 35-year hoodoo, it’s now the turn of Rovers to wait: no wins in the last four meetings, their last a 1-0 triumph at Turf Moor in 2010, David Dunn their hero in that one.
Burnley have the upper hand recently, then, and they’re the form team going into this game. Sean Dyche’s side have won six of their last nine and sit fifth in the early Championship table, Andre Gray their dangerman (six goals this season) as they look for an instant return to the Premier League. Rovers by comparison have only two wins to their name all season, and are floundering down the other end of the division. They’ll need Jordan Rhodes to continue his Burnley-bothering behaviour: he’s scored three in his last four appearances against the Clarets.
But it’s a local derby, which means form flies out of the window. Whistle! Wheech! All gone! And so anything could happen. And you know what that means? What it means is ... it’s on!
Kick off: 12.30pm.
Updated
