Jay shows the way in cup
SUPER-SUB Jay Rodriguez again came up with the goods in the Cup as his dramatic late winner put Burnley into the Fourth Round of the F.A. Cup.
Queens Park Rangers' striker Samuel Di Carmine had put the R's into the lead at Turf Moor, but Steven Thompson levelled the scoring with a well taken goal sending the tie into extra time, before Rodriguez's 120th minute strike stopped the game from heading into a penalty shoot out.
Burnley manager Owen Coyle was forced into a late change to his lineup after top goalscorer Martin Paterson dropped out in the warm up with a leg injury, meaning Robbie Blake was promoted from the bench, with youngster Adam Kay taking his place amongst the substitutes.
And the injuries weren't to stop there, as just 19minutes into the game, Chris McCann, who we understand had a Premier League scout watching him on the night, limped out of the game. Republic of Ireland International midfielder Alan Mahon replaced him.
Neither side created many clear cut chances early on in the game, but Q.P.R's Ledesma kept the returning Clarke Carlisle and Steven Caldwell on their toes.
The Clarets failed to offer much threat going forward in the early stages, with their only effort at goal coming from Joey Gudjonsson who watched his shot almost end up in the closed upper tier of the Jimmy McIlroy Stand. Mahon also tried his luck with a fierce strike at Radak Cerney's goal, but his effort was easily smothered by the former Tottenham number one.
An highly eventful first half ended with the highly depleted crowd of just 3,760 having very little to cheer about inside Turf Moor. Half-time: Burnley 0-0 Q.P.R.
Burnley came out looking more up for the game, and on 48 minutes Carlisle had a golden opportunity to score against his former employers, but he headed wide, leaving the Burnley bench scratching their heads on how he missed atleast the target.
And Paolo Sousa's men made the Clarets pay for their missed opportunity as Di Carmine fired the visitors ahead in the 53rd minute, slotting the ball neatly under the advancing Brian Jensen, following a mistake from Mahon deep inside his own half.
By now the Burnley supporters had visions of another Tottenham like situation, conceding quick consecutive goals, but this time following a mistake from Wade Elliott, Martin Rowlands could only rattler the Clarets' crossbar.
Just moments later though and the score was levelled as Thompson's thunderous effort cannoned off the underside of the crossbar only to fall just over the line after Gudjonsson's initial effort was blocked on the line.
Captain Caldwell then saw any hoped he had of facing Tottenham go out of the window as he recieved his fifth yellow card of the season, meaning that he will have missed both legs of the crucial Carling Cup Semi Final tie. But it also spells out a major defensive reshuffle as now both Caldwell and Michael Duff will be out with suspensions.
Thompson almost doubled his tally on 72minutes, but his header flashed wide of Cerney's far post. Rowlands had his chance to shock the home side with four minutes remaining on the clock, but after breaking the offside trap and going one-on-one with "The Beast" Jensen, he somehow managed to fire over. What a major let off that was for Owen Coyle's men.
A last minute Chris Eagles goal had the goal music playing and the fans celebrating and ready to leave but the linesman had other ideas and ruled the goal out for offside after substitute Alex MacDonald's shot was turned in by the former Manchester United youngster.
Into extra-time we went and MacDonald was starting to make himself look a real threat, using his pace and trickery to easily knock the ball around the Rangers' defence but saw his shot well blocked at the near post by Cerney in what would have been a dream goal for the Scottish Under 19s International.
Now it was the London outfit's turn to have a goal chalked off for offside, this time in more controversial circumstances, as the linesman allowed the Q.P.R. attackers to run free on goal, before Rowlands knocked the ball past Jensen and as he did up went the flag causing uproar from both the away and the home benches and support as Owen Coyle proceeded to tell the linesman exactly what he thought of his decision making.
Brian Jensen pulled out arguably the best save of his Burnley career, as he somehow managed to stick out a right arm when he was diving the wrong way, to scoop the ball out from under his crossbar.
Then came Rodriguez's big moment. The 19-year-old knicked the ball from Stewart's toe to race into the box before knocking the ball past Cerney and into the net. The same net that same him score his first Burnley goal too.
Burnley into the fouth round then, where they meet Premier League side West Bromich Albion at The Hawthorne's.
Burnley: Jensen, Alexander, Carlisle, Caldwell, Jordan, Elliott, McCann (Mahon 20), Gudjonsson (MacDonald 84), Eagles, Blake (Rodriguez 69), Thompson.
Subs Not Used: Penny, Kalvenes, Akinbiyi, Kay.
Booked: Caldwell, Mahon.
Goals: Thompson 60, Rodriguez 120.
QPR: Cerny, Hall, Stewart, Gorkss, Delaney, Alberti, Leigertwood, Mahon (Rose 79), Rowlands, Ledesma (Ephraim 55), Di Carmine (Helguson 85).
Subs Not Used: Borrowdale, Crowther, Connolly, Ramage.
Booked: Delaney, Alberti.
Goals: Di Carmine 54.
Att: 3,760
Ref: Colin Webster (Tyne & Wear).
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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