Jen and I had booked to stay in Ravenglass for a fortnight. In hindsight, it was probably longer than ideal as the weather had been poor and it meant that we were less inclined to do things after I finished work each day. There were lulls in the rain that we took advantage of to take the dog out, but nothing suitable for a longer walk.
The Championship fixtures had given the Boro a trip to the north-west on the Wednesday night of the second week and as I was already in that part of the world, it only seemed right to go along. Ravenglass is quite remote though and heading south involves a lot of small, narrow roads. That meant that the journey time to Turf Moor was two and a half hours, which is longer than it would usually take from Teesside.
I parked a fifteen-minute walk away from the ground at Sainsbury’s and passed the Royal Dyche pub which is named after the former Burnley Manager. It had a bouncer on the door who could easily have passed for Sean Dyche, as could most bouncers.
I followed the road around past Burnley Cricket Club, where I’d called into on my last visit here. There were a few Boro fans in the outdoor seating overlooking the field and it was easy to imagine Jimmy Anderson running in to bowl for Burnley.
Once inside I got a drink. Pepsi Max unfortunately. There were plenty of options for pies, but I didn’t bother with food as I’d stopped at the services before leaving the M6 and called into Greggs.
I spotted Carl in the crowd, so had a chat with him. We discussed the new signings, the team selection and particularly whether we would be playing with three centre-backs or whether Malanda would be in midfield. In the end, it was a sort of hybrid role where he slotted into the back line at times but often played further forward. I’m not sure it is for the best, either for him or the club and I’d prefer to see a midfielder alongside Morris and for Malanda to do what he does very well as a defender.
Phillips remained on the bench, although it can’t be long before he starts, and the two new midfielders weren’t available.
It was another game of two halves. We dominated the first forty-five minutes and went in at the break a goal up after a fine strike from Aiden Morris. He almost had a second that would likely have clinched the points.
Burnley were better in the second half and got an equalizer. I wasn’t too bothered as an away point at Burnley is still a decent return when you consider the players that they have. That said, I’d like us to be up there at the right end of the table and so a win at QPR in our next game would be a welcome result.
Trail of the Lion King 