By Turftalker/Rob
April 27 2004

Burnley's Youngsters played their hearts out last night for the club as they sought to bring home the Lancashire Youth Cup to Turf Moor. Played in front of a very healthy crowd of 920+ they fought Oldham all the way. Yet Oldham scored two goals in extra time to claim victory 2-0.

There were some top performances on the night with Tom Ince and the central defensive partnership of Trotman and Townsend getting particular praise and all Clarets can be consoled that some real talent may just have the chance of following Chappy in to the first team.

The two extra time goals were no reflection of a game that saw the Clarets look the better attacking side in the second half. A well attended match by both Burnley and Oldham fans had both sets of fans wondering who could take the first goal up until the last minute of the first half in extra time when Jason Taylor fired home from a corner. It looked like the Clarets would have to take second place but the lads tried brilliantly to find an equaliser in the second half of extra time, Taylor fired the ball just over the bar in a final effort to give the Clarets a last chance. It was not to be when just a minute or so before the end of the second half Walker slotted the ball into the net from the edge of the box.

Oldham’s goalkeeper Charles Treacy was very impressive and was essential in keeping the Latics in the game throughout. At the start of the game, a Tom Ince free kick caused trouble for Latics in defence and Treacy came to the rescue for them punching the ball clear of the area. It was becoming clear that this would become a tense physical game and this became even more apparent when a late tackle by Daryll Avery on Daniel Lorde resulting in Lorde pushing Avery to the floor resulting in red cards for both players, this feud continued in the tunnel unaware to the fans in the stand. The decision could be seen as harsh on Avery; however, the referee was not one who would be letting anyone get off lightly. However, his officials did seem to have problems recognising when something was offside or not. I do not think the FA chose the correct officials to be in charge of a final, the officials at the Turf on Saturday is an example as to what officials should be like.

From here on the Clarets looked to be enjoying most of the possession and trying a few shots, which unfortunately were no problems for Treacy, going wide. The only danger from the Latics in the first half was near the end when Matthew Barlow’s header just went over the top of the bar.

In the second half, Hale kept the Clarets in the game with some good saves. Oldham was starting to look the better side until Lafferty came off for Hanley who made an immediate impact. His shot on goal, minutes after coming on, was cleared off the line.

The final score was 2-0; however, I must echo the thoughts of theLongside Writing Team on applauding the youth team for getting where they did and for their performance last night.