My apologies for the delay in responding to the events on Sunday. The celebrations immediately after leaving Ewood went on and on and on and... But on sobering up and reflecting on the afternoon and after watching a re-run of the match for the first time,I have to agree with many of the Burnley viewpoints which have been aired since the game. In no particular order:

1. Burnley were by far the most inventive side who created countless chances and limited Rovers to half ones at best. Burnley's gorgeous free flowing football, which now must eclipse Arsenal's passing game, was in complete contrast to Rovers ugly long ball stuff. The build up play which led up to Rovers first and third goals was more good fortune rather than swift incisive passing. Indeed Di Santo's touch to bring in Dunn for the equalizer was so lucky. He definitely did not mean to do it. The two Rovers forwards certainly did not deserve their men of the match awards. What did they contribute?

2. Rovers were certainly the aggressors and on more than one occasion should have seen them being reduced to ten.Wade Elliot did not show violent conduct when he unfortunately 'tangled' with Chimbonda on the touchline and Clark Carlile was desparately unlucky to get a yellow with a fair tackle on Dunn. Oh, and Brian Jensen did not deliberately take out Roberts.

3. Despite the police stopping the club from selling further tickets, I firmly believe Rovers would not have sold more as opposed to Burnley who could have filled the ground five times over. Historical facts back this up. Lest we forget the world record attendence of 349,456 for Burnley's final game in '87 gainst Orient when every Burnley supporter was there and that same season in Div 4 they did average well over 100,000. We all know they have always
commanded bigger gates than Rovers.

Overall folks, a good day all round. A great advert for East Lancs, with a passionate and partisan crowd, with little hint of nonsense ( apart from some clowns who decided to impersonate cavemen in Cherry Tree.) I firmly believe we have the greatest derby in the country, which has been witnessed by a whole new audience around the world and it's something ALL OF US in this part of the county should be proud of and wish to continue.

The morning of the match brought feelings of apprehension and excitement and reminded me of how it use to be when nothing else mattered in life apart from your club being successful. And then we had to grow up!

Now it's time to move forward and build on the home form to enable us to enjoy the return fixture in March in a relatively comfortable postion. We will not forget Sunday but use it as a springboard to move forward and climb the table as we did after Turf Moor in 2000.

Next stop, The Bridge.