Stoke City 1 Burnley 2

Last updated : 07 September 2003 By Rob Stanway
Burnley started the game quickly and their attack, particuarly the strong Facey up front caused the potter's defence problems and made us at times look very amateur.

It was only the 17th minute when David May scored for the clarets off a good corner. Stoke were already in tatters at the back with the corner-taker Farrelly already hitting the woodwork minutes before.

Stoke looked under-confident at the back - far away from what we've been used to and in the 25th minute, Burnley took advantage of that again. Luke Chadwick was left in space when a terrific header from Graham Branch for the clarets put the winger through to score from 12 yards.

Half time 2-0.

The second half arrived with Stoke looking much more upbeat. It wasn't long before our hitman Carl Asaba put away a superb header from a Clive Clarke cross just 7 minutes in to the half - game on.

Or was it. Almost immediately after the goal Asaba got cautioned for a second time, leading to his sending off. 2 very harsh bookings saw the leader of our comeback removed from the game.

With 10 men, Stoke battled bravely and still produced the chances, working hard to make sure they had the better of the second half. Gifton Noel-Williams was put through on goal but looked unsure of what to do as he raced in before hitting the ball straight at the keeper.

Ed De Goey was called into action several times with some superb saves being made.

With 10 men, Stoke weren't going to come close to winning and Tony Pulis is analysing the match video before he decides what to do next.