Burnley (U21s) 3-0 Barnsley (U21s)

Burnley (U21s) 3-0 Barnsley (U21s)

Premier League Professional Development League

Monday 14th November 2022

As the scoreline suggests, this was a pretty straightforward and comfortable win for Burnley over Barnsley in the Professional Development League.

The Clarets were easily the better team and dominated most of the game. Goals by Mike Mellon and Owen Dodgson saw them open up a two-goal cushion by half-time, before the notorious A.Trialist (always a regular at this level) fired home a third, via a deflection, late on.

This was my first time watching Burnley’s U21s this season and I was certainly impressed by the confident style in which they played. They retained the ball really well for prolonged some periods, put some excellent moves together, the speed at which they transitioned from defence to attack on multiple occasions was good, they exploited space (especially on their left flank in the first half which led to Barnsley's Alex Anaman being substituted at the break) yet probably the most impressive in the Clarets' performance was their work-rate to win the ball back when they didn't have it.

They certainly gave a good account of themselves, the hours and work put in on the training ground was evident in some of their play, and their quality was blindingly obvious.

My last visit to Turf Moor was in May 2016 on the day Burnley beat QPR to win promotion to the Premier League. It was 1-0 on that occasion and it could have been 1-0 within the first 20 seconds or so of this game as Mellon saw an effort saved by Barnsley 'keeper Jamie Searle.

Although Barnsley pressed well in response over the next few minutes with the Clarets being forced to retain the ball in tight and dangerous pockets of space inside their own penalty box on a few occasions and Fabio Jalo having a shot saved, Burnley gradually began to step things up at the other end and their pressure almost culminated in an opener when Marcel Lewis teased Anaman with some fancy footwork to weave his way inside and open up an angle where he flashed a cross into the six-yard which ricocheted off Dara Costelloe and into Searle's grasp.

Lewis certainly made his presence felt on that flank and another good cross just a few minutes later was cleared by Amir Ariely, before another was claimed by Searle, but the Barnsley 'keeper was eventually beaten on the half-hour mark when some excellent build-up led to a hooked up cross from the inside-left which was flicked home by Mellon.

Confident and in command, Mellon should have added a second for Burnley on 39 minutes when he blazed a volley over the upright following some excellent skill down the inside-left channel by Seb Thompson, but it didn't matter too much because the Clarets made it 2-0 in their next attack with Dodgson applying the finishing touch after yet more subtle, piercing and precise build-up play involving several players which was a pleasure to witness.

Burnley's win could have been much more emphatic and they continued to look bright, dominant and lively throughout the second half as they created numerous openings.

Will Hugill and Joe Bauress linked up in another move which nearly put Costelloe through and he'd have finished had it not been for a last-ditch interception. From the resulting corner he headed over, before Lewis and Thompson skewed efforts narrowly wide as the pressure intensified.

Dodgson also flashed a ball across the box with around a quarter-of-an-hour remaining and more good play in effective areas by Burnley around the Barnsley penalty area resulted in Searle having to palm behind a low drive by Thompson which bounced up en route to goal.

Mellon was then thwarted in a one-on-one scenario when Searle stuck out a leg to deny him and although Jalo then had an effort for Barnsley up at the other end, the result became a foregone conclusion in the last minute of normal time when A.Trialist found the net with a deflected shot to wrap up the points.

There can be no complaints about the outcome because Burnley were really good, by far superior and very impressive for all the reasons already mentioned.

Amongst their best performers were Mike Mellon (son of Micky Mellon) who read situations well to break between the lines on a few occasions and he'll know he should have scored more goals with the three or four good chances he had. His talent was evident. Marcel Lewis (No.11) hogged the left touchline excellently in the first half - even when play was on the opposite flank and was really intelligent with his skill. Lewis' positioning and movement caused Anaman so many problems as he had a tendency to drift inside; thus creating space and when Lewis got on the ball his contribution was excellent. Both of Burnley's wing-backs were good; Owen Dodgson showed a tenacious streak, scored one goal and whipped a ball across the face of goal late on (unlucky) and made a very good impression, whereas Will Hugill was good with his distribution and stood out in a similar positive way. They're both still young but neither look as though they'll have any problems when it comes to making the transition into mens football; such was the maturity in their respective performances. Seb Thompson was also lively ahead of him and made some good contributions over the course of the 90 minutes.

Although Barnsley didn't properly lay a glove on Burnley, bar a few bits of high-pressing and notable work-rate, the Clarets also had a good defender in Jack Turner. He sometimes dropped a little bit deeper than his centre-back partners but his reading of the game was excellent, his passing was strong, his towering height made him visibly stand out and, having stepped up from non-league in the summer to earn a deal at Turf Moor (already checked that out), he certainly has something decent about him.

From a Barnsley perspective, they didn't do enough to win the game. They had a few shots, got the ball into some good areas at times but Burnley were by far the better team.

Individually, Fabio Jalo was lively and was involved in a funny incident in the second half when he went chest-to-chest with an opposition defender (No.6) who was about a foot taller than him and it required the referee to sort it out. Jack Butterfill worked hard and was relentless with his effort levels but both the service to him and the end product just wasn't there for a multitude of reasons - and he can take comfort in his performance, whilst Harrison Nejman was just about Barnsley's other best player. He got behind the ball when he was out of possession, competed well and his short-passing was precise on the whole. Much more was needed to effect the game in an attacking sense but Harrison's performance and his contribution highlighted the fact he's learning, improving and I can see the development in him compared to a few months ago and that's a sign which bodes well for the future.

I feel a bit of sympathy for Alex Anaman because he's still an U18s player and was up against a quality opponent in Marcel Lewis and he was left exposed on various occasions when others in Barnsley shirts could have played their part in helping him out a bit more. However, it's a learning curve, he'll get better from these experiences and he shouldn't feel too disheartened because Burnley are just a quality team whose quality shone through.