Burnley On To Third Round of Carabao Cup With 2-0 Whitewash of Blackburn in East Lancashire Derby

TOWSON, Maryland, Thursday, August 24, 2017 - It seems that fisticuffs and red cards are following the lads at Burnley everywhere they go.  Wednesday night, the Claret beat back their neighborhood rivals from dear ole' Blackburn, 2-0.  But it took dealing with a couple of nitwits who made their way onto the pitch from the stands. before the win was final.  Two "fans" were out of the stands and onto the pitch after Jack Cork put Burnley ahead in the 27th minute.  As one intruder "chatted" with Burnley's players, he suddenly pushed the Claret's Jack Tarkowski.  That "push" prompted Ashley Westwood to tackle the 'pushy' intruder.  After that, both intruders headed for the hills, or, more accurately, the stands.  But before they could clear the pitch, they were both 'greeted' by responding stewards and unceremoniously led  the rest of the way off.  Later, Sean Dyche, the Claret leader, expressed chagrin at the amount of time it took the stewards to react to the on-field activities.

The win gets Burnley into the third round of the Carabao Cup.  And with Blackburn relegated all the way down to League One, this match became the annual East Lancashire Derby.  For the uninitiated, Blackburn's Ewood Park and Burnley's legendary Fortress Turf Moor are only 15 miles away from each other.  Sadly, for Blackburn, it has been seven long years since it last won the Derby.  In that time, the Rovers have been relegated twice.  The Claret, of course, are in their second consecutive season in the Premier, and if you're keeping tabs on this type of thing, Burnley has been in the Top Flight during three of the past four seasons.

Burnley's scores came in the 27th minute, when Jack Cork headed in the goal, and in first half add on time on a wonderful move and shot by Robby Brady.  Brady broke past two Blackburn defenders and then, with a hard angle facing him, ripped a bullet into the upper far corner of the net.

Burnley is right back at it on Sunday (there was an error here earlier: your writer reported that the match was on Saturday. I do apologize) when they travel to Tottenham Hot Spur for an important Premier League show down.  Currently, the Claret are listed in 13th place, in a virtual tie with Chelsea, whom Burnley defeated on opening Saturday.