Wednesday Fulham Stuff (04/11/15)...

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Gray strikes twice as Burnley end Fulham run

Burnley 3 Fulham 1

Former Brentford striker Andre Gray scored twice in the first half to help end Fulham's five-match unbeaten run.

Gray nodded in David Jones' cross for Burnley's opener and doubled the lead eight minutes before the break after latching on to Scott Arfield's through ball.

Ross McCormack pulled a goal back early in the second half but Fulham were grateful to the crossbar and Dan Burn's goal-line clearance to prevent Burnley extending their lead.

Kit Symons' side did enjoy a period of pressure, with home keeper Tom Heaton saving from McCormack and Moussa Dembele, but Matt Taylor netted late on to wrap up Burnley's victory.

Fulham suffered a blow in the lead up to the game when their keeper Andy Lonergan injured a calf in training, giving Joe Lewis another opportunity in goal.

Burnley's first arrived on 18 minutes when Gray got ahead of Ryan Tunnicliffe to head past Lewis, and the £9m striker grabbed his eighth goal for his current club as he slotted in having been fed by Arfield.

Fulham began well after the break and Ross McCormack halved the deficit on 51 minutes, curling in after being teed up by Tom Cairney.

But Burnley had two great opportunities to restore the two-goal margin. Gray almost grabbed his hat-trick when he was sent clear and lobbed Lewis, only to see the ball cannon off the bar, while Burn headed Sam Vokes' goalbound header off the line.

The Whites pressed and Moussa Dembele – who had scored five goals in his last three games – fired over and nodded straight at Heaton.

But as Fulham attempted to find an equaliser they were undone at the back, Taylor converting Arfield's delivery as Burnley moved up into second.

Fulham: Lewis; Stearman, Burn, Ream (Kacaniklic 59); Fredericks (Christensen 78), Tunnicliffe, O'Hara (Smith 78), Cairney, Husband; McCormack, Dembele.
Subs not used: Rodak, Garbutt, Pringle, Woodrow.


http://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/football-wls-gray-strikes-twice-as-burnley-end-fulhams-unbeaten-run

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Manager Reaction

Kit Symons felt his Fulham side would have been good value for a point against Burnley on Tuesday evening.

While the Whites saw plenty of the ball in the first half, it was the hosts who went into the interval two goals to the good through Andre Gray's brace.

A sweet Ross McCormack effort reduced the deficit soon after the restart, and Fulham went on to dominate the majority of the second period, only for a late Matt Taylor goal to wrap up a 3-1 win for the Clarets.

"We were unlucky not to get anything from the game but we gave two very poor goals away in the first half," Symons admitted in his post-match press conference. "Andre Gray had a free header and then a clean run through on goal.

"Other than those two lapses, I don't think Joe Lewis made a save first half. We gave ourselves a bit of a mountain to climb but I said to the players at half-time that we know we can come back from it because we did it a couple of weeks ago against Reading, who are equally a very good side and we came back to win having been 2-0 down.

"We nearly did it tonight, we nearly got ourselves back into the game, we got a good goal from Ross and a few other opportunities, but things wouldn't quite fall for us."

With the goalscoring potential in the Fulham team, Burnley fans could have been forgiven for feeling nervous at 2-1, and when asked how confident he was that his side would find an equaliser, Symons replied: "Very confident. We were in the ascendency.

"We rode our luck a little bit early on in the second half when Gray hit the bar, going through after another lapse from us, but we were on the front foot and I honestly thought we'd get something out of it. So I'm a bit disappointed in that respect, but very proud of my team.

"You lose games of football sometimes but if you're going to go down then go down with your boots on having a right go, and we did that second half so I've got no complaints with the second half.

"I thought we were very brave, we really had a go, and if we had got something out of the game I don't think too many people could have complained really."

The loss was Fulham's first since September, and Symons insists heads will not drop going into the weekend's meeting with Birmingham City at Craven Cottage. 

"We're still very confident going into Birmingham," he stated. "Like I say we're disappointed tonight, but these are a good side. They're a quality outfit and they're at home.

"I'm disappointed with a few decisions that didn't go our way but you sometimes get that when you come to places like this. It's part of the game so I'm confident of bouncing back and getting the three points against Birmingham."

When asked what decisions in particular he was referring to, the Whites boss specified a throw-in that was awarded Burnley's way in the build-up to their third goal – something that Dan Burn was incredulous about at the time.

"The throw-in just before the third goal certainly was, for me, blatantly our throw," he said. "All the players were obviously very disappointed with that."

Tickets for Saturday's game against Birmingham City are still available to buy, priced from just £25 for adults and £15 for juniors.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/november/03/manager-reaction?

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Lonergan faces up to six weeks out with new injury

Fulham goalkeeper Andy Lonergan is expected to be out for four to six weeks after suffering another hamstring injury.

The 32-year-old was taken off in the 0-0 draw at Middlesbrough last month but recovered to regain his place in goal for the 4-1 victory at Bristol City on Saturday.

However, despite playing the full 90 minutes at Ashton Gate, he aggravated the injury, which kept him out of the team that lost 3-1 at Burnley on Tuesday.

Captain Scott Parker, who missed both the game at Bristol City at the weekend and Tuesday night's trip to Turf Moor, has resumed training again after a niggle.

Sakari Mattila didn't travel with the squad to Burnley having been taken ill on Monday.


http://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/football-wls-fulham-keeper-faces-up-to-six-weeks-out-with-new-injury

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Kit Symons says Fulham were the 'nearly' men at Burnley who died with their boots on

Whites gaffer proud his team had a go at Turf Moor


Near but no cigar: Kit Symons

Kit Symons reckoned Fulham were the 'nearly' men at Burnley in a 3-1 defeat - but rued two sloppy bits of defending that ultimately produced a bridge too far for Whites to cross.

Whites were 2-0 down at half time, but the manager reminded his troops that was the case two weeks ago - and they still went on to beat Reading 4-2.

Not this time, as he explained.

"We were unlucky not to get anything from the game but we gave two very poor goals away in the first half," he said.

"Andre Gray had a free header and then a clean run through on goal.


Goal: Ross McCormack

"Other than those two lapses, I don't think Joe Lewis made a save first half.

"We gave ourselves a bit of a mountain to climb, but we nearly did it. We nearly got ourselves back into the game, we got a good goal from Ross (McCormack) and a few other opportunities, but things wouldn't quite fall for us."

Once the Scot had put Fulham back in the contest, they could have gone on to win, but the cards wouldn't fall for them.

Symons explained: "We rode our luck a little bit early on in the second half when Gray hit the bar, going through after another lapse from us, but we were on the front foot and I honestly thought we'd get something out of it.

"So I'm a bit disappointed in that respect, but very proud of my team.

"You lose games of football sometimes but if you're going to go down then go down with your boots on having a right go.

"I thought we were very brave, we really had a go, and if we had got something out of the game I don't think too many people could have complained," he told the club's website.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/kit-symons-says-fulham-were-10382687?

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Fulham boss reveals half-time dressing room tension in Burnley defeat


Kit Symons, Fulham manager

Fulham boss Kit Symons admits he had to give his team a rollocking at half-time in their defeat at Burnley on Tuesday night.

Andre Gray's brace gave Burnley a deserved half-time lead, but Fulham belatedly kicked into gear after the break and Ross McCormack's fine effort shortly after half-time led to a nervy ending.

Substitute Matt Taylor settled the nerves in stoppage time by wrapping up the win, which means Dyche's men have secured 29 points from the last 36 available.

Fulham's second-half upturn was a case of too little, too late as they looked to turn things around following a toothless first half.

There were times when it looked like they would return to west London with at least a point, but Kit Symons was left ruing what could have been.

"I gave them a little bit of a volley, really," the Fulham manager said of his half-time team talk. "I told them to liven up, be a bit more confident. It's the same old.

"You lose games of football sometimes, but if you are going to go down then go down with your boots on, having a right go. "We did that in the second half so I have no complaints with the second half.

"I thought we were very brave, really had a go and if we had got something out of the game then I don't think too many people could have complained, really."



Read more at: http://www.london24.com/sport/football/clubs/fulham/fulham_boss_reveals_half_time_dressing_room_tension_in_burnley_defeat_1_4296022
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