Burnley miss chance to close gap

15 February 2014 19:32

Burnley wasted an opportunity to close the gap on Championship leaders Leicester City as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Saturday.

Sean Dyche's side were the only one of the top six in action due to the weekend's FA Cup fixtures and that gave them a chance to reel in high-flying Leicester.

But the second-placed Clarets could only move within seven points of the Foxes, with QPR four points adrift in third but with two games in hand in the race for automatic promotion.

Tokelo Rantie put Bournemouth ahead in the 51st minute at a wet Goldsands Stadium as Eddie Howe looked to inflict defeat on his previous club, but Danny Ings levelled in the 67th minute.

Simon Francis came close to grabbing a winner for the hosts when he hit the crossbar late on, with the sides having to settle for a share of the spoils.

"We were well below par but we have built an amazing mentality here so that when five or six players are not at their best we can still come away with a point," Dyche said.

Nick Proschwitz scored a late equaliser for struggling Barnsley as they picked up a point with a 2-2 draw at local rivals Doncaster Rovers.

Proschwitz had opened the scoring from close range before James Coppinger scored either side of half time to put Doncaster in control.

But Proschwitz struck again in the 89th minute to level for the Tykes, who remain 23rd in the table.

"To keep going to the end, at this stage of the season and with the magnitude of the game, showed how much character this group has got," Barnsley boss Danny Wilson said.

Ian Holloway's Millwall side sit just above the drop zone but could only draw 1-1 against Bolton Wanderers despite dominating at The Den.

Lukas Jutkiewicz headed Bolton in front after 15 minutes before Millwall came back into the game and created the best of the chances before equalising through Martyn Woolford with eight minutes left, shortly after Jutkiewicz had a penalty saved.

"I'm deadly serious when I say you would be bored senseless watching that kind of performance from them," Holloway said of Bolton's conservative approach.

"If that's how you set out to play when people pay a lot of money to watch I'd be bored senseless."

Troy Deeney's penalty was enough for Watford to record a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in a game which saw both sides end with 10 men at Vicarage Road.

Fernando Forestieri was felled by Ben Gibson just after half time, with Deeney making no mistake from the spot as the game burst into life.

On-loan QPR midfielder Samba Diakite was shown a straight red for a two-footed challenge on Dean Whitehead two minutes after the goal and Gibson was also dismissed after picking up a second yellow card shortly afterwards.

Huddersfield Town earned a 2-1 win at former manager Lee Clark's Birmingham City.

Oliver Norwood opened the scoring after 10 minutes for the visitors before Adam Clayton thrashed home a second on the hour mark to put the Terriers in charge.

Birmingham scored a consolation in the last minute as Olly Lee volleyed home but the Blues are now 11 games without a win at St Andrews.

Ipswich Town and Blackpool played out a goalless draw at Portman Road with Mick McCarthy's Tractor Boys missing out on the opportunity to move into the play-off places.

Source: AFP