It's Coyle over but Clarets go marching on

0 Comments | People (London, England), The, Jan 3, 2010

Byline: Matt Butler

MK Dons Burnley 1 2

OWEN COYLE'S last match in charge of Burnley was effectively over before the break as the Clarets eased into the fourth round at stadium:mk.

Graham Alexander's penalty and a Steven Fletcher strike sent Burnley safely through, although battling Dons did grab a last-gasp consolation.

It proved to be a decent send-off for Coyle, who is likely to be installed as Bolton boss in the coming days.

The travelling fans made their feelings known about their manager's impending exit throughout the second half, chanting: "We love Owen Coyle."

And they had the first chance of the game after just five minutes, when Stephen Gleeson's long-range shot flew just wide of the left post.

It took until the 15th minute of the game for Burnley to muscle their way into the Dons' box when Robbie Blake fired narrowly wide.

Tripped Then a minute later Blake beat the offside trap to cross for Fletcher, but home keeper Willy Gueret got to the ball first.

Burnley took the lead on 22 minutes after referee Tony Bates decided Fletcher had been tripped by Mathias Doumbe.

Penalty-king Alexander - who has scored 71 from 76 spot kicks - made no mistake, blasting the ball past Gueret and in off the post.

After they took the lead, Burnley shut up shop and it was 15 minutes before they were in the home box again - Blake's shot being saved by Gueret's legs.

But they added a second 10 minutes before the break when Fletcher latched on to an excellent pass from Chris Eagles to slot home.

Dons almost pulled one back in first-half injury-time when Doumbe's shot from a corner was cleared off the line by Richard Eckersley.

Visiting keeper Brian Jensen kept out two Dons' chances in the second half, after Luke Chadwick was set up by Jason Puncheon both times.

And the home side grabbed a consolation in the 89th minute with Dean Morgan's impressive18-yard effort which went in off the bar.

MK DONS: Gueret 6 - Howell 6 (Stirling 81 mins) , Doumbe 5, Woodards 7, Lewington 6 - Baldock 5 (Chadwick 55 mins, 6 ), Gleeson 7, Leven 6 - *PUNCHEON 8 - Wilbraham 6, Easter 7 (Morgan 81 mins).

BURNLEY: Jensen 7 - *ECKERSLEY 8, Bikey 7, Duff 7, Kalvenes 6 - Elliott 7, Alexander 7, McDonald 7 (Gudjonsson 71 mins), Eagles 6 - Fletcher 7 (Thompson 88 mins) - Blake 6. REFEREE: T Bates 6.

CAPTION(S):

CRACK SHOT: Alexander's spot on