FOOD for the Gods this was not.

But you can bet many of the Clarets legends watching from the stands were punching the air like everyone else when Glen Little finally put us mere mortals out of our misery.

From Adam Blacklaw through to Jimmy McIlroy, Turf Moor paid a pre-match homage to a select band of players who were all winners in their own era.

But their modern day counterparts failed to be inspired to reach such dizzy heights on an afternoon of football few will care to remember for very long.

Certainly Stan Ternent made the right decision, missing the match on medical advice so that his virus would not spread through the camp and wreck Burnley's FA Cup preparations.

And the only saving grace was that Little's precious strike, seven minutes from time in a truly turgid affair, was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Two long months we have waited for the Clarets to get back to winning ways in the league. For Little, the wait for a goal has been even longer, last finding the net for the Clarets against Walsall in March 2003.

But both those statistics are now history as Ternent's troops rallied late in the day to pick up their third victory over Gillingham this season - and with it their first league double of a troubled campaign.

It quickly became obvious that this would be a long afternoon. Robbie Blake made sure of that two weeks ago, when a senseless spot of dissent against the same opponents earned him a one-match suspension.

Without him, Burnley were pretty toothless, especially in the first half when nobody seemed willing to gamble on supporting lone striker Ian Moore.

Possession was squandered with careless abandon, and with absolutely nothing to cheer, no-one could have complained if the VIP guests sneaked off for a stiff drink to ward off the biting cold.

Blake's absence should have been countered in part by the Clarets enjoying the wind at their backs, but it was Gillingham who made most of the early running.

Darius Henderson twice broke the Clarets offside trap in the opening quarter, but was thankfully flagged offside on each occasion.

And the much-improved Clarets defence also had a new problem to cope with following their stroll in the park against the Gills two weeks ago.

Patrick Agyemang is a striker with Formula One pace and he went up the gears to leave Mark McGregor trailing with a clever nutmeg, only to fire weakly at Brian Jensen.

The Clarets meanwhile, continued to labour with Alan Moore in particular having a first half to forget. The first chance of any kind fell to the Republic of Ireland wide man following good work from Mo Camara, but he mis-kicked horribly as he tried to scoop the ball goalwards.

Namesake Ian ploughed his lonely furrow without much luck, and just before the break became so frustrated that he dropped deep into midfield to try his luck from distance.

However, the Clarets first shot at goal flew miles wide to bring further groans from the stands.

Thankfully, things brightened up in more ways than one after the break. The sun made its first fleeting appearance of the year just as Glen Little set off on a mazy run that forced the first moment of panic in the Gills defence.

The wide man latched onto Alan Moore's pass and crossed low for Neil Wood, whose volley was deflected to the feet of Ian Moore only for the striker to lose his footing at the crucial moment.

Tony Grant was the other ray of light, illuminating the gloom with another pretty faultless display in the centre of the park. However, a whole team cannot function around the efforts of one player alone, and so the frustration grew until Little grew in stature.

Just after the hour, after being dumped unceremoniously to the ground near the corner flag by Gills player-boss Andy Hessenthaler, the winger floated over a perfectly flighted free kick that defender Chris Hope headed over from under his own crossbar with David May set to pounce.

And finally, not before time, that sparked Burnley into life. The best move of the match soon followed as Little this time weaved infield and fed Grant on the right wing. The midfielder quickly slid an inch-perfect ball across the retreating Gills defence for the on-rushing Ian Moore, who connected as well as he could have hoped only for Jason Brown to warm his fingers for the first time with an excellent diving parry.

Moments later, Little found himself through on goal, only for a brilliant tackle from the tireless Hessenthaler to deny him a clear shot on goal.

Assistant boss Sam Ellis tried to build a head of steam by replacing the ineffective Alan Moore with Luke Chadwick with 20 minutes remaining.

And after Gills sub Rod Wallace, introduced just two minutes earlier, flashed a drive inches wide of Jensen's left hand post, Burnley finally made the breakthrough.

Chadwick won a throw on the right and smartly found Richard Chaplow, who swept the ball wide left to Wood. Only the on-loan Manchester United man knows for sure if he intended the quirky lob that totally flummoxed the entire Gills defence and left keeper Brown confused.

Everyone stood and waited for someone else to intervene, and Little accepted the gift by sticking out a leg to poke the ball beneath the keeper's legs to ignite wild celebrations.

It all nearly went pear-shaped as Hope rose to meet Hessenthaler's last-gasp free kick and power a header towards the top left hand corner.

But new dad Jensen miraculously made his most important save of the season to cap a memorable personal few days. For the rest of us, it's not been a bad week either!

BURNLEY 1

Little 83

GILLINGHAM 0

At Turf Moor Att: 10,400