GARETH TAYLOR hardly recognised his old stomping ground.

The blonde bombshell breezed back into Burnley to find Turf Moor and its fixtures and fittings all present and correct.

He even found the visiting dressing room without too much trouble, despite spending over two years a few doors further along the players tunnel.

It was only when Taylor took to the pitch, to a generous ovation from his old admirers in the Turf Moor stands, that he failed to connect with his former Clarets team mates - or to be more precise some of the free-flowing football played by the home side.

He later revealed: "The way Burnley passed the ball about was great, but we never used to play like that when I was in the side - they just used to lump the ball up to me!

"But they look sharp and if they start putting their chances away, they could have a good season."

The first comment may have been made with a cheeky glint in his fully-healed eye and tongue embedded firmly in cheek. But the latter encapsulated the real reason Stan Ternent's men suffered the body blow of such a surreal scoreline.

Trailing to the early hammer blow of Marlon Harewood's shock seventh minute strike, the fired-up Clarets emerged for the second half to football Paul Hart's men to death in a desperate attempt to claw their way back into proceedings.

Sadly, the one missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle; the man whose Turf Moor spell proved beyond question he would have flung himself onto one of the countless unpunished crosses arrowed into the box, was at the opposite end of the field wearing Forest's colours and blinking in disbelief at the second half siege.

If that sounds a little harsh on Clarets striker Delroy Facey, then it is wholly unintentional. The on-loan Bolton forward was the one player who looked likely to make the vital breakthrough and change the course of a chess game being played out almost entirely on the edge of Forest's penalty area.

On one occasion, a lightning quick spin and shot on the turn deserved far better than to see keeper Darren Ward blow his cheeks out in relief as the ball fizzed millimetres wide.

On countless other occasions, Facey provided future England centre back Michael Dawson - yes, he really is that good - with one of the toughest maulings he will encounter before he dons the shirt with three lions.

But for all that, what wouldn't Burnley have given for Taylor's flowing locks to be standing on the shoulders of giants and nodding a ripper into the top corner?

Thee can be little question that Burnley's attacking football is sometimes sublime and always inventive. When everything clicks, as it did at Stoke and Gillingham, passes are made faster than J-Lo picks prospective husbands.

But when the radar is slightly askew, as Burnley look to walk the ball home rather than shoot, the route to goal appears to be blocked by a wall as wide as J-Lo's backside.

So it was again on a night of pure frustration - and I don't mean just for Ms Lopez's marital bed!

There was little hint of the action-packed second half to come after Harewood caught Brian Jensen out at his near post with a fierce low drive after being teed-up by Taylor.

Ian Moore, restored to the starting line up as skipper Graham Branch surprisingly dropped to the bench, then flashed a shot across Ward's goal as Burnley sought an instant response.

But as the half wore on it became apparent that Ward would not be further tested, first when Tony Grant blazed over from Facey's smart cut-back and then when Luke Chadwick failed to find his range from distance.

There was one half-hearted appeal for a penalty when Ian Moore fell under Gareth Williams' tackle in first half stoppage time, but any excitement quickly dissipated as perfectly-placed referee Alan Kaye instantly waved play on.

Astute Clarets boss Stan Ternent tweaked things during the interval, however, and came within a whisker of catching Forest out straight away.

Paul Weller replaced a below-par Lee Roche and, with a three-man defence now in place, Burnley laid down the gauntlet.

Almost instantly, Camara found his range with a left wing cross and Weller got what appeared to be a decisive touch, only for Ward to brilliantly tip the rising effort onto the crossbar.

Suddenly, tails were up and Moore headed tamely at Ward before David May was off target from another teasing cross, this time from Facey.

For at least 20 minutes, it is no exaggeration to say Forest struggled to break free of the half way line. Yet naggingly, Ward remained largely untroubled and, inevitably, the storm passed.

Moore was flagged offside as he converted Robbie Blake's slide-rule pass for what he briefly thought was the equaliser.

But with 14 minutes remaining, it was academic as Reid raced fully 70 yards, took Harewood's superb through ball on his chest and rifled the second past helpless Jensen.

Richard Chaplow, who last week signed a three-year professional contract, almost capped a memorable few days by firing into the side netting in reply.

But it was that man Taylor who struck the final blow after more scintillating work from Harewood.

Noticeably, the Welshman refused to celebrate the goal against his former paymasters. It could have been through embarrassment at the margin of victory, but the big man later revealed it was through courtesy.

Just don't keep rubbing it in, eh Gareth!

BURNLEY 0

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 3 Harewood 7, Reid 76, Taylor 82

Att: 12,530