AFTER leading his team-mates to their third straight win, Clarets captain Graham Branch should have had only one thing on his mind - jumping on the next plane to Macedonia.

Okay, he might not have made it across Europe in time for England's Euro 2004 qualifier, but on this evidence he might just be the solution to Sven Goran Eriksson's perennial problem of lacking a left-sided attacker.

The beaming Burnley supporters were certainly in no doubt, as chants of 'Branchy for England' rang out from the top of the visiting supporters' seats. And this was even BEFORE the inspirational skipper had weaved his way in from the left to create what turned out to be the winning goal for Luke Chadwick.

Branch also teed up the opening goal for another Old Trafford exile, David May, when he flicked on Gareth Farrelly's corner and he then turned former Chelsea stopper Ed De Goey into a flying Dutchman with a stinging low drive minutes later.

And even when Burnley should have been hanging on grimly for a point, Branch was still showing how much he's finished with the centre back lark when he tested De Goey twice more and also hit the post - all in injury time!

It was just the sort of captain's performance that summed up how well every decision Stan Ternent made as his selections reaped rich dividends, not least handing starting places to all three of his midweek loan signings.

Bolton duo Delroy Facey and Gareth Farrelly made decent debuts but it was Rovers import Andy Todd who turned in the kind of display that might even have the travelling Clarets thinking that lot from Blackburn aren't such a bad bunch after all.

Oh okay, he was good but not THAT good.

Todd's trip down the M65 not only yielded a solid defensive ally for the dominant May but also presented Branch with the freedom of the left wing, and how he revelled in it.

But the man who really ruled Britannia was Robbie Blake, constantly asking for the ball, usually receiving it and never giving it away.

His contribution was pivotal to Burnley dominating the first half and establishing their 2-0 lead, then Blake frustrated Stoke by being the chief conductor of his side's opus of passing moves.

There were a couple of times during the last half hour when Burnley were keeping the ball for 15 or 20 passes at a time. So much for backs to the wall defending a one-goal lead, starving Stoke of possession was the best way of depriving them an equaliser and they never looked like forcing a draw towards the end.

The fact that the Clarets were now playing against ten men also helped after Carl Asaba picked up two yellow cards in the space of three minutes.

Bizarrely, he even managed to squeeze in a goal between the two bookings so how glad Burnley were that they saw the back of him so soon after he brought his side back into the game in the 52nd minute.

Talk about an eventful three minutes for Asaba. Who needs Alton Towers when such rollercoasters are freely available in this particular part of Staffordshire?

Burnley were still in for a bumpy ride, however, and it almost came off the rails when Gifton Noel-Williams raced clear but a heavy touch allowed Brian Jensen to close him down and block with his legs.

It was the last chance City had even though there was still half an hour left to play .

Just as important was the save Jensen made to frustrate Noel-Williams five minutes before half-time when he had a clear sight of goal following a cleverly-worked free-kick.

At that stage, Ternent would have been fuming if he had to deliver a team talk with his players walking a 2-1 tightrope instead of relaxing on a 2-0 cushion.

In fact, De Goey then flung himself to his left to divert Blake's curler away from the top corner on the stroke of the interval , leaving everyone in agreement that a 3-0 scoreline would have been far more representative of the first half.

Once Jensen had seen off a difficult low drive from Asaba that skidded off the soaked surface after 11 minutes, it was all Burnley and Facey and Farrelly both had chances of debut goals, the latter striking the outside of the post from 20 yards.

But in the 18th minute, the midfielder's corner was flicked on by Branch and May emerged from a bundle of bodies at the far post to force the ball over the line.

It's no wonder he claimed it - it was his first goal since Manchester United's Champions League quarter-final against Porto in March 1997 and he celebrated as if it was a strike of that importance.

And just to prove that miracles do happen, the clouds, which up until that point had been a darker shade of grey than Burnley's away strip, suddenly lifted to bathe the Britannia in glorious sunshine.

But nothing was shining brighter than Branch and in the 27th minute he left Wayne Thomas for dead, played a one-two with Blake and squared for Chadwick to sweep in the second despite De Goey's desperate intervention.

Facey was inches away from making it a hat-trick of players to open their goalscoring accounts for the Clarets and although his shot slipped wide, the Britannia boo-boys were now in full voice.

The tone changed to cheers in the 52nd minute when Asaba guided a header past Jensen but his late lunge on West seconds earlier and subsequent aerial clash with May robbed Stoke of their most potent weapon.

After the game, Ternent revealed how satisfied he was with the experience and know-how of his new-look outfit, saying: "We have Premiership footballers at this club now," before adding: "But I could still do with having Glen Little."

However, many performances like this, and they just might not need him.

STOKE CITY 1

Asaba 52

BURNLEY 2

May 18, Chadwick 27

Britannia Stadium. Att: 14,867