The big, the quick and the tricky

Clarets boss Stan Ternent has and he was laughing all the way to three points at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon.

At the start of the season you would have got long odds on Burnley starting with a three-man midfield of Glen Little, Steve Davis and Paul Cook but they played their part in allowing the three men in front of them to steal the show.

The big man Gareth Taylor opened the scoring, the quick man Ian Moore completed it in brilliant style and while the tricky man Robbie Blake did not get on the scoresheet, he certainly had a big assist in Glen Little's goal.

With regulars Lee Briscoe, Tony Grant and Alan Moore joining Paul Weller on the injured list Ternent's options were limited but his patched up side did him proud.

And he could not have been happier with the way his decision to go with the three pronged strike force heaped more misery on the Owls and he believes that the trio offer him all sorts of different options in how to break down the

"I thought Gareth produced a fantastic exhibition of front play," he enthused. "Then Robbie likes it to his feet and he twists and turns and causes problems with his skill.

"But we can also try and go over the top for the pace of Mooro, or Dimi if he is playing and it is great to be able to play all ways."

If he needed to prove his point all he had to do was point at the three goals that put them clear by the hour mark.

The first was classic Taylor but owed much to Graham Branch. Ternent has never doubted his ability as a left back and he broke forward from that position after being released by Cook.

His pace took him to the by-line and his far post cross was just the type that Taylor thrives on. He rose above the defence and powered a header past Kevin Pressman, the perfect way to sign off before he misses Saturday's game through suspension and goes away to join up with the Wales squad.

The second goal said everything about what Blake can offer to the side.

He is growing in confidence and belief by the week and his link up with Glen Little is producing some magical football, never more so than in the 57th minute at Hillsborough.

He may be stocky of build but he is a real will-o-the-wisp on the ball and he somehow bamboozled a couple of defenders to release Little into the area who then took over with his own bit of magic to create space and stroke a left foot shot into the far corner. It was similar to his winner against Watford at Turf Moor last season but its status as the best goal of the season lasted just three minutes.

That was when Branch picked the ball up in the left back position and launched a long ball forward for the quicksilver Moore. If there is one thing that frightens the life out of defenders it is pace and Moore has it to burn.

But even as he collected the ball and ran at Leigh Bromby there was plenty to do but, as Brucie might say, didn't he do well. His curling shot into the top left hand corner of Pressman's goal was unstoppable and unforgettable.

All bets might now be off for Clarets goal of the season.

While Ternent was able to sing the praises of his front men it was a very different story for Wednesday's likeable boss Terry Yorath.

"I probably shouldn't admit this," he said, "but I have always had the saying that strikers will get you the sack. If your strikers are scoring goals your job will be safe but if they are not ..."

With his side in the bottom three you knew exactly where he was coming from and his frustration at the inability of Shefki Kuqi, Lloyd Owusu and Gerald Sibon to find the net did prompt isolated shouts of "Yorath out".

But, like Huddersfield boss Mick Wadsworth earlier in the week, he was forced to regret the continued brilliance of Marlon Beresford in the Burnley goal.

He had only one serious save in the first half, diving to push out Sibon's thunderous free kick, but after sub Simon Donnelly had smashed home a shot in the 67th minute the home side piled on the pressure.

Sibon, bought in the glory days of the Premiership and still living off wages at that level, blew a great chance to make it 3-2 two minutes later but then he and his colleague came up against the brick wall that is Beresford at the moment.

He tipped over a Kuqi header, dived full length to hold a Paul McLaren shot, fell at the feet of the onrushing Leon Knight and then denied Sibon twice, one handed from a shot and then tumbling on his header from the subsequent corner.

"That sometimes happens when you have a player going back to his old club, he ends up playing out of his skin," said Yorath ruefully.

"Marlon made great save after great save and when your luck is out that can happen to you."

Needless to say Ternent was a good deal happier with the form of a man who is arguably the best keeper in the division at the moment.

No wonder he is so keen to get him signed up on a long term deal.

The Clarets have at times scratched and scraped their way to an unbeaten run that now stands at nine but for an hour at Hillsborough they produced their best form of the season.

He may only have had 16 fit players in his squad by Ternent can be delighted with the response of those players that were available to him.

His three man strike plan will be ditched against Walsall next weekend as Papadopoulos and Taylor are missing but Saturday's display will give him plenty of things to think about when he has everyone back later in the month.

SHEFFIELD WEDS1

Scorer: Donnelly 67

BURNLEY 3

Scorers: Taylor 8, Little 57, Moore 61

Attendance...17,004 at Hillsborough

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