BURNLEY finally made it into the third round of the Worthington Cup ending a 20 season wait but boy was it close.

Dimitri Papadopoulos once again came off the bench to remind boss Stan Ternent of what he can do when he slotted the ball home from a slide rule Tony Grant pass in the 104th minute for the only goal of the game.

It was his fourth goal of the season, his third in the Worthington Cup, and another example of his growing maturity.

But if he is showing that he knows the way to goal, Huddersfield Town are badly in need of a map. They have now gone nine hours and 15 minutes without scoring a goal and they will be delighted that Marlon Beresford is not in goal for Port Vale at the weekend.

With the goal drought they are currently suffering you might think that they would struggle to score with Edwina Currie.

But if it had not been for two almost unbelievable saves from the Clarets keeper in the closing minutes of extra time they would at least have had their chance to progress into the third round from the penalty spot.

"Marlon made some outstanding saves, they were world class," admitted his manager Stan Ternent after a display that underlined why he was happy to allow former number one Nik Michopoulos to go on loan to Crystal Palace at the weekend.

His stops in the latter stages certainly defied belief. First he flung himself to his right to tip Nat Brown's shot onto the post and then somehow recovered to deny Jon Stead the follow up.

If that was not enough, in the 120th minute he matched those stops with a wonder save from Danny Schofield that left manager Mick Wadsworth scratching his head in total bewilderment.

But if Beresford was Burnley's hero, Wadsworth had no doubt who was the Terriers' villain, referee Graham Laws.

With just 11 minutes of normal time the otherwise reliable Ian Cox gifted possession to lively sub John Thorrington.

As the striker bore down on Beresford's goal the Burnley defender appeared to pull him down outside the area. The ref waved play on and Wadsworth waved goodbye to a cup run.

"It was unbelievable," he moaned.

"Danny Schofield was booked on the halfway line for the exact same offence. Referees are happy to give decisions in the middle of the park but not at the end of the pitch and I am very, very angry about that.

"He was through on goal and he was tackled from behind, I though that was supposed to be outlawed but what can you do."

The only other chance that the home side had in the second half was also from a Burnley mistake. Mark McGregor, in for the injured Dean West, let Stead in but he was saved by Beresford - who else.

But there was still work to be done and McGregor himself deserves credit for getting back on the line to clear Schofield's weak effort from the rebound.

They were rare moments of concern in a second half that Burnley dominated after a tactical switch at the break.

Ternent had opened with an unfamiliar 4-3-3 formation, even more unusual as one of the three midfielders was skipper Steve Davis, pushed forward from central defence to join Tony Grant and Alan Moore.

The new formation certainly took time to settle down and the majority of the first half saw the Terriers ask most of the questions although it was not too hard to find the answers.

As early shots were missed by Stead and Schofield it started to become clear why they currently boast, if that is the right word, the worst strike rate in the Nationwide League.

Not one of their players began the game with more than one goal to their name and despite clearly being a willing worker Stead is certainly more Forlan than Van Nistelrooy.

Not that Burnley could claim to have created many chances before the break, the best being a header from Gareth Taylor that was cleared from the line with keeper Scott Bevan beaten.

Davis drove a fierce shot just narrowly over the bar after strong hold up play by Taylor but, with Alan Moore again struggling to make an impact on the left, the home side looked comfortable.

However, in the second half Ternent pulled Ian Moore back to a right wing role to cover for the absence of the injured Glen Little.

Suddenly Burnley's shape looked better, the 4-4-2 that has contributed so much to the current unbeaten run.

The visitors were now on top and it took two brilliant saves from the promising you Scott Bevan to deny both Davis and Taylor the opening goal.

"We had enough chances to put the game way beyond them before the last ten minutes," said Ternent.

But they didn't and so once again it was nail-biting, stomach churning stuff. Papadopoulos did his part by putting them ahead but then it really was all hands to the pumps.

In the closing minutes of extra time even keeper Bevan piled forward for set pieces and it was suggested there would have been a delicious irony if he had been the man who had ended the famine.

"It would not have been ironic, it would have been bloody wonderful," he said.

But Beresford's magic ensured that his opposite number would not be the man for the glory and now he will await the news from Saturday's draw.

His month long contract is up at the end of this week but nothing can be more certain than he will be handed another one!

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 0 BURNLEY 1

(After extra time) Scorer: Papadopoulos 104

Attendance...5,887

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