IN this week of all weeks it was appropriate that Alan Moore's stunning winner was a beautiful curling shot right into the target area.

Rhona Martin would have been proud of him!

He did not have to be dead wait but it did curl straight into the top corner of Clayton Ince's goal.

It remains to be seen whether this win will provide the momentum to sweep Burnley into the Premier League but it was enough to secure a deserved win at Crewe.

It was only Moore's third league goal for the Clarets, the other two coming against Wimbledon and Millwall way back in August.

Manager Stan Ternent was certainly delighted as he explained: "It was a fantastic goal from Alan Moore, he is capable of doing things like that."

That proved to be the winner on a day of milestones for two Burnley players at either end of the pitch.

Gareth Taylor and Marlon Beresford both played a major part in the 2-1 victory and they have personal reasons to remember the game.

For the Wales striker it was not just that he scored with his foot from open play for the first time this season, it was the fact that it was his 13th goal of the season making this the best haul of his career.

Twice before he has netted 12, for Bristol Rovers and Sheffield United. But with ten headers, two penalties and now this right foot shot that squeezed in at the near post, he is still in with a chance of getting close to the magical 20 mark that so many front men have as their target in the summer when the season kicks off.

"It was his header that was cleared off the line but the ball went back to him and he put it in off the post," said Ternent who once again left Ian Moore on the bench as he went with Taylor as a lone striker. "He did very well again."

Ternent had been happy with the way the one up formation had worked against Forest a week earlier but the difference at Crewe was that Taylor, who missed chances that day, struck the goal in the 19th minute that rewarded the Clarets for a bright opening despite playing into a strong wind.

The other milestone saw Beresford celebrating his 300th game for the club and it can't be often that a loan player has been able to say that. He returned to cover for the injured Nik Michopoulos and he has wasted little time in reminding the Burnley fans what a good keeper he is.

Rob Hulse's close ranger header after Dave Walton had headed on Dave Brammer's long ball denied him his first clean sheet since his return from Middlesbrough but he still made a couple of great stops at key moments.

In the first half he made a near post save to deny Hulse a header that would have levelled the scores. Then, just a minute after Hulse had got his side back in the game, Tony Vaughan ended a darting run with a great shot that Beresford had to tip over the bar.

He had made similarly important stops against Forest the week before and his return has seen him lose only once in six games.

But if he was earning his corn, so was his opposite number Clayton Ince. He may have let in a couple of goals but he produced a number of saves that Ternent labelled as "world class".

One of them denied Dean West the chance to open his account for the Clarets with a shot that was also top quality. The ball broke to the full back on the edge of the box and he absolutely leathered a drive that was heading to the same corner that Moore was to find two minutes later.

On this occasion the Trinidadian, who recently replaced Ademole Bankole in the Crewe goal, somehow leapt to his right and kept it out. Poor West, who has scored plenty of goals in the past at both Lincoln and Bury, is therefore still waiting to break his duck.

The key to this victory over a Crewe side battling for points at the other end of the table was the collective will of a side that was superbly led by skipper Kevin Ball.

With Arthur Gnohere suspended, Ball reverted to the centre back role that he filled at Watford, ironically the only other time the Clarets have won in the past ten games.

His marshalling of the defence certainly seemed to have a positive affect on Ian Cox alongside him as he had his best game in weeks.

"They both did very well because the Crewe forwards are a real handful," said Ternent who has ben critical of Cox in recent weeks. In fact he was the man left out against Watford and he was also taken off against Forest a week earlier but he showed his ability with two crucial tackles as the Clarets defended their hard earned lead.

Ternent was wary of the threat posed by Hulse and Dean Ashton before the game and he used Gordon Armstong in a position just in front of Cox and Ball. When he limped off with a hamstring problem Paul Cook took over.

It certainly frustrated the talented Ashton who had a poor game before making way for Rodney Jack at half time.

Victory against the Railwaymen certainly kept the promotion push on track. Now it is up to Burnley to steam ahead, starting against Birmingham City tomorrow.

CREWE ALEXANDRA 1 (Hulse 63)

BURNLEY 2 (Scorers: Taylor 19, A Moore 58)

Attendance...6,458

At Alexandra Stadium