THE clocks might have gone back one hour yesterday but Burnley's players must have put their's back two.

That is because for the first half at Molineux they were all still asleep as they were savaged by Dave Jones' rampant Wolves.

Never mind putting on their Sunday best, for the first half this was the Clarets Sunday worst.

"Wolves were 100 times better than us and we are better than that first half showing," said manager Stan Ternent, who admitted to being bemused by the events of the opening 45 minutes.

Both comments are about right, Wolves were totally superior and Burnley are much better than they performed. They would have to be or they would not still be up in the top four.

The Clarets can claim they were unlucky with two of the goals but the other one was criminally negligent. In fact they got exactly what they deserved before the break, a battering.

The first goal came from a cross from the right from Mark Kennedy who had already been causing all sorts of trouble on the other flank.

"We could have pushed out and closed him down quicker," said the Clarets boss, who watched as the Republic of Ireland international swung the ball in and saw the ball fly into the top corner off the top of Gareth Taylor's head.

The second goal was even worse defending as one of Wolves several £1million men Alex Rae scored his first goal for the club since his move from Sunderland.

Nathan Blake won the ball in the air but could only loop a header high into the sky. Rae had time to read a couple of Sunday supplements as he waited for it to drop and he was totally unchallenged as he executed a fine bicycle kick that saw the ball fly into the back of the net.

The third goal was unlucky for Burnley, and especially for the ex-Wolves star Paul Cook.

No one at Molineux had any memory of Cook scoring with his head in the six seasons he had at the club but when Rae took a free kick from the edge of the box if hit Cook's head and the ball flew past Nik Michopoulos for number three.

Cook's sons had been the mascots for the Clarets and they might as well have stayed on after the warm-up, they could not have done much worse.

Ternent could not be blamed for fielding the same side and formation as the one that had beaten Crystal Palace in midweek but Wolves were a different proposition. The 3-5-2 line-up that cancelled out the Eagles was ripped to shreds by Kennedy down the left and Shaun Newton down the right.

The Clarets were back-pedalling from the first whistle and their only effort on target was a weak header from Kevin Ball.

The good news, and at least there was some, for Clarets fans was that after the break things got a great deal better. Of course, being 3-0 down and playing so poorly, there was no way things could have got worse.

Glen Little had already come on for Ian Cox in the first half and had injected a bit of life into the side. At the interval Dean West came on for Cook and the 4-4-2 formation was immediately more productive.

In the 50th minute they won their first corner and plenty more followed as they gave it a good go despite having given themselves a Himalayan size mountain to climb.

Michael Oakes in the Wolves goal was at last called into action and with a bit more luck Burnley might have been gifted a couple of own goals themselves.

How Paul Butler managed to keep out a low cross from Ian Moore remains a mystery worthy of investigation by Arthur C Clarke.

That is not to say the home side stopped being a threat. Manager Dave Jones admitted keeping Burnley out was more of a priority than adding to their goal tally but Michopoulos had to make three good saves in the space of three minutes just before the hour to keep out Adam Proudlock, Colin Cameron and Nathan Blake.

From the first of those saves Newton had an open goal but he somehow bounced the ball over the bar to leave Burnley with a glimmer of hope.

It was not to be despite more corners, more possession and more action for Oakes, the best of which was a flying save to turn aside Taylor's fierce drive from the edge of the area.

That opportunity, like most of Burnley's best moments, came after a contribution from Little who was showing glimpses of what the Clarets have missed in recent weeks. When he is back to full fitness he will again be a real handful for opposing defences.

The home side ended the afternoon back on top of the table and they showed why they are fancied to end years of frustration by getting back to the top flight.

In contrast a fourth straight away defeat, with only one goal in all those games, has left Burnley with a big job on their hands when they travel to Gillingham tomorrow night.

The current run followed four straight wins on the road as Burnley roared to the top of the table now headed by the men in old gold.

The games at Norwich, West Brom and Forest were all tight affairs that Burnley could have got something from. Not so yesterday.

The writing was on the wall from the opening minutes in letters so large you could read them all the way back in Lancashire.

Ternent's men must hope it will be another script at the Priestfield Stadium.

RESULT: WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 3

SCORERS: Taylor og 9, Rae 20, Cook og 39

BURNLEY 0

Attendance...24,893