Goal-den wonder

After Paul Cook's wonder goal at the weekend, Glen Little served up two entries and Ian Moore a third in a thrilling victory at St Andrews last night.

It was another pulsating game for the travelling Clarets fans to enjoy in a season that just gets better and better.

And as if scoring great goals wasn't enough, the Burnley players showed the resilience that has helped them to a record of played eight, won seven.

Twice they lost a hard earned lead, in the second half they spent a lot of time defending but it was still they who came out on top.

"The winner came totally against the run of play," complained Blues boss Trevor Francis and, while he had a point, it was Stan Ternent's men who ended the night with the only points that mattered.

The game began at the same tempo that had made Saturday's defeat of Walsall such an entertaining affair and the opening goal set the tone for the rest of the night.

With ten minutes gone there looked to be little danger as Little collected the ball on the right flank. But with two Birmingham defenders doing passable impressions of lamp-posts Little cruised inside and smashed a left foot shot into the top right hand corner of the Blues net.

"Unstoppable," said Francis and keeper Alan Kelly, on loan from Blackburn Rovers, would undoubtedly agree. Little did he know that he would be left grasping at fresh air on two more occasions.

But it takes two teams to make a classic match and Birmingham were not going to surrender their 100 per cent home record easily. Step forward young striker Andrew Johnson who chose last night to produce a virtuoso display of the striker's art.

His first key contribution was to level the scores in the 19th minute, nodding home a great left wing cross from Stan Lazaridis but there was to be much more from Johnson.

Burnley have a talented man called Little, in Johnson the Blues have a talented little man. He may be only 5ft 7in but he was more than a handful for the Clarets defence. He showed great control, pace, vision and determination as he ran the visiting defence ragged.

But even after he had levelled Burnley were giving as good as they got and in the 34th minute they were back in front. This time it was Moore's turn to star, turning his man, running towards the Blues box from deep and matching Little's left foot strike and leaving Kelly with a sense of deja vu as the ball ended up in the same corner of the net.

Four minutes later Lazaridis again provided Johnson with an opportunity, slipping him in behind the defence, but on this occasion Nik Michopoulos pulled off a great stop.

It was a brief respite as in the 40th minute Johnson did net his second, beating Gordon Armstrong for pace and shooting the ball through the Greek keeper's legs.

The action did not stop and Gareth Taylor missed a glorious chance to restore the Clarets lead in first half stoppage time when he headed wide from six yards after more good work from Little.

Francis was clearly unhappy with the way things were going and made a double change at the break, on-loan Bjorn Otto Bragstad, already a target for the boo-boys, making way for Joey Hutchinson at the back and Curtis Woodhouse replacing injured skipper Martin O'Connor in midfield.

The changes helped and the home side looked more solid and started to dominate the game. Johnson seemed to be on a one-man mission to win the game and repeatedly got shots on target without seriously testing Michopoulos.

He did come very close with a header after good work by Bryan Hughes but his close range effort was deflected behind for a corner.

There was no doubt who was occupying the Burnley players' minds and first Alan Moore then Steve Davis were booked for fouls on Johnson. The booking for Moore, his fifth of the season, means he is now facing a suspension.

The home fans could sense another goal and they were right, if at the wrong end. With 18 minutes left Little decided to remind everyone that his right foot is his best by scoring a mirror image goal of his opener. From the left of the box he curled a shot into the far corner with Kelly, once again, helpless.

Having lined-up to get a win Ternent immediately made a tactical switch. Mitchell Thomas had already replaced Cook, with Lee Briscoe going into midfield, and Arthur Gnohere was brought on to make five at the back, Ian Moore making way.

For his part, Francis flung on another forward, Paul Furlong, and the latter stages saw the Blues lay siege to the Burnley goal.

It may not always have been pretty but the whole side remained resolute under great pressure and they fought to a man to protect their hard-earned lead.

Headers were won, blocks made and tackles flew in as they adopted a "they shall not pass" mentality.

They were hanging on and deep into stoppage time had to rely on another great stop from Michopolous to deny, guess who? Johnson must have thought he had scored his third but Michopoulos had other ideas as he spread himself to stop his shot from 12 yards.

Even then there was time for late controversy with the Blues players appealing for a penalty when the ball appeared to strike Little's hand in the box. They surrounded referee Scott Mathieson but he waved them away before blowing the final whistle.

Only then could the fans catch their breath, it was that sort of game.

Mind you, it is the sort of game that the Clarets fans should now be getting used to.

RESULT: BIRMINGHAM...2

(A Johnson 19, 40)

BURNLEY...3

(Little 10, 72, I Moore 34)