Division Two: Oxford United 1 Burnley 2 - Pete Oliver's match verdict

JUST when you think it can't get any better, it does.

Three games ago it was a last-gasp equaliser, last week an injury-time winner and then on Saturday Burnley somehow managed to conjure up two goals beyond the 85th-minute to snatch a victory that puts promotion within their grasp.

And to add to the fantasy, the incredible 93rd-minute clincher, which means that the Clarets will go second in the table if they beat Gillingham at Turf Moor tomorrow night, came from a player who hasn't scored for two years and has barely kicked a ball in anger in that time.

Substitute Paul Weller, who also took his name off the Burnley transfer list this week, marked his return to action following knee surgery, his fourth operation in two seasons after the stomach problems that had threatened his career, with a coolly headed goal from a pin-point cross delivered by who else but Ian Wright.

Captain Marvel Steve Davis started the fight-back with his second goal in three games five minutes from time.

Then Burnley defied the odds again to deliver what could be the decisive blow in the promotion race courtesy of Weller's first goal since scoring in a relegation scrap at Oldham in May, 1998.

"I couldn't have asked for much better could I?" he said.

"The gaffer only told me an hour before the game that I was on the bench and it's ideal coming on and scoring the winner. "The last goal was to keep us in the division.

"This one is more important to try and get us out of the division."

And Weller admitted that the goal, only the sixth of his career, was something of a collector's item.

"Heading isn't my strong point and the lads are all taking the Micky out of me.

"My first ever goal was a header but that was an easy one.

"This one, I just watched it slowly as it came over. Alan missed it and it was coming to me. I thought 'Oh my God' head it, and luckily it went into the bottom corner," he added.

Weller's remarkable effort with only seconds to play prompted wildly contrasting emotions as Burnley celebrated a massive victory that puts their destiny back in their own hands.

There's a genuine feeling now that they can do it and force the pundits, myself included, into a bit of humble pie eating after points dropped in March looked as though they had put the top two out of reach.

The players realise, however, that they aren't in Division One yet and they now face two massive games inside a week against Gillingham and Millwall, who also have their eyes on following champions-elect Preston straight up.

Oxford, on the other hand, were shattered by another come-from-behind Burnley defeat which leaves them hovering perilously above the bottom four.

They did little to suggest that they would add to their 13th-minute opener from Matt Murphy. But with keeper Richard Knight in magnificent form, Denis Smith's side looked as though they were going to stave off Burnley's second-half resurgence and secure only a sixth home success of the season.

However, a two-goal lead at Turf Moor at the end of December wasn't enough to earn them a point and here, in weather more suited to mid-winter, they succumbed again to the Clarets' remarkable refusal to accept a lost cause.

After an instantly forgettable first-half, in which Murphy stroked the hosts ahead when left all alone to convert a Steve Anthrobus knock-down and the highly impressive Paul Powell had fired another Oxford effort just across the face of goal, Burnley began to find their game.

Ternent switched to a 4-4-2 formation and with Alan Lee doing well up front alongside Andy Payton, and Graham Branch offering greater penetration on the left, the chances finally started to come.

Payton looked increasingly threatening and warmed Knight's hands with a rising shot before the industrious Paul Cook, who had just made an important interception at the other end, dipped a long-range effort just over the top. With an hour gone, Knight made a stunning save to deny Johnrose and then bravely blocked at the feet of Payton as the Clarets' leading scorer just lacked the space to deliver a more telling finish.

Then when Lilley hooked the ball off the line from Payton and Knight held another Johnrose piledriver it looked as though Burnley would lose significant ground in the promotion chase. The 2,121 travelling fans must have thought they had got a soaking in vain until the Clarets' pressure finally told when Davis met Weller's cross to send a marvellous, looping header beyond Knight from fully 18 yards.

Even with Ian Wright on for the final 20 minutes it was surely too much to expect another miraculous finish and Nigel Jemson almost shattered Burnley's hopes with a well-struck volley just over the bar a minute from time.

But the ex-England man has an incredible knack of making things happen and with the match in the third and final minute of added time Wright did it again.

The evergreen striker chased a Lee knock-on to the touchline and when he sized up and delivered the perfect deep cross, Weller was waiting to stoop and guide home a goal that may well provide the platform for a promotion triumph.