A Little bit of magic cheers ten-man Clarets

IF THE latest money-mad scheme to raise players' incomes by copyrighting goals comes into being, then perhaps Glen Little could jump aboard the gravy train.

Anything Michael Owen and Ryan Giggs can do, then, so it appears, can Little, albeit in slightly lower profile surroundings.

Hardly renowned for his goalscoring prowess, the Clarets winger admits it's an area of his game he could improve.

But if he plays until he's 40, he's never likely to better the strike that revived Burnley's promotion ambitions in such dramatic fashion.

Having lost leading scorer Andy Payton to a red card half-way through the first half following an off-the-ball clash, the Clarets were in desperate need of inspiration to a crack one of the meanest defences in the Second Division and to keep an automatic promotion place in sight.

And Little delivered it 20 minutes from the end of a tension-wracked game with a sublime piece of skill.

Collecting a flick-on from the tireless Andy Cooke, the wide man, with just one goal to his name previously this season, took on the mantle of a born predator.

Weaving his way past two of Rovers' three central defenders, Little could have tried to by-pass the last man and keeper Lee Jones with a side-footer towards the bottom corner.

It looked his best bet but, instead, he ghosted past another man and, with Jones rushing out, calmy lifted the ball over the keeper with the nerve of an old-hand.

It was a special goal to light up a potentially pivotal afternoon for Burnley, who again displayed their incredible tenacity and ability to throw up a result when all looks lost.

"It was about all I did really," claimed Little. "It was hard work with the 10 men from such an early stage and it was more about the defence, I thought.

"Ian Cox on his debut, Steve Davis and Mitchell, they were brilliant and kept us in it and I just managed to get the winning goal."

Modest and accurate, Little at least admitted it was the best goal he has scored.

"Cookie flicked it onto me. I would have liked to have passed it but, because we only had one up front, there was no-one to pass to so I thought I might as well go myself.

"It just opened up and I managed to dink it over the keeper and I was happy to see it go in," he added.

The game was supposed to be about four of the most prolific strikers in the division and in some ways it was, as Payton's dismissal for apparently retaliating against Trevor Challis shaped the contest.

But as Little pointed out, Burnley's defensive strength and will-to-win in the face of adversity were the overwhelming impressions, along with the match-winner itself.

The Clarets have been prone to defensive lapses since Christmas but when they needed it most they rediscovered their mean streak, helped by new arrival Cox who enjoyed an impressive debut alongside Davis and Mitchell Thomas.

The trio, and those around them, withstood a nerve-jangling late onslaught from a free-scoring Bristol side that had won more games away from home than any other side in the division to go to the top of the table. Another success would have put them 14 points clear of the Clarets, who may also have seen Preston and Wigan starting to disappear from view had they cracked.

Instead, Jamie Cureton and the impressive Jason Roberts were given barely a sniff of the target throughout the 90 minutes and right at the death Paul Crichton made two smart saves to ensure a victory that keeps the door ajar for Burnley.

It was nail-biting stuff for Turf Moor's second biggest crowd of the season which contributed to a gripping climax and in the most part will have gone home delighted.

There was a collective holding of breath when Roberts for once got free six minutes from time but his weak shot was easily gathered by Crichton.

And Thomas' brave block from substitute Nathan Ellington allied to Crichton's tip-overs from Vitalijs Astajevs and Ronnie Mauge ensured that there would be no last-gasp equaliser to shatter claret and blue dreams.

Burnley couldn't have made a better start to a make-or-break run of fixtures, particularly after the problems that dogged them early on.

Boss Stan Ternent was forced to make a change after just 22 minutes when he replaced Gordon Armstrong with Graham Branch in the left-wing back role. "I made a rick with the selection. It wasn't fair to the skipper to play him in that position," Ternent admitted.

"I anticipated that they would play (Mark) Walters against Glen Little. They didn't, so I looked at it for 20 minutes and I felt I needed a bit more pace down that side so I changed it.

"It's easy after the event but I just felt I needed to make that change. It wasn't fair on the skipper but he's a very important part of our squad."

Payton then saw red and Davis hit the post from 25 yards to suggest that it may not be Burnley's day.

However, when Cureton headed over Rovers' best chance of the game nine minutes before the break that impression began to change and Little, with a little help from his friends, magically completed the reversal in fortunes.

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