A fan's-eye view from Turf Moor, with Stephen Cummings

"WE never win at Stoke. Never. Hell will freeze over, pigs will fly and Blackburn Rovers will be able to defend a 3-1 lead away from home before Burnley win at Stoke."

So said your correspondent in last week's edition of this column.

As there have been no reports of either an icy Hades nor airborne swine, I supposed I'd better make that a large slice of humble pie. (Mind you, at least our friends down the road got a lesson on how to retain a two goal advantage on enemy territory).

Joking apart, congratulations are to be extended to Stan Ternent and the team on a fantastic away win which all but ensures Turf Moor will be hosting Second Division football next season.

Some will point out that the Clarets are not mathematically safe just yet and can still be overhauled by a number of teams currently in the drop zone. (Technically speaking, Burnley could still finish bottom).

But, for that to happen, the Clarets would have to suffer a drastic dip in form, whilst their endangered counterparts would need to undergo a massive reversal of fortunes. And whilst one must never underestimate Burnley's enduring ability to blow up at the most inappropriate of times, we can now all begin to relax. The deciding factor which has secured our safety has been the Clarets' recent run of eight games undefeated. One of Stan Ternent's favourite and most often used catchphrases this season has been, "out of all bad comes a bit of good." With the wonderful gift of hindsight, one can see there is some merit in this. Successive, humiliating drubbings at the hands of Gillingham and Manchester City were, without question, the low points of the campaign. Things could not possibly have got any worse. What mattered and what has carried the Clarets to safety was the reaction of the manager and the players to those maulings.

A committed and spirited home defeat to Preston acted as the springboard which has all but taken Burnley to mid-table respectability.

Finally, it would be wrong to end this week's column without an acknowledgement of Ally Pickering's contribution last weekend. Despite the tragic loss of his father last week, Ally was still courageous enough to turn out on Saturday. His tremendous goal was the least he deserved for his bravery.

On behalf of all Burnley supporters, our thoughts are with Ally this week.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.