Burnley 0 Gillingham 5 - Pete Oliver's big match verdict
THOSE of us who thought Burnley had enough points in hand and enough about them to avoid the drop should perhaps think again after this debacle.
The Clarets were abysmal in all departments until it was too late to do anything about it and until second-half substitute Glen Little arrived and did his best to restore some respect to a shambolic team.
Robert Taylor cashed in to score all five goals and join ex-Burnley striker Paul Barnes and seven others players who have produced a nap hand at this level of British football.
Having also scored the winner to separate the two sides last September, Taylor must wish he could play Burnley every week.
But then, so must any striker worth his salt based on this display by the home side, who were rounded on by their fans who began to leave in large numbers when Taylor completed his hat-trick after 40 minutes.
Those that got out quickly enough missed his fourth from the penalty spot and even the Burnley supporters applauded when the Gills front man rose majestically to head home number five three minutes into the second half.
The Clarets have produced some poor home performances this season but this plumbed new depths and sent the alarm bells ringing ahead of the relegation struggle that is to follow.
Stan Ternent has to somehow salvage something from the rubble and quickly with Burnley's next three games also against promotion-chasing sides who will be quick to sense weakness and go for the kill.
Gillingham, with their own eyes on the play-offs at least, came to Turf Moor with an impressive record of just one defeat in 24 League games. However, they also have a reputation as a dour, unspectacular side renowned for grinding out results - not thumping teams 5-0 on their own ground.
Tony Pulis's side were supremely professional and even with a five-goal cushion they proudly protected their clean sheet with six players in defence.
But they must have been as shell-shocked as the home fans at the way which Burnley just laid down and died and allowed them to take complete control.
The first goal was a classic which would have undone most teams but critically Burnley had again failed to take the initiative from the off.
With a midfield costing over half-a-million pounds they should do better, even if they were missing a couple of players through injury. Mark Ford may yet have a part to play.
Gillingham's second goal came from a short corner that caught the home side napping, the third from a horrendous mistake from Neil Moore and the fourth from the spot after Graham Branch had tripped Mark Patterson as he breezed into the box.
Burnley simply had no answer save an effort from Lenny Johnrose that may have given them hope had Vince Bartram not made an excellent save to stop it becoming 2-1. But scoring goals is becoming a major problem for the Clarets. Even in the depths of despair last season there was always optimism because of the cutting edge provided by Andy Cooke and Andy Payton.
That has been blunted and neither currently looks like scoring. They may have lost sharpness with confidence but crucially they seem to have lost a bit of belief given the dearth of chances being created.
Burnley initially played too deep to support the front two with Branch not getting forward quickly enough from his wing-back role.
The Clarets were briefly at their most threatening when Branch got up to the penalty area and Johnrose made some forward runs, although the passing was so bad that any forward movement was limited.
As the man who signed seven of the players in the starting line-up and also decides on the tac-tics, the manager must inevitably shoulder much of the burden.
But Ternent has also been let down by some of his players and they are going to have to show some character and take some responsibility if Burnley are to stay out of the bottom four.
Their lack of firepower meant that once Taylor thumped a 25-yard volley past Paul Crichton with 14 minutes gone Burnley were up against it. And when Taylor tapped in his second and Bartram denied Johnrose the contest was as good as over. Moore, a confidence player struggling without that in his armoury, made a hash of a header back to Crichton to present Taylor with his hat-trick.
And it became four when Taylor apparently told Guy Butters that he needed the penalty for his third and duly pinched a goal from the nominated spot-kick taker.
Those that thought the days of 2-3-5 football were over must have been revelling in nostalgia after Ternent's half-time switch but normal service was swiftly resumed when Taylor headed home Nicky Southall's corner.
A surreal 40 minutes was then played out as Burnley attacked Gillingham's massed defence with Taylor and Carl Asaba leading occasional break-outs.
With no hope of getting back into the game Burnley tried to repair some damage courtesy of Little who made an outstanding return from injury. Ronnie Jepson's shock comeback was less spectacular but no less worthy and he at least provided a pin-point to the Burnley attack and a degree of enthusiasm.
Little was everything his team-mates were not and his trickery, imagination and direct running could have brought him two goals but for Bartram.
On a black day for Burnley the misery was completed by the news that a broken boiler meant cold showers only.
Some would say that's all the Clarets deserved, while Gillingham won't have minded as they hardly broke sweat.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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