Lincoln City 1 Burnley 1 - Pete Oliver's big match verdict

BRIAN Reid managed what Burnley's coach driver couldn't as he manoeuvred the Clarets out of a tight spot to extend their unbeaten away run to four games.

The tight, car-lined streets around Sincil Bank proved an impossible obstacle for the team bus which became temporarily wedged a couple of hundred yards from the ground.

The result was an impromptu loosener for the Burnley squad as they finished the journey on foot.

Lincoln proved just as great an obstacle on a pitch accurately described later by Burnley manager Stan Ternent as a "cabbage patch".

But Ternent's men scrapped their way to another useful result thanks to Reid's second-half equaliser.

The central defender provided the flash of inspiration his side needed to cancel out Gavin Gordon's opener as Burnley clawed their way back into a game that had largely belonged to City before the break.

Reid's last clash with the Imps had ended with a red card at Turf Moor just after Christmas.

But he exacted his revenge with a thumping header from Micky Mellon's 66th-minute corner to register his second goal in English football and maintain Burnley's upward momentum in 1999.

It was a triumph for hard work rather than flair as Burnley had to dig deep to take the initiative from an impressive City side whose only home defeat in seven previous games came at the hands of Sunderland in the FA Cup.

Lincoln looked anything but relegation material as they got to grips with the churned up playing surface that negated Burnley's threat on the break which is one of their major weapons away from home.

Gordon Armstrong and Micky Mellon struggled to get a foothold in midfield in the opening half. And Burnley were stretched on their left by the impressive Lee Thorpe and in the penalty area when Steve Holmes added his aerial presence to a lively attack. But with Steve Morgan pushed further forward following a half-time re-shuffle to provide an extra body in the middle, the influence of John Finnigan and Terry Fleming was greatly reduced as Mellon - who defied the gluepot of a pitch to deliver a couple of raking passes - and Armstrong made their presence felt.

Glen Little and Graham Branch, returning in place of Mark Ford, were given even greater licence to attack but it was from set-pieces that Burnley posed their greatest threat.

A late free-kick almost produced a winner for Andy Cooke, who only needed a good contact in front of goal to head Burnley in front.

However, Lincoln would have counted themselves hard done by to have gained no reward for their efforts, particularly after spurning a couple of their own chances with the score at 1-1.

Given the state of the pitch, it was a remarkably good game to watch for City's second biggest home League gate of the season, swelled by 1,690 away supporters.

Howlers were few and far between, although Kevin Austin's slip after only five minutes allowed Andy Cooke to tee up Andy Payton for a shot that should have at least tested John Vaughan.

Lincoln spread the ball around well for a side struggling to get out of the bottom four and when Thorpe cut inside it took a brave save at his feet from Paul Crichton to keep Burnley on level terms. Little did his best to lift Burnley and Branch had a couple of efforts blocked as he ran at the City defence but Lincoln were the more incisive at that point and took the lead when Gordon rounded off a swift counter-attack after half-an-hour.

The striker was given two bites at the cherry from Tony Battersby's cross and scored at the second attempt after the ball dropped kindly for him following Crichton's close-range block.

Burnley are proving themselves a hard side to beat, however, and got stuck in after the break.

They still had to withstand some pressure, Crichton dragging a Stuart Bimson corner off the line and Battersby claiming a penalty which saw him receive a caution for diving.

But the Clarets don't lie down and die anymore and Reid restored parity when he made the sweetest connection with the visitors' first corner of the game.

Gordon then immediately wasted a golden opportunity to put City back in the driving seat and it took a fantastic save low down to his left by Crichton to deny Finnigan a Lincoln second.

Battersby was even closer to clinching the points with a fierce drive that came down off the underside of the bar but with the game opened up Burnley also suggested they could pinch a winner as Little and substitute Brad Maylett exploited the flanks.

A third successive away win proved beyond them but after the high octane performances at Bristol Rovers and Millwall, Burnley proved that when the goings gets tough, they can also get going.

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