CLARETS: 'Screen' idols now one victory from Wembley!

THOSE who deride the Auto Windscreens Shield suggesting it lacks passion and excitement should have been at Turf Moor last night.

The tension was as genuine as it was unbearable, as Burnley repelled Preston's second half fightback to put themselves just one win away from Wembley.

This was proper cup-tie football in front of a passionate derby crowd of over 10,000-most of whom will now be clearing their diaries for April 19 as only Grimsby Town stand in the Clarets' way of a trip to the Twin Towers.

While the forward line of Andy Cooke and Andy Payton have been grabbing most of the headlines in Burnley's recent run, which now stands at seven wins from nine games, it was the defence who took the honours last night.

Payton made sure he wouldn't be forgotten with the 40th minute winner, but it was the back five which was largely responsible for completing a derby double in the space of just over a week.

Their achievements were even more laudable given the fact that it was a reshuffled line-up that stood firm in the face of a sustained Preston assault.

Paul Weller's knee injury kept him out which meant a start for Steve Blatherwick in the centre of the defence with Mark Winstanley pushing across to left-back.

And there was a further change at half-time with Gerry Harrison unable to continue and Jamie Hoyland coming on as his replacement.

Blatherwick took his chance by winning everything in the air and a fair amount on the deck, while Winstanley was Burnley's top performer in his wide role. The rearguard was not without its faults on a night when every department on both sides seemed to take it in turn to have a mad five minutes and squander possession at will.

But generally they were resolute and in command as Preston failed to really extend Marlon Beresford despite their second half dominance.

Beresford was called upon to field a succession of shots from outside the penalty area and a number of crosses into the danger zone made it heart-in-the-mouth time for the home supporters.

Invariably it was Blatherwick, Moore or Hoyland who got on the end of them though as they kept their composure sufficiently to ensure that it was one of Burnley's new and not their old guard of strikers who won the day.

Two former Burnley front men made up the Preston attack and both left an impression.

John Mullin looked a real livewire if not a particularly likely scorer in his second game on loan from Sunderland, while Kurt Nogan missed North End's best chance of the game as he chased a hat-trick of goals against his former employers this season.

Mullin has real pace and is an elusive runner with the ball and his burst through the middle after just five minutes sparked off an electric start with chances at both ends.

Winstanley was seeing plenty of the ball, with Damian Matthew feeding him at every opportunity, and when he threaded a pass into the box Cooke hooked a shot at keeper Tuevo Moilanen. Preston were dangerous on the break, however, and when Harrison failed to connect with a clearance Nogan found the ball at his feet 14 yards from goal, only to chip his effort harmlessly over the top.

A pattern emerged with each Burnley effort being matched by Preston on the counter-attack, although even at this stage the visitors were being restricted to shots from outside the penalty area.

Burnley got into more penetrating positions but Payton poked a shot wide and Cooke hit the side-netting when he might have done better either side of a deflected Matthew shot which briefly threatened to loop over the lanky Moilanen.

The Finn was equally glad to grasp Payton's attempted pass to Cooke after a peach of a long ball from Chris Brass but five minutes before the break Payton exacted his revenge.

It took two attempts but Payton displayed his goalscoring knack again when he converted a cross from Brass at the near post after an incisive Burnley move involving Winstanley and Glen Little had opened up the Preston defence.

Their attempts to consolidate the lead were puzzling at the start of the second half when rather than take the pace out of the game and try and nip Preston's fightback in the bud, Burnley contributed to some helter-skelter stuff which ended with Beresford getting his hands warmed more than once by Mullin and Gary Parkinson in particular.

In a role reversal from the first half, Burnley did much of their attacking on the break as they soaked up the visitors' pressure. But despite some promising openings, they were unable to add the crucial second goal which would have made the time pass that much more quickly for the home supporters.

Little was given the space to tee up shots when Burnley switched play from Winstanley's flank but his first effort was saved by Moilanen and he then found himself too close in to execute an attempted chip over the Preston keeper. In between Cooke was only inches away from converting a Payton cross but Burnley's goal continued to lead a charmed life at the other end.

Nogan was replaced by John Macken but none of Michael Owen's finishing had rubbed off on him from their days together with England under-18s when the route to goal opened up once for the former Manchester United youngster.

Referee Eddie Wolstenholme added to the drama with one or two interesting corner decisions but still Preston could not find a way through the wall of claret and blue.

Burnley would not be denied their tilt at a Wembley place 10 years after their last appearance there in the same competition.

They still have some work to do of course, as does Cooke if he wants to better Ray Pointer's post-war record of scoring in eight successive games.

The blond bombshell was there last night and saw Cooke's run end at six games, Moilanen denying him in stoppage time when he held his rising drive at the second attempt.

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