Burnley 1 Southend United 0 - Richard Slater's big match verdict

A LARGELY sterile, uninspired affair was illuminated just prior to half time with a dazzling piece of play.

That it was the only genuine noteworthy moment in the game will be irrelevant to Chris Waddle and his players who can now, after 10 points from the last 15 at home, see a chink of light to the safety zone.

It is now, after all, a dogfight to avoid the drop. And, though under par, Burnley just about deserved the win.

Waddle was right to suggest that it's all about points, and performances are less valued.

While that may prove trying on the eyes of the paying public, few even of them would argue with the manager's sentiments.

And yet, poor as the fare was, there were signs that around the corner may lie better things.

If Burnley can maintain their industrious attitude, there are the players of genuine quality who should start to shine.

One such was the goalscorer, Andy Payton, making his Turf Moor debut for the club he has supported all his life.

If his goal was a dream come true for the player, it was no less welcomed by the fidgeting fans contemplating their half-time cuppa.

Waddle, who had threatened minutes earlier with a similar ball, split the defenders with a pass into the inside right channel.

Chris Brass raced on and whipped in a low cross which Payton hammered under the sprawling Neville Southall at the near post.

The standard of play - before and after - hardly deserved such a fine goal, but the instincts of Payton, who never gave up the cause, should prove a valued asset over the coming months. Throughout the game he darted into danger zones, though too often he was stranded up front with little support from a midfield which seemed to be playing in a different time zone to the pacy new recruit.

That trend needs to end, and the lines of communication and distribution need to be improved.

A fortnight ago, an audacious performance saw the Clarets sweep aside table-topping Watford, showing how effective a unit they can be when working together.

Against one-dimensional Southend, Burnley were sucked into a long-ball game which frequently bypassed the middle of the pitch.

And, with the Southend backline pairing of Richard Jobson and Keith Dublin proving formidable in the air and on the deck, that overused route was never likely to reap rewards for Burnley.

Ditto for Southend. Rammell and Thomson were constantly fed balls from deep which Harrison and Moore ate up.

Only Glen Little, excellent again, and Southend's impressive winger Adrian Clarke, dumped last season by Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, provided meaningful link play for their respective teams.

And they also provided the bulk of the entertainment, each unafraid to take on the opposition by running with the ball on a difficult, bobbling surface.

Indeed, but for the brilliance of Southall, Little would have doubled the advantage late in the game. Following a bright move from Southend, now bolstered up front by the towering form of Jerome Boere, on for Rammell, Little picked the ball up close to his own penalty box.

A mazy run saw him skip past a succession of would-be dispossessors and he set himself up for a mighty strike at the edge of the box.

A lesser keeper and this would have been the goal of the season, but Southall launched to his right to touch away Little's stunning left-foot strike. This move followed on the heels of a more typical piece of fumbled attacking play.

Waddle and Little had combined well to feed Mark Ford in the box, but he dallied when decisiveness was needed. He will have been thankful the offside flag spared him the blushes.

The other Turf Moor debutant was Mark Robertson, on for Chris Brass who received a knock early in the second half.

He too looked keen to impress. Initially he slotted into Brass' right back position before switching to left midfield where he, and the team, looked more comfortable with the inclusion of Blatherwick to the back as a late substitute for Paul Weller.

The latter period of the game saw Southend at their best, laying siege to Burnley's box, with Boere battling for any scrap of possession.

Finishing, though, was as clumsy and artless as had been the previous 80 minutes and, in reality, the pressing never looked likely to prove decisive, whatever Alvin Martin thought.

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