CLARETS: The Ful monty! Burnley stripped of points share

JUDGMENT night this might have been. Justice night it definitely was not.

And while the jury is still very much out on Chris Waddle's Burnley after their sixth defeat in seven games, the only true verdict was that Fulham were guilty of daylight robbery.

Thankfully, though, this was not a pay-per-view event on Sky as the viewers at home would have been clamouring for their money back.

There was so little quality football on show that neither side really deserved the full three points.

But Burnley showed enough character to battle back and dominate the second half to warrant more than Danny Cullip's killer blow in the dying minutes.

In terms of financial clout, Fulham against Burnley is currently equivalent to Prince Naseem stepping into the ring with Kate Moss.

The Clarets were, however, worthy challengers after a shaky start.

And as the game drifted towards a points decision, with the Craven Cottage judges less than impressed with their own side's display, Burnley were knocked senseless by a haymaker of a sucker punch.

Michael Williams, who marked his return to the side with a gritty and determined display, was ruled to have handled when a Robbie Herrera cross hit his raised and outstretched hand.

Ironically, that incident immediately followed a similar Burnley claim, this time for a penalty, when Neil Moore's driven cross made contact with the raised hand of Moody. Those are the kind of decisions which hurt all the more when a side is struggling at the foot of the table.

Herrera whipped the free kick in towards the far post over a crowded penalty area.

Cullip, who had been on the pitch just six minutes and served notice of his threat when an early header was badly misdirected, rose above Gerry Harrison and Chris Brass to squeeze a firm header just inside the upright.

Waddle, who had relegated himself to the bench, came on along with Glen Little in a last desperate attempt to salvage a point but Burnley were already out for the count.

And the physical presence of Paul Barnes and Andy Cooke panicked the home defence until the final whistle.

Then Lee Howey forced a diving save from Maik Taylor in Burnley's last attack from a Waddle free kick curled into the area.

That precision of delivery, though, was possibly the biggest failing of the night.

With individual battles won after the first half hour, the front two were left to forge their own openings instead of being allowed to provide the finishing touches.

The midfield three of Williams, Mark Ford and Damien Matthew were always busy and combative but again craft was in short supply.

That was a pity because Kevin Keegan's outfit were there for the taking.

Waddle may believe he has problems with the crowd at Turf Moor.

But this Craven Cottage rabble don't deserve a penny of Mohammed Al Fayed's millions.

The jeers started when Fulham were still in command and it was no surprise that the spring in the home steps disappeared and their confidence vanished as the force of the booing increased.

Burnley were quick to sense a shift in the balance of power. After the Clarets' first attack of the game on 30 minutes, another Howey header from a Chris Brass cross, Fulham were rattled.

But the best chance of the first half fell to Barnes, fed cleverly through by Matthew to see a well struck shot from an acute angle saved by Taylor.

Fulham could barely muster an attack in the second period until the enforced arrival of Cullip, Paul Bracewell departing on a stretcher after a Matthews challenge which earned a yellow card.

Burnley had reasserted their dominance straight after the interval when Cooke went close, driving deep into the heart of the Fulham area but sticking with a more trusted right foot instead of gambling on his left.

His close range shot was always curling away from a narrow angle.

One of Burnley's better moves, Matthew and Weller linking to release Barnes, ended in a similar fashion.

The striker powered towards goal and elected to shoot, Taylor covering his near post adequately.

Enterprise was, though, at a premium throughout the game.

The flanks were virtually vacant and the hopeful long punt was eagerly swallowed by the strong central defences.

Burnley did, however, need to weather an early Fulham storm and successfully saw off the home side's crude advances by packing men behind the ball.

That left Cooke and Barnes with a mountain of donkey work which, perhaps, took its toll in the final quarter of the game.

Marlon Beresford was forced to make a rare save when the ball was scrambled to Bracewell from a Fulham corner.

Howey was forced into a couple of key defensive headers as Fulham opted for the aerial route towards goal.

And the lively but largely ineffective Paul Peschisolido headed over when that tactic, Moody providing the flick-on, again almost worked. It was easy to see why Moody wanted the ball in the air when he was clean through on Beresford only to fluff a left foot shot.

Then Fulham's final first half threat was survived when Beresford saved at the near post from Richard Lawrence and Neil Smith wasted a diving header at the far post from the resulting cross.

Manager Ray Wilkins can today, though, take three crumbs of comfort from a sorry display.

Waddle is again left to analyse and attempt to administer a cure.

Whatever the diagnosis, though, there are two ways of looking at this defeat.

One is to plead that struggling sides do not get the run of the ball. There was an element of truth in that at Craven Cottage.

Or, you can say that you make your own luck.

And, again, Burnley lacked consistent quality in key areas.

If that continues, Lady Luck could not be blamed if the Clarets slide deeper into the mire.

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