CLARETS: Burnley 5 Peterborough United 0

Only 13 days since he put Blackpool to the sword with a brilliant hat-trick at Bloomfield Road, Barney's boots lit Turf Moor as Spring arrived early.

Barnes roared in with a glorious treble inside 33 minutes of frantic and frenzied penalty box havoc.

Here is the Turf Moor gospel according to St Paul and the three strikes which ripped the heart out of Peterborough before the half-time cuppas were on the boil.

Fire one: Gary Parkinson makes a probing run on the right flank and delivers a wicked centre across the face of the Peterborough goal. Barnes judges his position perfectly, glancing home a peach of a header.

Fire two: A sweet one/two between Paul Smith and Andy Cooke creates the opening, Smith leaves Adrian Boothroyd on his backside, and Barnes takes advantage, adroitly steering home his shot into the bottom corner.

Fire three: Chris Brass swings in a dangerous centre and goalkeeper Bart Griemink makes a real hash of his attempted catch. The ball runs loose and Barnes somehow manages to squeeze his shot home from the acutest of angles.

It was game set and match to Burnley - and a masterly exhibition of predatory goal-scoring instinct from Burnley's formidable number 10. One with his left peg, a piercing header and a right footed sizzler. They don't come much better than that do they?

Now Barnes - with 21 in the league and an FA Cup strike against Walsall to his name - is chasing his best ever tally of 29, shared between York and Birmingham last season.

And it's a fair bet that if he hits the 30-mark before the curtain comes down on May 3 - then Burnley will be in the Second Division play-offs.

"I'll have to get a bigger house because I'm running out of room for my match-balls," he laughed.

"You get on these little runs as a striker when everything seems to hit your foot and fly in to the net. Long may it continue because I'm enjoying every minute of it

"You take the good with the bad as a forward. Last week I came home from Wrexham and I was like a bear with a sore head because I thought I should have won the game for us.

"Believe you me, I was a nightmare to live with all weekend. Now I'll be a court-jester for 48 hours!

While Barnes' striking power lit the fuse for Burnley's five-star show, spare a thought for Barry Fry. The Peterborough manager must have wept himself to sleep after Barnes destroyed the Posh before the 3.30 winner at Sandown had hit the tape.

Fry, remember, took Barnes from York City to Birmingham for a whacking six-figure fee exactly a year ago.

"Barry gave me my big chance in a higher league which I'll always be grateful for," added Barney.

"When Trevor (Francis) came in he had his ideas of who he wanted, but this move to Burnley has really worked out for me. I love the stadium and the crowd."

What Fry would give for Barnes at London Road until the end of the season as Peterborough fall head-long towards the wilderness of Division Three.

"He is a smashing striker and a lad with a terrific hunger for the game," said a gracious Fry, despite a 5-0 mauling which would have sent most managers searching for the solace of the team coach and a swift whisky, never mind a taxing Turf Moor press conference.

"He is a nice kid too and those sort of lads deserve to succeed. I just wish he hadn't blown us apart so early."

The striker's trade is a strange one isn't it. Take Barnes.

Remember, he didn't arrive at Turf Moor until the season was nearly a month old.

It then took him eight games to get off the mark before re-writing the record books, scoring all five against Stockport County on a memorable afternoon in October. Barnes hasn't looked back since and that 22-goal haul in only 34 full appearances is a truly extraordinary return

"You've just got to make sure that you don't let your head drop when things don't go well for you in front of goal," added Barnes.

"It is all about belief and sticking with it. I enjoyed this one, though."

While Barnes rightly stole the headlines, this was a splendid all-round display from the Clarets. I was a solid and disciplined at the back, with skipper Jamie Hoyland again outstanding alongside Mark Winstanley and Chris Brass.

The Clarets were inventive in midfield, too, with Paul Weller and Damian Matthew pulling the strings.

I thought it was probably one of Matthew's best games for Burnley and he capped it off with the fifth goal after a super pass and move combination with Weller.

While up front, the dynamic duo - Andy Cooke and Barnes - were simply too hot to handle.

Okay. Peterborough were desperately poor, one of the most fragile sides seen at Turf Moor this season, but you still have a job to do regardless of the opposition. Burnley, in fact, never gave them an opportunity to play.

And Burnley, knowing that they had to beat the Posh at all costs, went about their task with gusto, conviction and bravery. Clarets chief Adrian Heath made an intriguing tactical switch with Paul Smith dropping into David Eyres' berth as a roving, left-sided wing-back.

Smith played ever so well and provided a great link for Burnley to feed off.

With Kurt Nogan dropped from the squad altogether, that handed Andy Cooke his chance, and he played a blinder alongside Barnes.

Cooke, as usual, worked his socks off and his goal - Burnley's fourth - was a just reward for a willing professional with bags of potential.

It was hard to believe it was only his first full game since the Sky TV romp over Bury way back in January. It was a tremendous return for the young striker following a troublesome hamstring injury and an obvious lack of match practice.

And what a way for Adrian Heath to celebrate his first birthday as Turf Moor boss. You couldn't have written a better script for him.

Now are Burnley coming into form just at the right moment?

With 10 games left and on the back of a five-match unbeaten run, is the stage set for a play-off offensive?

Fasten up your seat-belts folks - it could be a roller-coaster ride between now and the first weekend in May.

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