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| Lukas Jutkiewicz scored our first from the penalty spot |
As supporters we don't always perhaps see the bigger picture of the players building up their fitness ahead of a new season, so it was not pleasant watching in the first ten minutes as Accrington stunned us by scoring three times to lead 3-0.
By half time we had pulled it back to 3-2 but a late goal ensured the home side were the victors in front of over 1,200 Burnley supporters.
Sean Dyche, who received a superb reception from the travelling Clarets as he made his way down the touchline ahead of kick off, mixed and matched his players, fielding almost a different team in each half.
He had to do that without his first choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton who has a finger injury, which meant Matt Gilks played the full game, and without both Michael Keane and Jason Shackell, the central defensive player who played in our last Premier League game at Villa. Shackell is suffering with back and calf problems whilst Keane has only just returned to training having been given extra time off.
New signings Matt Lowton and Jelle Vossen were on from the start and both would make their mark. But what a start that left us shell shocked as Accy stormed into that early three goal lead.
We looked all at sea as the goals continued to fly in, the first as early as the second minute when Seamus Conneely hit a shot from outside the box that left Gilks unsighted by Tom Anderson as it found the corner to the goalkeeper's left.
If that wasn't bad enough, four minutes later came the second as Matt Crook got through on the right and hit the ball over the onrushing Gilks into the top corner and the disastrous start was complete when Gilks made a save only for Sean McConville to score from the rebound.
The away end was quiet; the Burnley fans stunned by it all, but in truth that was about it from the home side during the first half.
They have the hugest of goalkeepers in Jason Mooney. He'd already made one save to deny Lukas Jutkiewicz. He made a number of other saves during the first period and also saw a Vossen shot beat him only for the referee to have pulled the game up for a foul by Jutkiewicz.
However, he was beaten twice in a three minute period just past the half hour; the two goals bringing us right back into the game.
Jutkiewicz made a run into the box and looked set to get in a shot when he was brought down. Referee Jeremy Simpson had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Danny Ings isn't around now and Matt Taylor didn't rush to offer his services. It was left to Juke who hammered, and I mean hammered, it home off the underside of the bar.
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| and the second was scored by Jelle Vossen |
At least we'd got a goal and almost immediately the deficit was only one. Matt Lowton got in a cross from the right, and his delivery was a feature of the first half. It was knocked back in with a shot cleared off the line, but Vossen was there to hit home.
It was all Burnley at this point in the game and the save of the match from Mooney right on half time prevented Jutkiewicz taking us in level. Even so, at that stage I think that most considered the likely outcome would be a Burnley win.
Apart from Gilks, only Fredrik Ulvestad stayed on for the second half; he was to play a further twenty minutes before being replaced by Nathan Lowe.
We dominated the early part of the half but didn't really create much but beyond the first ten minutes or so the game slowed down to an almost pedestrian pace and it was evident there wasn't going to be another goal glut.
They even changed their goalkeeper, bringing on a little bloke at about 6ft 3ins, but it looked, to all intents and purposes, as if the game was just going to run its course and end 3-2.
But it wasn't to be with Accrington scoring again with just about five minutes remaining. Former Claret Shay McCartan had come on as a sub and his cross from the right was met by Crooks who scored his second and their fourth.
There was just time for Sam Vokes to head across goal and just wide of the post before the final whistle blew with our next action to come in Glasgow on Tuesday night.
The teams were;
Accrington: Jason Mooney, Dean Winnard, Matty Pearson, Tom Davies, Joe Wright, Matt Crooks, Piero Mingoia, Josh Windass, Terry Gornell, Seamus Conneely, Sean McConville. Subs: Ross Etheridge, Adam Cummins, Adam Buxton, Marcus Carver, Kealan Steenson, Shay McCartan, Liam Goulding, Shaquille Atoine Clarke, Max Hazeldine, Jason St. Juste, Adam Morgan, Billy Kee.
Burnley
First Half: Matt Gilks, Matt Lowton, Luke O'Neill, Tom Anderson, Stephen Ward, Steven Hewitt, Fredrik Ulvestad, David Jones, Matt Taylor, Jelle Vossen, Lukas Jutkiewicz.
Second Half: Matt Gilks, Cameron Dummigan, Michael Duff, Ben Mee, Danny Lafferty, George Boyd, Fredrik Ulvestad (Nathan Lowe 65), Scott Arfield, Michael Kightly, Sam Vokes, Marvin Sordell.
Unused subs: Alex Whitmore, Brad Jackson, Jason Gilchrist.
Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Lancashire).
Attendance: 2,100.