Nine men Clarets win cup tie

Marc Pugh - involved in all three goals

During the opening period of the game Burnley's best chance came following a break-away after a Darlington log throw. Alex Taylor picked up a long ball but his threaded pass to Kyle Lafferty had just too much power on it, allowing the keeper to collect. Another long throw gave the visitors a chance when a scramble in the Burnley box forced Mark Crossley to get down smartly and scoop the ball around the post.

The deadlock was broken after just under 20 minutes. A Burnley throw in high on the right wing was flicked into the path of Marc Pugh, who surged into the box and cut the ball back at pace. The keeper could have done better but only palmed the ball out directly into the path of Lafferty, who made no mistake.

Crossley was again called on in the Clarets goal as his palms were stung by a long range effort from one of the Darlington strikers. The defensive unit was limiting the visitors to very little and this was to prove the last chance they would offer in the half.

The Clarets however stretched their lead around 10 minutes before the break as Lafferty spun away and ran down the right wing to collect a ball from Pugh, before sending an inch perfect cross onto the head of Alex Taylor, who nodded back across the keeper to make it 2-0.

Lafferty had an opportunity to put the tie beyond doubt before half time following good work by the impressive Tom Ince. The young Irishman was fed in the box but opted for power when perhaps a more precise finish was needed.

The second half was barely a minute old when Marc Pugh finished it as a contest. Cutting in from right to left, he took on the defence and fired the ball back past the keeper to make it 3-0.

Burnley even had the luxury of a missed penalty, with Lafferty the guilty party after getting the nod from Pashley on the sidelines. The spot kick was won by the direct running of Taylor, latching onto a goal kick. He passed the ball to Darrell Avery, whose work in the midfield today deserved a goal, but the coach had other ideas.

Darlington then had a penalty appeal of their own turned down as they ridiculously claimed handball. Rob Henry was hit in the face whilst covering the post for a corner and certainly knew nothing about it.

The Clarets then made a double substitution which took all their attacking potency from the game. Alex Taylor and Darrell Avery made way for Joe Booth, returning from injury, and Jay Rodrigues. From this point the game became very scrappy and Darlington increased the physicality in their play.

Mark Crossley had to tip over a neat chip from the Darlington right winger, but this young player was to show the watching crowd an ugly side to his game as he hacked down Martin Reilly, ending his participation in the match. With Burnley having brought on Adam Jones five minutes previously we were forced to continue with ten men.

The final few minutes had all hands to the pumps as the Burnley defence repelled all borders but before the final whistle an innocuous seeming challenge in our area left Kyle Lafferty prostrate. Martin Reilly was quickly removed from the stretcher on the sidelines as the strikers need was more pressing and we were down to nine.

Fortunately the woeful finishing and the scant time remaining meant that a clean sheet was achieved and we now progress to the next round. Both injured players were sent to hospital for precautionary x-rays and now join Ryan Townsend on crutches.

Team : Mark Crossley, Rob Henry, Neal Trotman (c), Chris McCann, Martin Reilly, Marc Pugh, Darrell Avery (Joe Booth), Nicky Platt, Tom Ince (Adam Jones), Alex Taylor (Jay Rodrigues), Kyle Lafferty. Subs not used: Michael Hale, Ali Akhbar.