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The game had everything, or should have had. It had goals, it had players diving, it had the most appalling and incompetent referee you are ever likely to see, and just to send us all home happy it had a late winner from our new England man Jay Rodriguez.
The new pitch played its part too. In previous seasons most of the pre-match discussions would have centred on whether the game would go ahead as the rain came down, but there was never any problem.
Howe made one change from the team that had drawn at Doncaster, restoring Ross Wallace to the side at the expense of Wade Elliott who took his place on the bench. It meant a home debut for Charlie Austin whilst our other new man Marvin Bartley had to sit alongside Wade as one of the subs.
For Wade, it is the first time he hasn't been in the starting line up for a Championship game since the win at Blackpool in March 2009.
Howe opted for a 4-4-2 formation with Chris Eagles on the right and Wallace on the left with Rodriguez partnering Austin up front.
Burnley started well and much of the play was towards the Norwich goal with attacks often coming down the right hand side where Eagles was linking up with Tyrone Mears. Jay Rod came closest with a header just wide from a Mears cross.
It could have been more difficult for Norwich had referee Phil Gibbs taken the appropriate action against Adam Drury for his foul on Mears. Incredibly it received only a yellow card as the crowd bayed for a red.
Norwich had started the game with the best away record in the league and so it was no surprise when they did eventually come more into it. Grant Holt, the big man who has difficulty staying on his feet, playing alongside Simeon Jackson, the smaller man who has even more difficulty staying on his feet, were the targets and it was Holt who headed wide from a tight angle.
We hadn't got the goal our start had deserved but as Norwich started to come out we finally got that opening goal. Norwich lost possession and Clarke Carlisle played the ball to Wallace inside our own half.
Wallace carried the ball forward before moving it to Eagles who in turn found Dean Marney who was a few yards outside the box. He struck the sweetest of shots all along the ground and into the bottom corner. He'd scored Burnley's last league goal, in the win at Portsmouth, and was his third of the season but his first at Turf Moor.
It was no more than we deserved and we took that lead into half time with little concern other than a couple of free kicks late in the half that came to nothing.
We'd led 2-0 at half time in the away game at Norwich in November when Paul Lambert changed things by introducing winger Anthony McNamee. It changed things dramatically. There was no McNamee in the squad this time but he'd played three central defenders in the first half and replaced one of them, Zak Whitbread, with Simon Lappin for the second half.
Again it had the desired effect and Norwich took command of the game. They could have been level very early in the half too. Danny Fox, who otherwise had an outstanding game, gave the ball away and they broke quickly only for Lee Grant to save well from Holt with his feet.
Former Blackpool midfielder Wes Hoolahan was pulling the strings as the visitors started to dominate and Grant was forced to save well again from a free kick ridiculously awarded against Michael Duff after Holt backed into him. Everyone else in the ground could see it should have been given the other way.
We were being put under severe pressure although we were defending well. Howe decided to make a change and brought on Elliott for Austin with the Clarets reverting to a more familiar 4-3-3 system.
It relieved the pressure and Marney might have had a second almost immediately after the change after Elliott and Rodriguez combined well to get the ball to him.
The equaliser did eventually come and Hoolahan was involved as he got down the left before crossing the ball for Holt who finished brilliantly from the edge of the box into the corner.
At that point I feared the worst but it seemed to change the game and, although Norwich did force Grant into one more good save, they were never able to put us under any real pressure for the remainder of the game.
Chris Iwelumo came on and put a header wide but with nine minutes of normal time remaining we got that winner. I'd read of Norwich's ability this season to score late goals, and of course that's exactly what they did to us at Carrow Road. This time it was us handing out the late medicine.
Holt fouled Mears down our right wing and Fox went over to take the free kick. Norwich sub Aaron Wilbraham was doing all he could to prevent Jay getting to it at the far post. Jay held him off and scored from close range, pushing the ball through John Ruddy's legs.
Nine minutes plus stoppage time to go. I expected another onslaught but it quite simply didn't come. Graham Alexander came on for Eagles and we saw the game out very comfortably indeed.
What a difference a few days make. There again the opposition here weren't Doncaster who I'm not sure it's possible to have a good game against. This game was played at such a better tempo and proved to be very entertaining throughout.
There were some very good individual performances too, and this time from players who don't often get too much credit. Lee Grant was excellent in goal whilst Danny Fox and Dean Marney were probably our best two players overall. And that's not forgetting Jay Rodriguez who had such a good game besides getting the winner.
Overall we were just about deserving of the points, an opinion the BBC's Leroy Rosenior doesn't share. What appalling coverage they gave of the game last night, clearly distorting the game and not showing just how much a contribution we made. They seemed to do all they could to try and show that Norwich were robbed.
But for those of us who saw all of the ninety minutes, I'm sure they all went home happy enough with that performance against the team who started the game in second place in the league.
Now it's off on tour again - to Watford and Cardiff and West Ham and Preston - before we can eventually get back to Turf Moor for the home game against Crystal Palace, and we owe them one too after they somehow managed to get a point against us at Selhurst Park.
The teams yesterday were;
Burnley: Lee Grant, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Michael Duff, Danny Fox, Chris Eagles (Graham Alexander 85), Jack Cork, Dean Marney, Ross Wallace (Chris Iwelumo 72), Charlie Austin (Wade Elliott 65), Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Andre Bikey, Marvin Bartley, Steven Thompson.
Yellow Card: Clarke Carlisle.
Norwich: John Ruddy, Russell Martin, Leon Barnett, Elliott Ward, Zak Whitbread (Simon Lappin 45), Adam Drury, Andrew Crofts, Wes Hoolahan, Henri Lansbury (Aaron Wilbraham 72), Simeon Jackson (Chris Martin 62), Grant Holt. Subs not used: Steer, Marc Tierney, David Fox, Korey Smith.
Yellow Card: Adam Drury.
Referee: Phil Gibbs (West Midlands).
Attendance: 14,859.