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Fortunately, Burnley didn't let this affect them and within 10 minutes of that we were in the lead. Wade Elliott hit the ball on the edge of the box straight at a Barnsley player, the ball looped through the air right to the feet of the startlingly inconsistent Robbie Blake, whose graceful ball into the box was knocked cheekily under the onrushing Luke Steele from 6 yards by Elliott, the timing of his run providing the perfect celebration of his newly signed contract.
Only 6 minutes later the lead was doubled. Kyle Lafferty, finally starting up front after two international goals in midweek, justified his selection not just today but for the rest of the season too. His performance overall was marvellous, he knew that this was his chance and he seized it. He worked, and worked and it paid off with his goal. Taking a pass from the left, he let it run underneath him, fooling and wrong footing his man in one swift motion, before curling the ball delightfully around Steele at the far post, surely making a last gasp challenge for Burnley's goal of the month.
Barnsley had had chances, a one-on-one slipped wide by Howard, and Harley made two successive blocks to deny a goal in a similar situation, but for the most part had looked like a side that wouldn't score. However, two minutes before half-time, another example of the defensive ineptness that has been causing all our problems recently let us down. Alexander acted as if he wanted nothing more than for Barnsley to put a good ball into our box - the ball came along the floor no more than 2 yards out, yet for a time it seemed as if the mud bath that was the goalmouth had saved us. Jensen acrobatically managed to get down and block the shot, but unfortunately Brian Howard was able to smash the rebound in.
However, the mood around Turf Moor at half-time was an optimistic one, the ball was still firmly in our court. The groundsmen took a decision to only work on what seemed to be the least rain-affected half of the pitch, the referee rolled a ball around a bit, either to test the pitch to amuse himself and the teams came back out unchanged. The Barnsley players told the ref they wanted it abandoned, and he rather unsurprisingly saw through their shameful little ruse.
As soon as the game resumed, a goal seemed truly imminent. The game was never too far away from being changed right until the end, and yet the goal never came. That's not to say there weren't chances at either end. The scariest moments of the game were seeing the crossbar rattled by Howard from outside the area, and Jensen's spill with barely 2 minutes left going thankfully unpunished, the 'keeper able to recover his mistake this time.
However, the lion's share of the chances fell to Burnley. In between giving the ball away softly, Blake made two good runs from the left and cut inside both times, one shot driven wide, another stopped by Steele and caught again just before Lafferty could claim the rebound. The most impressive effort of the half came from the impressive Joey Gudjonsson, but his rifling shot from well out clattered the post and went out - that would have been goal of the season had it gone in. The chances came thick and fast, with a lot of the credit falling to the creativity of one goalscorer, Elliott, and a lot of the rest to the other goalscorer Lafferty for his incredible work rate. Considering that all his potential replacement Akinbiyi offers is running around a lot, Kyle cast off any doubts that he doesn't deserve to be up front in our first XI.
Akinbiyi did come on, and so did Cole. The conditions seemed as if they could favour Akinbiyi, he's a great player to bring on when defenders are already prone to mistakes, but he was largely unable to capitalise. Cole, on the other hand, twice got chances on the edge of the box, both from impressive cut backs from the right wing. The first time he got the ball caught under his feet, the second he chipped it softly at a defender's back - not the kind of finishing you may expect from the Premiership's second overall top scorer, but then again he played 11 minutes without actually running, so maybe a goal would have been too much to expect.
All in all, the scoreline didn't reflect the dominance Burnley enjoyed throughout the 90 minutes. Although the play offs will almost certainly prove elusive this season, the signs were encouraging for next season. We have a striker who will one day play in the Premiership (hopefully for Burnley!) in Kyle Lafferty, a winger who matches up to anyone in this division in Wade Elliott, and if Joey Gudjonsson can play like that on a regular basis he too could be a fixture in a challenging team. Surely Jon Harley must now be given a contract, and we may see some more progress next season.
My Man of the Match has to be Kyle Lafferty - that's the kind of performance both he and Burnley fans have been dreaming of for a long time. For now we must still try to win every game and hope until the maths says we can't come 6th. However, even when, as in all probability it will, a time comes when he have nothing to play for, we must surely look forward to next season, when anything is possible.