A MONTH ago at Millmoor Clarets striker Gareth Taylor remembered nothing about the match having been knocked out in the opening seconds.

The whole of the Burnley team would probably like collective amnesia so they could forget about the horror show at Turf Moor on Saturday.

In contrast it is a match that two former Clarets will remember for the rest of their lives.

Forget about a woman scorned, Hell hath no fury like a player rejected. Stan Ternent bought both Alan Lee and John Mullin but as he built a team to challenge for the Premiership he felt he could let them go.

Across the Pennines they went, Lee first followed by Mullin at a cost of around £300,000.

And as their former manager Ternent admitted: "It is a pity they did not play like that for us, they would still be here!"

Ternent's opposite number Ronnie Moore could not hide his delight at the result, the performance and the success for his two ex-Clarets.

"It was great for the two lads to come back and score goals and I thought the front two and, especially John Mullin, were magnificent," he said with a smile.

"John has had injuries and been recovering but he gets from box to box and it was good business for me getting him to the club. But I don't want to single him and Alan Lee out, everyone did well and Mike Pollitt made some great saves when we were under the cosh.

"In the second half I knew they would come out at us and bring on a bit of pace but I was surprised the Greek lad came on. I thought they might have put on a certain other lad but I am pleased they didn't."

It was only the fact that he had used his three subs already that stopped Ternent putting on Moore's son Ian as he adopted an all-out attack policy

His back four had become a back three as they trailed 3-0 at the interval. When Lee made it 4-0 on the hour, Steve Davis abandoned his defensive duties to become a fourth striker alongside Gareth Taylor, Robbie Blake and Dimitri Papadopoulos.

That left full backs Dean West and Graham Branch as the sole defenders and for a few crazy minutes it looked as though the Great Escape might be showing a few days before its traditional Christmas holiday slot.

Blake, who produces more turns than Dick Whittington in a panto, jinked his way into the box and Steve Davis lashed home what looked like no more than a consolation.

When the captain injured himself trying to fire home from long range it looked like his day was over but with all three subs used he was forced to hobble on.

It was therefore remarkable that he was on hand to bundle the ball home after a cross from sub Tony Grant had caused chaos in the previously solid Rotherham defence.

Surely there was no way back. Ternent never felt there was but Moore was not convinced and he was grateful that Mike Pollitt made a great save to turn aside Blake's 80th minute shot and then denied Davis a remarkable quick-fire hat-trick as he got a header on target from the subsequent corner.

But the door to the escape hatch was firmly locked shut by sub Darren Byfield when he fired home with six minutes left, prompting Ternent to withdraw Davis in the hope of stopping him aggravating the injury that was already making him hobble.

Pollitt made another great stop to keep out Alan Moore's volley from another Grant cross and the game ended with Byfield netting his second to ensure that Burnley had conceded six goals for the second time this season.

Burnley keeper Marlon Beresford could not remember ever letting in six before in his career when he suffered that fate at Blundell Park. To have it happen twice in the space of two months will have been a painful experience.

The brief fightback in the second half did not look likely in a first period that Mullin-inspired Rotherham dominated from the opening minute when Lee almost opened the scoring in the first minute, heading over a long ball as he clashed with Beresford.

Lee never scored a league goal for the Clarets at Turf Moor but he did open his account at the ground in the 11th minute when he headed home a Mullin corner. Then Mullin took control. Twice in the space of a few minutes he drilled low shots into the right hand corner of Beresford's goal; on each occasion his celebration appeared slightly muted.

But his general performance was anything but muted as he reached a level that he all too rarely attained during his two spells as a Claret.

His ability has never been in doubt and he was clearly inspired at the weekend. But he was not even on the bench for the game at Millmoor a month ago and so maybe he was more intent on proving a point to his current boss than his former one. If he is to keep his place in the side when Darren Garner is available he will need to maintain the levels he achieved at Turf Moor, a consistency he struggled to find with Burnley.

The task for his former team-mates is simpler. They have to put Saturday's debacle behind them and bounce back at Gillingham on Saturday. Mullin and Lee enjoyed showing Ternent what they are capable of, he will demand that the current crop of players now do the same.

BURNLEY 2

(Davis 67, 78)

ROTHERHAM 6

(Lee 11, 60, Mullin 27,30, Byfield 84, 89)

Attendance:14,121