Coca-Cola Cup 1st round 1st leg: Lincoln City 1 Burnley 1 - Tony Dewhurst's big match verdict

BIG Lee Howey hit Lincoln with a mighty right hook and declared: "It's great to hit the net again."

Turf Moor's new £200,000 signing netted the Clarets a priceless equaliser on his debut in last night's bruising first leg tie at Sincil Bank.

And that leaves the Clarets nicely poised to finish the job when the Division Three side visit Turf Moor later this month.

"I've not scored for over a year and when it hit the net I could have jumped over the stand," said Howey.

"The last one was against Barnsley in Sunderland's First Division Championship season.

But it was a lovely moment scoring on my first game for Burnley."

Howey spent last season playing in the centre half role for Sunderland after Peter Reid had engineered his conversion from attack to defence.

Howey said: "When I spoke to Chris Waddle I knew it was right to come to Burnley.

"My first team opportunities at Sunderland were obviously limited and Peter Reid told me as much.

"I'm 28 now so I wouldn't have been getting a lot of first team football.

"Chris Waddle is extremely positive. He told me we wants promotion at the first attempt and I like that sort of talk.

"It was extremely difficult coming to Lincoln, especially the way they play. But we stuck at the task and stamped our authority on the game. This was a very good draw and sets us up nicely for Turf Moor."

But make no mistake there is still plenty of mileage in this tie. This was a resilient and business-like performance from the Clarets against John Beck's rough and tumble Lincoln side.

Beck's teams pull no punches. It's abrasive, demanding and can be especially difficult to counteract if you're not prepared for a real bombardment.

Player-manager Chris Waddle omitted himself from the Burnley starting line-up.

And instead Chris Vinnicombe was deployed in the left wing back role with David Eyres pushing into an attacking midfield position.

And with Howey partnering Paul Barnes, it gave Burnley an extra cutting edge. Yet it took Waddle's side a while to find their feet.

And only a couple of wonderful saves from Marlon Beresford either side of half time kept plucky Lincoln at bay.

Beresford's first stop was the finest reaction save I've seen from the Clarets first choice goalkeeper.

Striker Phil Stant powered in a ferocious half volley.

And Beresford somehow clawed Stant's effort over the target with a brilliant one-handed save.

Stant could not believe it - and stood shaking his head and applauding Beresford's wonder stop.

Waddle joined the praise and said everybody on the bench said 'Goal' when it left Stant's boot. "He hit it very cleanly and I still don't know how Marlon got to it. It was a brilliant save."

Lincoln were always going to be particularly dangerous from set-piece scenarios and their power play deploys the free kick technique effectively. And, sure enough, they forged ahead after Burnley had failed to clear their ranks from a Mark Hone free kick.

The experienced Stant this time needed no second invitation - smashing an unstoppable half-volley into Beresford's bottom left hand corner.

The lead gave Lincoln added impetus and Burnley - with Steve Blatherwick outstanding at the heart of the defence - worked overtime to keep Lincoln in check.

Indeed, Burnley should have drawn level just a minute after Stant's goal.

Paul Barnes was left cursing his luck after uncharacteristically misdirecting a free header wide after a David Eyres' centre.

Howey, though, gave notice of his threat as a frantic goal line clearance first denied the striker and then Blatherwick's follow-up.

Yet Lincoln's potency was still evident, Stant hooking a crisp shot over and Beresford diving low to keep out Thorpe's power-house shot.

But the goal Burnley had been threatening arrived 14 minutes from time.

Substitute Damian Matthew swung over a tempting corner and Lincoln's defence was caught napping as Howey planted a header past John Vaughan.

The tie finished on a controversial note. Lincoln were fuming after referee Steve Baynes refused a strong penalty appeal following Mark Winstanley's challenge on Gareth Ainsworth. But Howey's strike could just prove a priceless goal when Burnley lock horns with Lincoln for a second time at Turf Moor.

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