TONY DEWHURST reports from Windsor Park, Belfast

THE empty stands of Belfast's Windsor Park Stadium formed an eerie backdrop to Chris Waddle's Burnley debut.

The Clarets player-manager featured for 63 minutes of last night's 2-1 victory over the enthusiastic Irish part-timers at Northern Ireland's national stadium.

Wearing the number seven shirt, Waddle showed flashes of the brilliance and insight which made him one of the most skilful ball players of his generation.

And Waddle - who had a hand in Burnley's equaliser - made the changes promised following Saturday's 2-2 draw with Crusaders.

And that meant full Burnley debuts for ex-England keeper Chris Woods, Dutch defender Marco Gentile and young centre half Gareth West.

The was certainly plenty of points of interest for the large contingent of Burnley fans who had made the trip over to the Province for the second fixture in Burnley's four-game tour.

In fact, Gentile looked a real steal under the Bosman ruling with a faultless display, while Gareth West showed plenty of courage and conviction in a promising first senior show.

Waddle observed: "Gentile got better and better as the game wore on and looked a very strong footballer. Gareth West also did well in his first competitive game.

"He got caught out a little bit for the goal, but he should be very pleased with his overall performance."

But while Waddle was delighted with his debutantes - he was less than happy with Burnley's first half display.

He rapped: "We treated the first half as a friendly and I was a bit disappointed with what we offered.

"As a team in general we didn't compete to the standards I expect.

"But in the second half we were a different side. We chased and harried and fought for everything. The important thing was that we didn't ease up in the second half. "We certainly looked a better outfit after the half time team talk. The three lads in midfield - Mark Ford, Paul Weller and Damian Matthew - did not put themselves about enough in the way you would expect. But after half time we saw three different players."

On his Burnley debut Waddle added: "It was nice to play my first game for Burnley, but I didn't use the ball as well as I should have done. However, I thought I did okay after the break. It was a nice learning process. I've had a few days off with a foot injury so it was certainly nice to get involved again."

The loss of Andy Cooke for Burnley's first three matches of the new campaign because of suspension, saw Waddle experiment with a fresh permutation.

Striker Paul Barnes ploughed a lone furrow up front for an hour - and got his just rewards with two well-taken second half goals.

But it was Linfield who enjoyed a first half dominance as they threatened to embarrass Burnley on occasions.

The busy figure of Eddie Hill set the tone, forcing Chris Woods into a low save in the opening minutes. Indeed, Linfield's enthusiasm threatened to get the better of them with several rash challenges upsetting Burnley.

Twice Paul Millar caught Gentile with late tackles, but the Dutch defender settled into his role comfortably and clearly dished out as good as he got from the Irishman as Millar limped away.

Linfield broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute as Hill broke the offside trap to set-up Millar. Woods managed to get a hand to Miller's shot but couldn't prevent Linfield taking the lead.

It proved a rather unhappy debut for the former Glasgow Rangers and England man who hobbled off with an Achilles tendon strain minutes later.

Replacement Marlon Beresford was quickly into the action though, saving brilliantly at the near post to deny the ever-dangerous Millar.

An offside flag denied what appeared to be a perfectly legitimate goal for Burnley a minute into the second half as Paul Barnes cleverly converted David Eyres' centre.

But Barnes, clearly angry at the linesman's decision, was not to be denied and 15 minutes later the Clarets were level.

A slick exchange between Barnes and the abrasive young midfielder Mark Ford, who shone again for the Clarets, handed Chris Waddle precious space to operate.

Waddle jinked inside a defender and his shot was deflected into the path of Barnes who made no mistake from close range.

Events improved further for Burnley as Barnes grabbed his second in the 77th minute.

Again Ford was instrumental in the move, and his low cross from the right found Barnes space and he was alert enough to guide the ball home for Burnley's winner.

With five minutes remaining Beresford pulled out the save of the game to deny Ritchie Barker and ensure victory for Chris Waddle in his debut game for the Clarets.

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