PARTY-POOPERS Shrewsbury Town had not read the colourful Turf Moor script - and Burnley paid the penalty.

Because the Clarets squandered a golden opportunity to cement their Second Division leadership perch.

Unexpected defeat extinguished their proud 100 per cent start to the Division Two campaign.

And that left 9,000 Clarets fans nursing a giant hangover on a night when they had anticipated a Turf Moor knees-up.

After three straight wins in the first seven days of the new season this proved a shattering anti-climax.

But, ultimately, the Turf Moor men could only have themselves to blame - they handed the points to Shrewsbury on a plate.

Burnley turned in a lacklustre first half display which never rose above the mediocre. But what went wrong on a night which promised so much but delivered so little?

The keen urgency in Burnley's game - the hallmark of recent wins over Luton and Walsall - did not surface for the first hour.

By then Shrewsbury had a precious two goal lead and the points were virtually in the bag.

There was no hiding Adrian Heath's disappointment at the result.

"Overall, I was not at all happy with the performance," he said.

"I thought the first half was awful. It was just a case of everybody waiting for other people to do something.

"We didn't pick the pace up and we didn't seem to have any enthusiasm for the job in hand.

"Shrewsbury came here to frustrate us and they did it very well. But I'm not making excuses. We didn't play well enough to get anything from this game." While it was dejection for the Burnley manager it proved a tactical triumph for Shrewsbury manager Fred Davies.

He had clearly done his homework. Davies flooded his midfield department and deployed one man up front - striker Ian Stevens - against Burnley's three centre-halves.

That worked a treat for the visitors as Burnley were pulled apart by the dangerous Stevens.

The Clarets had three men marking one and that left other areas of the pitch short.

The visitors' midfield carved out the openings and Burnley were soon chasing the game.

Indeed, there was a shock in store for the Clarets as Shrewsbury snatched an early lead.

Midfielder Richard Scott instigated a break from the left flank. His pass found Austin Berkley.

He skipped away from Jamie Hoyland and presented Mark Taylor with a simple tap-in in front of goal.

Shrewsbury, tidy and industrious, continued to present Burnley with plenty of problems.

Ian Stevens tested Marlon Beresford with a stinging shot and Richard Scott was only just wide.

Four minutes after half-time Shrewsbury had doubled their lead. And questions had to be asked about Burnley's defensive marking.

The Clarets were cruelly exposed from the right flank and Richard Scott burst into the danger area unchallenged.

He picked his spot as Mark Winstanley's despairing effort failed to keep Scott's effort out.

Burnley immediately changed their system with striker Liam Robinson, joining a three-man attack at the expense of the unhappy Hoyland, who was clearly angry at the decision to sacrifice him.

But the Clarets were back in the game almost immediately as Andy Cooke claimed his first league goal of the campaign.

It was all Burnley as the Clarets turned up the heat with Shrewsbury hanging on for dear life. First Liam Robinson saw a shot beaten away by Shewsbury's giant Danish goalkeeper Benny Gall.

Then Nogan was denied as Kevin Seabury hacked his goal-bound effort off the line.

Nogan went desperately close with a header and Gleghorn was unlucky to see an opportunity sail over the target after a Liam Robinson cross.

Skipper Thompson nearly found a way through - his 25-yarder producing the save of the game from Gall.

But with Burnley pressing desperately for a goal, Shrewsbury hit the Clarets on the break to claim the points. Richard Scott again played a pivotal role in the Shrewsbury attack and Ian Stevens cut inside to finish in the far corner of the Burnley goal.

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