WHEN Joey Barton stood over a 25-yard free-kick just five minutes after his second coming in front of the Burnley faithful, Turf Moor held its breath.

At times it can seem like Barton is writing his own scripts, and this was one of those moments. Everyone could sense it.

A game that rarely sparkled, a game that suggested Burnley can now consider themselves evenly matched with a side like Southampton, needed a storyline to bring it to life.

When Jay Rodriguez came off the bench for the Saints for his first return to his boyhood club, you feared that may be it.

But four minutes later Barton made his own entrance, to a rapturous ovation. The noise was about to go up another level.

He’d hardly touched the ball when he told Jeff Hendrick he wanted a central free-kick. He knew this was his moment.

It wasn’t the cleanest strike you’ll ever see, but he wanted to keep it low, it took a slight deflection, wrong-footed Fraser Forster, who Barton had taken hundreds of free-kicks against during their time at Newcastle, and the net rippled.

It was a moment of pure ecstasy, for Barton and the fans who worship him. There is a natural connection there, and having celebrated with his team-mates he roared his support to the Longside. Barton appreciates the way he was been welcomed back into the hold here, by Sean Dyche, the staff, his team-mates and the fans.

His goal earned the Clarets an incredible eighth home win of the season, a fourth in a row and the sixth in the last seven Turf Moor fixtures.

Burnley have already won double the number of home games they did two years ago and this win moved them into the top half of the table. It’s a remarkable achievement.

The gap to the bottom three is now 10 points, but it’s becoming increasingly irrelevant to look down. Another 10 points, in the next 17 games, would almost certainly secure survival. The Clarets are above Southampton now. Are the Saints in a relegation battle? No.

There was little sign of the drama to come in the first-half, where Defour’s set-pieces were Burnley’s biggest threat.

Ben Mee headed narrowly wide from one, and the same player lashed a half-volley wide from 20 yards after Stephen Ward had hooked a half-cleared free-kick back in.

Southampton fared marginally better. Dusan Tadic missed the best chance, driving a low shot wide before his volley across goal was cleared by Mee, and the half ended with Tom Heaton clawing a James-Ward Prowse header away.

The game remained a tight and tense affair. Defour twice tested Fraser Forster’s handling from distance.

Rodriguez’s rise from the bench and return to Turf Moor was met with a warm hand, but it was his strike partner Shane Long who headed into the side-netting from Cedric’s cross with just under 20 minutes left.

But then came Barton’s moment. George Boyd was fouled and Barton called dibs on the free-kick, and proved he was right to do so.

There was still time for Heaton to leave his own mark on the game. He did well to keep out Rodriguez’s shot, then responded brilliantly to stop Josh Sims’ shot on the line. Victory secured.

Back to those scripts. Of course we know Barton doesn’t write his own. Or if he does, he likes to add a few plot twists in there.

We still don’t know quite how long his return will last. He has until the end of the month to respond to his FA misconduct charge for betting on matches. A ban seems certain to follow, the only question is how long it will be.

But with one swing of his right boot he has repaid the faith the club have shown in him. Barton and Burnley. It’s just meant to be.