STEVEN Thompson scored his second goal in two pre-season games to spare Burnley’s blushes at the Crown Ground.

Neighbours Accrington Stanley held a 2-0 lead, with goals in either half, until seven minutes before the break.

Even after Robbie Blake pulled a goal back with a low free kick it looked as though the gutsy Reds would hold on for a morale-boosting win ahead of their fourth successive League Two season.

But Thompson drilled in a last-minute leveller in this annual summer meeting.

This was Stanley’s first of two friendlies against Premier League opposition this week, with Blackburn Rovers to come on Friday night, as they build up to the first game of the new season at Rotherham on August 8.

But it was feared severe downpours in the run-up to kick-off would put it in jeopardy.

Just 36 hours after returning from their 10-day tour of Western America, the jet-lagged Clarets were probably wishing for a washout, as it’s fair to say they weren’t looking fresh from their trans-Atlantic trip last night.

That’s perhaps why only a squad of 17 was selected as Graham Alexander, Christian Kalvenes, Michael Duff, Steven Caldwell and Wade Elliott watched from the sidelines after warming up, along with the injured Martin Paterson.

It was perhaps, also, an explanation for their slow start and subsequent first-half deficit as John Miles put the home side in front five minutes before the break.

It didn’t get much better for Owen Coyle’s newly promoted side in the second half either as Sean McConville drove in a second.

In the end, John Coleman’s dreams of a famous pre-season win were dashed when Blake and Thompson struck late.

It wasn’t until Blake reduced the deficit that the Clarets roused from their slumber.

But while the Clarets looked jaded from their Stateside excursion, Stanley manager Coleman will have been encouraged by his own side’s performance.

Perhaps inspired by Premier League opposition, they went forward with purpose, were quick to close down and committed in their challenges, although Darran Kempson was a bit too hands-on for Fletcher’s liking.

Twice the striker was hauled to the ground, his shirt stretched in the process, but on both occasions referee Jon Moss refused to take action.

The decisions continued to go against the record summer signing when he had a brilliant chip over a flat-footed Ian Dunbavin wrongly chalked off for offside before Miles broke the deadlock.

Kevin McDonald forced a way through midway through the first half, racing towards the edge of the box and drifting past three token challenges on the way.

As the ball threatened to run away from him, he stuck a leg out to slide it to Blake, but the he could only strike the side netting.

Nevertheless, it inspired Burnley to wake up from their slumber for a spell. But Jimmy Ryan fired a warning shot that forced Diego Penny into a save low to his right.

Soon afterwards, Bobby Grant and Michael Symes shifted the ball from left to right, finding Miles in space to their right, and the winger caught an unsighted Penny out as his swerving shot sprung off the Peruvian’s fingertips and into the bottom left corner.

Stephen Jordan almost equalised two minutes before the break after stabbing Tyrone Mears’ right-wing cross goalwards but Dunbavin tipped it around the post.

Burnley fans saw newest recruits Brian Easton and Richard Eckersley as full back partners at the start of the second half, as former Manchester United defender Eckersley replaced summer signing Tyrone Mears as one of three half-time changes.

There were promising periods, but a mix-up at a throw-in between Blake and Eckersley highlighted a little teething trouble too, in Burnley’s fifth out of eight pre-season games.

So it was with some relief that they avoided a second defeat to League Two opposition as Blake first got the better of Dunbavin following a foul on the influential Jay Rodriguez, before Thompson twisted inside the box and cracked in an unstoppable volley.

STANLEY: Ian Dunbavin, Peter Cavanagh (Ross Lloyd 57), Dean Winnard (Leam Richardson 67), Darran Kempson (Peter Murphy 77), Phil Edwards, Luke Joyce (Alan Burton 77), John Miles (Chris Turner 57), Jimmy Ryan (Andy Procter 49), Michael Symes (Chris King 57), Paul Mullin (Gary King 67), Bobby Grant (Sean McConville 49). Subs: Lewis Field.

BURNLEY: Diego Penny, Tyrone Mears (Richard Eckersley 46), Brian Easton, Kevin McDonald (Remco van der Schaaf 71), David Edgar (Clarke Carlisle 62), Stephen Jordan, Chris Eagles, Joey Gudjonsson (Chris McCann 46), Steven Fletcher (Jay Rodriguez 46), Steven Thompson, Robbie Blake. Subs: Brian Jensen.