BURNLEY landed what could be a decisive blow in their Premier League season after pulling a Christmas cracker out of the bag in a bad tempered Boxing Day affair with Middlesbrough.

Andre Gray’s strike 10 minutes from time made it six Turf Moor wins for the Clarets this season and sent them above the side they beat to the Championship title last season.

That battle for second tier honours had generated a sense of rivalry between the two sides and it was one that continued in the Premier League on an afternoon when little festive cheer was shown, with referee Craig Pawson dishing out 11 yellow cards, including six for Burnley, which will bring them a Premier League fine, and a fifth of the season for Jeff Hendrick, who will miss the New Year’s Eve clash with Sunderland.

For 80 minutes at Turf Moor this clash revived memories of last season’s Championship battle.

It was full-blooded and competitive, but the top flight class that both have shown at times this season was sadly absent.

But Gray’s second goal of the season sent a capacity crowd into raptures and with most of the sides around them failing to pick up points it gave the Clarets significant breathing space at the bottom of the table, and the chance to end 2016 on a high against the Black Cats on New Year’s Eve.

It was the visitors who settled quicker on Monday and Antonio Barragan’s ball over the head of Stephen Ward sent Cristhian Stuani in, but he volleyed wide from 18 yards as the goal beckoned.

Burnley’s first sight of goal had seen Scott Arfield scuff a shot straight at Victor Valdes, but the former Barcelona man had to work harder to tip Ashley Barnes’ low 25-yard drive wide, with the shot creeping inside the near post until Valdes’ intervention.

Pawson was seeing one of his decisions from a week ago questioned at Leicester City, where the Foxes’ faithful were wearing Jamie Vardy masks in protest at his red card, and the official was in the firing line before the half hour when he turned down a Clarets penalty appeal.

It was chaos in the Boro box as Dean Marney stole in to clip the ball forward only for Calum Chambers to move his arm down and deflect it away with his hand. It was a lucky escape for Boro and they got another moments later when George Boyd’s driven, swerving free-kick almost wrong-footed Valdes, who just managed to keep the ball out.

The animosity and frustration with referee Pawson was threatening to come to the surface every now and again.

Burnley were angry to see Marney penalised for handball in a dangerous position, but Gaston Ramirez floated a tame free-kick straight at Tom Heaton.

The Clarets captain showed safe hands again to acrobatically collect Stuani’s header from a Ramirez corner.

Tempers flared midway through the second half, with Ward booked for a fierce tackle on Barragan that saw players from both sides get involved in some pushing and shoving.

Burnley were finding it difficult to put too much pressure on the visitors’ goal, with Hendrick slashing a shot wide from a half cleared corner.

Sean Dyche made a trio of changes in just under 10 minutes, with Sam Vokes, Steven Defour and Johann Berg Gudmundsson sent on to try and find a bit of creativity.

But when the breakthrough came it was route one stuff. Heaton’s free-kick was flicked by Vokes into the path of Gray who struck a half-volley from 18 yards which crept over the line after Valdes had half stopped it.

That was the Clarets first Boxing Day goal in four years and it proved to be well worth the wait as they secured another vital home win at fortress Turf Moor.