THE New Year bubbly may have lost its fizz, but for Burnley fans the party goes on thanks to Gary Cahill.

The on-loan Aston Villa defender is already having an eventful 2005 after falling ill on New Year's Eve within hours of toasting a deal to stay with Burnley for the rest of this season.

And to cap a madcap 75 hours, Cahill duly rose from his sickbed on Steve Cotterill's return to the Potteries to leave the Clarets boss with the perfect grin and tonic!

What a time to score your first senior goal!

Clarets chief Cotterill was hounded mercilessly on his first trip back to the Britannia Stadium in over two years, since making the decision to join then-Premiership side Sunderland after only 13 games in charge.

So beneath a calm exterior, Cotterill could be excused for bubbling under the surface when Cahill bundled home Tony Grant's 79th minute corner to silence those fans who made life hell for their former manager.

Seven security guards and 'minder' Vince Overson had flanked Cotterill all the way to the dug-out as venomous chants rang out from three sides of the Britannia Stadium.

But he took it all in his stride, even marching to the edge of his technical area to deflect the flak from his players as they went about silencing the baying crowd.

Cotterill even had a surprise up his sleeve by using Frank Sinclair as an orthodox right back to allow Cahill, who missed the abandoned New Year's day game with Leicester, to resume his rock-solid partnership with John McGreal in the centre.

And it was Sinclair who carved open the City back line as early as the sixth minute, whipping in a magnificent cross that Ian Moore headed just off target.

Moore and Micah Hyde then combined to send Michael Duff - starting on the right side of midfield - racing through on goal.

A deft headed touch took Duff sprinting past the last defender, but he then pulled his shot back across goal from a tighter angle than he would have hoped for.

Burnley settled by far the better of the two sides and their first genuine scare in the 15th minute came purely of their own making.

Brian Jensen edged down his touchline to clear Mo Camara's back pass, but the half-clearance was headed back into the danger zone and Gifton Noel-Williams was first to react with a looping effort that landed on the roof of the net.

The mis-match of the season soon followed as pint-sized former Potters midfielder James O'Connor and man-mountain Michael Duberry squared up to one another.

However referee Phil Joslin - a late replacement for Richard Beeby, who was withdrawn from the tinderbox clash at Burnley's request after he sent off Cotterill earlier in the season - thankfully kept his cards in his pocket.

Burnley were grateful for Jensen's agility on the half hour mark as he smothered Marcus Hall's shot following sweet play from Adi Akinbiyi.

Then at the other end, lone striker Ian Moore spun onto O'Connor's through ball to rifle in an angled drive that keeper Steve Simonsen tipped for a corner via the crossbar.

The ding-dong continued and as the pendulum swung back, only a perfect last-ditch tackle from Sinclair denied Akinbiyi as he homed in on goal with just Jensen to beat.

Back came Burnley again and Micah Hyde was a coat of paint away from registering his first goal since the opening day of the season with a vicious daisy-cutter.

Stoke's recent results read more like a Binary code, with 10 of their previous 12 games registering a single goal and the other two finishing scoreless.

And with Burnley equally miserly, perhaps no-one should have been surprised that, despite the flurry of efforts, the first half was locked in a stalemate.

That predictable theme continued after the restart as City's Darel Russell fired wide after a farcical free kick went wrong 25 yards from goal.

Even a defensive mix-up failed to give the hosts the leg-up their early second half possession maybe merited.

Simonsen's long punt was flicked on and as Camara waited for Jensen to claim the ball on his 18-yard line, the full back was forced to hurriedly clear when it became apparent the Dane would not get there in time.

City skipper Clive Clarke could not believe his luck and rolled the ball towards the unguarded goal, only for Sinclair to desperately hack the ball for a corner off the retreating Camara.

Panic in the opposite penalty area mid-way through the half then looked to have earned the visitors a penalty when ref Joslin appeared to spot a hand ball.

But as the ball was handed to Moore - Burnley's new penalty taker following Robbie Blake's omission - Joslin changed his mind and bizarrely awarded City a free kick for an alleged push instead.

O'Connor, desperate to score after also being baited by fans of his old club, almost got his wish following more defensive disarray moments later.

But Stoke's reprieve was temporary and 11 minutes from time came the defining moment.

Grant clipped over a left wing corner and in the ensuing scramble, Cahill kneed home a scrappy yet sublime winner to the utter joy of the away fans behind the goal.

"One-nil to Steve Cotterill" was the instant chant.

To the hounded Burnley boss, it was undoubtedly the sweetest sound he'd heard all day.