IN THE build up to yesterday's FA Cup quarter-final at Watford Stan Ternent admitted he just wanted his players to perform.

Sadly for him, and even more so for his players, they didn't.

Whether it was nerves, the size of the occasion, the enormity of the prize, the real Burnley did not turn up at Vicarage Road.

Watford keeper Alec Chamberlain admitted in the tunnel after the game: "That was one of my easiest afternoons of the season."

Not since they last lost a Cup tie, 2-0 against Manchester United, had Burnley failed to find the back of the net in a match, a run of 17 straight games. No disrespect to the Hornets, but they are no United.

What they did have were a couple of stories just waiting for headlines. Picking the winner of a tense FA Cup tie is often like picking the winner of the Grand National. Party Politics was nailed on for the National in 1992 just before a General Election, Aldaniti just had to win for Bob Champion.

Yesterday Watford had Tommy Smith, back for his first game since having his car written off in an accident just two weeks before the game. In addition they had left winger Stephen Glass, told he will be released in the summer only days before the game.

There was somehow a sense of inevitability in the fact that both got on the scoresheet.

To be honest, for much of the match it looked unlikely that anyone would find the back of the net and the first half probably saw BBC viewers collectively reaching for their remote controls and checking out the Eastenders omnibus.

It was extremely poor with virtually nothing of note happening. No one could fault commitment levels, no one could praise the quality.

The ball was humped and hoofed, tackles were made and it was a case of 99.9 per cent perspiration, 0.1 per cent inspiration.

The feature was the heading of Gareth Taylor in defensive situations, helping out the again impressive Drissa Diallo and Ian Cox as they cleared six corners. Burnley did not force a single one.

But although they were not looking good, Burnley were relatively untroubled and manager Stan Ternent admitted: "The first goal was always going to be crucial. We started the game extremely well but I thought in the first half we were comfortable."

The Burnley boss had named the same side for the sixth successive game, remaining loyal to the players who had done so well for him in recent games, not least in the last round.

Ray Lewington had approached the game differently, resting key players for their midweek game against Preston, but Ternent was still happy with the decisions he took.

"I don't think that the games are catching up on the players," he said. "If you get the first goal, tired legs suddenly have a spring in their step. If it goes against you, it is the other way.

"But I have always said that the league is our priority, I am not just saying it because we lost. My players are young, fit and determined. There are no excuses, it just didn't go for us today."

It certainly didn't go for them with the goal that gave the Hornets the lead that was always likely to be enough. Ternent had already introduced Glen Little in the hope of pepping up the Burnley attack, the ineffective Alan Moore the man to make way. Fit again skipper Steve Davis was also on the pitch having taken over from his deputy Paul Cook.

But it was the home side that carried the greater threat with Smith and Heidar Helguson keeping the Clarets defence on their toes.

Sixteen minutes from a replay the Icelandic striker forced a finger-tip save from Marlon Beresford and earned yet another corner.

This time it was not cleared and the ball broke to Smith who swept the ball home from close range. It was a scrappy, scruffy old goal but just the type of strike that was most likely to break the deadlock in a scrappy, scruffy old game.

"The goal came from a corner from the right and we had a couple of chances to clear it," said the Burnley boss. "It was a scrappy goal but that is the difference between success and going on and being out of the Cup.

"We didn't get the break, we could have done but it did not work out for us."

There was no luck in the second goal that killed virtually all hopes of a comeback. Ian Cox had just been booked for pulling back Gifton Noel-Williams when he fouled Helguson on the edge of the area.

The former Newcastle player Glass stepped up and smashed in a great left foot shot that wrong footed Beresford enough to find the net and will look great on his video CV when he comes to be looking for a job in the summer.

By then the last card had been dealt by Ternent, Robbie Blake replacing Grant. Ternent had got it spot on by leaving Little and Blake out against Fulham, perhaps leaving his most creative players out against the lesser lights of Watford was, with the benefit of hindsight, wrong.

Still it was hard for the Clarets to get past their opponents with Neil Cox and Marcus Gayle looking solid, the former having another blinder as he had in the league game back in November.

The industrious Lee Briscoe, who had a brief sniff of goal in the first half, did get a header on target from Little's injury time free kick.

But this was never to be Burnley's day and their dual Cup adventure finally ended at game ten. It was the worst possible time to suffer a second defeat in 15, the first away from home in almost three months.

Now they have just 13 games to mount a push for the play-offs. Stan the Man wants his men to be men, they can start showing they are at Bramall Lane on Wednesday.

WATFORD 2

(Smith 74, Glass 80)

BURNLEY 0

Attendance: 20,336