Down by the Riverside with Phil Lloyd

AS Stan Ternent rightly observed before the game, it was only about three points.

All the heat, all the hype, all the vitriol, ultimately came down to a little adjustment in the League tables and Rovers resuming their place in the top six of the division. So, what have we learned from Sunday's exercise in neighbourly ill-will?

First and maybe most importantly of all, that Graeme Souness's men are willing and able collectively to roll up their sleeves and battle for the cause.

However many passes went carelessly astray, however feeble some of the attempts on the home goal, the commitment and desire we all sought were there.

Thanks, lads. You did us proud.

Second, we found that our hostile hosts failed to succeed in provoking the Rovers players.

The cool heads, by and large, were atop Rovers shirts while those of Mr Ball and some of his colleagues boiled over in frustration.

Third, we saw how Mr Souness assured Rovers were mentally one-up before they stepped on the field, by signing Henning Berg. The fans were unnerved at his brinkmanship but, like Jason McAteer later, the manager timed his run to perfection.

Tying up the deal at the eleventh hour gave an immeasurable boost to team and supporters alike.

For the Clarets, there was something to be learned too. They found that Steve Davis is a capable deputy should they need an emergency 'keeper and that Mr Ternent, rarely a candidate for Diplomat of the Year, can be gracious in defeat. He deserves credit for that.

Less creditable was the decision to kick off at 4 p.m. The great paymaster in the Sky, in its divine ignorance, must have judged there was less potential for trouble at Burnley than at Sheffield, Manchester or Wolverhampton.

Allowing tensions to be 'fuelled' by the late start was an act of supreme folly and one can only hope a painful lesson has been learned.

Sky can't take the blame of course for a 200-mile trip to an away game on the Friday evening before Christmas.

But we're only the fans of course, without whom games would be played in an eerie silence and players paid in coins!

Palace will, like Burnley, be all about three points at stake to the stronger team on the day.

Three points from another difficult fixture would make for an even merrier Christmas down Ewood way.

But it wasn't a bad start to the festivities, was it?