FA Cup 2nd round replay: Burnley 1 Walsall 1 (AET) Burnley win 4-2 on penalties - Tony Dewhurst's big match verdict

THE Turf Moor man who loathes Liverpool booked Burnley a sizzling FA Cup third round cash-bonanza at Anfield's field of dreams.

Scouser in the camp David Eyres saw his spot-kick ensure a dramatic 4-2 penalty shoot-out triumph. And Eyres' left foot thunderbolt has probably earned the Turf Moor club a cool £100,000 pay-day in the process.

It means Burnley will meet Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, John Barnes and co on January 4.

It capped a rip-roaring night of FA Cup passion and commitment.

And it kept supporters on the edge of their seats until after 10.15 pm!

And it was nail-biting stuff all right and a fitting triumph for the mischievous scouser.

His stunning goal at the Bescot Stadium earned the Clarets a deserved Turf Moor replay.

And Eyres, a true blue Evertonian, admits he drives a couple of miles out of his way when he goes into Liverpool shopping-to miss Anfield!

"I can't stand the sight of the place. I'm an avid Evertonian and so are most of my mates. "I can smell Anfield from my house. I really hate the place," he laughed.

"Everton was always my club as a lad and it still is. I go and watch them whenever I can. But they'll have to smuggle me in to Anfield. I'll be wearing my Everton scarf!"

He added: "It was really sweet to score the penalty which got us through, especially after missing a penalty at Peterborough on Friday.

"It was a case of trying to hit the ball as hard as I could. Thankfully, it found the net."

While Eyres finished the job it was the remarkable penalty-saving skills of goalkeeper Marlon Beresford which paved the way for the Clarets victory.

Beresford has a fantastic record when it comes to saving from the spot.

Again he showed why he is one of the premier goalkeeping talents outside of the Premiership.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Beresford did not let anyone down. Burnley's number one made a double save to keep out penalties from Chris Marsh and Mark Blake.

The Marsh penalty was the first one in the sudden-death shoot-out and the most significant.

Hot-shots Paul Barnes, Paul Smith, Damian Matthew and Eyres all found the net for Burnley-and that sent the Clarets through to Anfield. "Marlon has got a truly amazing record for saving penalties and I knew he would do the business, " said a relieved Adrian Heath.

"I was really confident that he would save at least one kick and he did just that. I wouldn't like to sit through that every week though."

It left Walsall shell-shocked after they appeared favourites to claim that third round tie at Liverpool a week ago when the floodlights failed at half-time.

That forced the controversial abandonment of the tie with the Saddlers leading 1-0.

But, even though last night's tie went to the lottery of the penalty-shoot, justice was done.

The Clarets appeared to have had the tie safely wrapped up after Paul Barnes' strike seconds before the break had broken the deadlock.

His goal put Burnley firmly in the driving seat. It was a corker of a finish from Burnley's record signing. He partnered Glen Little in attack with Kurt Nogan controversially dropped from the side.

Gary Parkinson created the danger for Burnley. The defender's powerful drive rebounded off a stunned Walsall defender and Barnes's instinctive finish found the roof of the net.

Minutes earlier Kyle Lightbourne had missed the chance of the tie, scooping the ball wide of an open goal after a David Eyres deflected back-pass had dropped straight into his path.

The usually lethal striker could not believe his miss and it was one that proved so costly.

Glen Little showed moments of real quality and just why Burnley had shelled out £100,00 to Glentoran for his services.

Tall and bustling, Little has an excellent touch and went oh so close to doubling Burnley's lead, chipping inches over the Walsall goal after brilliant work from Eyres.

But Walsall are made of stern stuff and the visitors hit back to force the tie into extra time.

It was an extraordinary goal and one which caught Burnley cold.

The Clarets back-line was looking for the off-side flag when Darren Bradley's free kick looped over the shocked defenders.

Adrian Viveash was left with a free header and the tie was back in the melting pot.

The dangerous John Hodge headed over in extra time for Walsall and Paul Barnes was unlucky with a late effort.

But it was left to those Turf Moor stalwarts-David Eyres and Marlon Beresford-to book Burnley's third round prize and a date with the Premiership superstars.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.