THE familiar figure of Gerald Sinstadt sat in the Bob Lord Stand thumbing slowly through a Burnley match-day programme.

A note here and a note there. He digested the action and swotted up on all things Turf Moor.

The BBC soccer guru, a veteran of many a mighty football occasion, was on night duty to officially launch the Beeb's popular Road to Wembley series.

You know the sort of thing. The cook from Canvey Island or the builder from Colwyn Bay ready to snatch the headlines on first round day.

Somebody, somewhere, will be part of those banner headlines tomorrow.

Sadly, it will not be Burnley. Their fate was sealed in a miserable first round exit, in what was their 290th FA Cup fixture.

Disappointing. Grim. Lack-lustre. Uninspiring. It was all of these and a lot, lot more. The sad part about the whole scenario was that the spotlight was trained firmly on the Clarets.

They had the honour of kick-starting the 1996 competition. The centre stage was Burnley's and they blew it - big style.

A genuine chance for a taste of national recognition up the spout.

So what if the Beeb had wheeled out that bog-standard Hovis brass band tune and panned the cameras on the whippet drinking out of a puddle on Brunshaw Road, this was the tie to get the ball rolling.

Instead, Chris Nicholl was hauled under the bright lights and the Walsall fans sung themselves hoarse all the way back to the Black Country.

A road to the twin towers? Burnley drove straight down a cul-de-sac and imploded in 90 minutes of toil and struggle.

Let's get one thing straight before we kick off this unpleasant autopsy: Walsall deserved to win. They claim their place in tomorrow's second round draw on merit.

There can be no doubt about that. No argument. A hard if unpalatable fact. The Second Division strugglers showed they had the ability and nouse when they visited Turf Moor a couple of months ago.

Burnley needed a Warren Joyce leveller to save their blushes in the league encounter. But from the first whistle, Burnley were second best to Walsall in EVERY department.

The Saddlers dictated the play at will. Dominating midfield, they cut the Burnley defence to ribbons with their slick pass and move style.

Walsall made a dream start to the tie. They saw Kurt Nogan bend a chance wide of the goal in the first minute, but Walsall were soon in their stride and rarely flustered by what Burnley had to offer.

There was a slight touch of fortune about the goal as Kevin Wilson's pass appeared to take a deflection.

It set up Darren Bradley perfectly for him to drill the ball home into the bottom corner of the net.

Burnley were still in the starting blocks as Walsall cranked up another gear.

Where was all the urgency, motivation and movement which buried Peterbororough and routed Bournemouth?

It simply was not happening for the Clarets. You sat back and wondered when the next Walsall goal would arrive.

A brilliant one-handed stop from Marlon Beresford denied Kevin Wilson.

He appeared certain to score after Charlie Ntamark had threaded an inch perfect pass to the Northern Ireland international.

But Beresford's reactions were first class and he produced a save to applaud.

Ntamark was provider again two minutes later, but this time Wilson was off-target, screwing his shot wide of the post.

Then, out of the blue, Burnley found a way back into the game.

Gerry Harrison sent a long ball up field. There seemed little danger, but Adrian Viveash and goalkeeper James Walker got in a terrible tangle. With the goal unguarded, Viveash saw his clearance land at the feet of David Eyres, who simply steered the ball home to level the scores.

It was a gift goal and a strike which breathed new life back into the off-colour Clarets.

And with a stroke more luck they could have gone in at the break with a lead under their belts.

David Eyres and Kurt Nogan combined superbly to set up substitute John Borland.

Nogan laid it off and the youngster was desperately unlucky to see his shot thump against the foot of the post.

But Walsall were quickly back in front. This time Kevin Wilson made no mistake, cashing in on a defensive lapse to restore Walsall's lead with a sweetly taken goal.

Striker Kyle Lightbourne, a four-goal scorer against Wycombe in midweek, attempted to pile on the agony, firing inches wide.

And, by the time the third and killer goal arrived, there was simply no way back into this cup tie for the woeful Clarets.

A slick Darren Bradley free kick began the move for the goal and Scott Houghton raced into the Burnley penalty box to slide the ball under the unprotected Marlon Beresford.

Andy Cooke was unlucky to see an attempt loop over the crossbar, and Peter Swan tried his luck from long distance. But it was all too little too late.

In the final minute Kurt Nogan crashed a header crash against the inside of the post, which re-bounded to safety.

It was a moment which summed up Burnley's night of misery to leave Turf Moor with a mighty FA Cup hangover today.

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