Burnley beat Lancashire rivals Blackpool 2-0 to make it two wins from two and climb into the top half.
Burnley into top half after back-to-back wins
Burnley beat Lancashire rivals Blackpool 2-0 to make it two wins from two and climb into the top half of the Coca-Cola Championship.
The Clarets claimed their first victory of the season at Nottingham Forest on Saturday and followed that up with a deserved win at Turf Moor.
Martin Paterson broke the deadlock on the hour mark with a brilliant individual strike before Graham Alexander scored his third goal in two games from the penalty spot to seal the three points.
Blackpool arrived on the back of successive 1-0 victories against Southampton and Barnsley but they were second best throughout and created next to nothing after lining up in a 4-5-1 formation.
Burnley threatened from the outset with winger Wade Elliott whipping in a teasing low cross which found Steve Thompson unmarked 14 yards from goal inside the opening minute.
The recent free transfer signing from Cardiff swivelled to blaze a shot wildly over the crossbar but the frenetic opening continued apace even though genuine goalscoring opportunities were scarce.
Early pressure
In the 18th minute, Blackpool midfielder Gary Taylor-Fletcher caught Alexander in the face with a flailing boot just 20 yards from goal.
From the resulting free-kick, Chris McCann struck a vicious left-footed effort which drew a parried save from visiting goalkeeper Paul Rachubka.
The Seasiders then enjoyed a lucky escape two minutes later when defender Ian Evatt appeared to handle the ball as he desperately slid on the ground to challenge Elliott.
Blackpool orchestrated their first meaningful attack in the 22nd minute when on-loan Liverpool winger Adam Hammill showed delightful footwork to evade the challenges of two Burnley defenders and reach the left-hand byline.
His deflected cross flew straight into the arms of Clarets goalkeeper Brian Jensen and the pendulum soon swung back towards the hosts.
Russell Anderson had a low shot deflected out for a corner and Alexander engineered the space to fire over from 20 yards before former Blackpool defender Clarke Carlisle headed an Elliott corner straight at Rachubka.
Burnley continued to dominate after the break and were finally rewarded when Paterson struck his sixth goal of the season in spectacular fashion.
The Northern Ireland international collected possession on the right flank and cut inside, creating the space to advance forward and curl a superb low left-foot shot past Rachubka's despairing dive and into the far corner.
Blackpool offered nothing in response and the game was well and truly up in the 75th minute when Evatt fouled Steven Caldwell and Alexander fired home from the spot to give Rachubka no chance.
