Premier League fans might debate this article given whathappened between Everton and Manchester United on Saturday afternoon yet theNpower Championship match between Burnley and PrestonNorthend on a late summer’s evening up in the Lancashiregreens served up something special for football fans across the UKand the wider world.

The 3-3 draw between the Toffees and the Red Devils at GoodisonPark set the tone for an excitingEnglish weekend and a busy first Saturday after an international break wasrounded off by a frenetic Lancashire derby at Turf Moor.The Championship, despite playing second fiddle to the Premier League, has theknack to produce high quality games on a weekly basis and the high scoring clashbetween Burnley and 10-man Preston is certainly no exception.

Whenever Lancashire teams meet thereis bound to be drama on the pitch and the best matches of the day(in thePremier League and the Championship)were played out in the NorthWest of the country. Scotlandstriker Chris Iwelumo was the star of the day as his hat-trick sealed adramatic recovery for The Clarets from the jaws of defeat. The Fergusonfamily had a miserable and unusually similar day as Sir Alex’s United concededtwo injury time goals to throw away a 3-1 lead at Everton in the Premier League while Darren Ferguson(watchedby his illustrious dad)was worse off as The Lilywhites conceded three goals inthe last six minutes to lose 4-3 having been 3-1 up at one stage. Many mightsay, ‘It’s a family matter’ but surely days like these are so rare.

Coming back to the match, Chris Iwelumo fired the home sideahead after just six minutes only for Northend to storm back into the matchcourtesy of Adam Barton and Keith Treacy after 23 and 32 minutes respectively.The match proved to be typical English derby game with both teams dishing outan exciting match for the fans. The visitors seemed to have done enough whenJon Parkin converted a Keith Tracy cross just after 70 minutes to condemn thehome side to a 3-1 deficit. Yet drama followed and the key moment turned out tobe the dismissal of Preston’s Billy Jones thirteenminutes from time for time wasting that earned him a second yellow card. Withthe numerical advantage and with the introduction of Chris Eagles, Jack Corkand Jay Rodriguez by the Burnley boss Brian Laws after going down 3-1 turnedthe tide in the home side’s favour as Preston failed to cope with The Clarets’delightful crosses from the wide areas as Iwelumo volleyed a fabulous secondwith 84 minutes on the clock and then equalized four minutes later beforesubstitute Jay Rodriguez capped a brilliant comeback win with the winner on theclosing stages of the match.

With this win Burnley move up tofifth in the Championship table with Preston languishingnear the foot of the table at third from bottom.

 

Other NpowerChampionship results on September 11:

 

Norwich City  2-1 Barnsley

Nott.Forest     1-1 Millwall

Portsmouth   0-0 Ipswich Town

QPR                 3-0 Middlesborough

Reading       Â3-0 Crystal Palace

Watford         2-2 Doncaster Rovers

Cardiff City    2-0 Hull City

Leeds United2-1 Swansea City

Scunthorpe   0-2 Bristol City

Derby County 0-1Sheffield United

Coventry City 1-1Leicester City