Burnley bowed out of the Worthington Cup with their heads held high after a battling performance against in form Manchester United.
The Clarets were beaten by two wonderful finishes either side of half time from Diego Forlan and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but as manager Stan Ternent admitted afterwards: "The lads did not only me but the whole club proud and they will have learned a lot from what was an enjoyable experience - apart from the result of course.
"We passed the ball round well and competed and although we didnÂ’t really have a clear cut chance, we had a couple of opportunities and we were always in the game." Sir Alex Fergusson who received a bottle of red wine from good friend Ternent after the game was equally glowing of Burnley's performance.
"Burnley did themselves credit and they were strong in the first half, but once we changed our shape and tightened the game we were alright,” said the United boss.
"The goals were excellent. Diego took his really well and he was busy again after his performance at Liverpool." The Clarets had started the game strongly as they looked to add United to their previous scalp of Spurs in the third round.
Robbie Blake carved out two inviting openings for Gareth Taylor in the opening minutes, only for his strike partner poked the ball wide on each occasion.
A superb run and finish from Forlan gave United the advantage going in to the break.
The Clarets came out with all guns blazing in the second half, but couldn't quite find a way past the Red Devils' defence and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's unerring finish midway through the second period killed off any hopes of a shock.