West Ham 5 Burnley 3

THE prospect of this fixture will have done little to get the juices of any fan flowing, but eight goals and three points later and West Ham supporters will have been glad they made the trip to Upton Park.

There were goals for Jack Collison, Junior Stanislas and Luis Jiminez – a sight that will have encouraged boss Gianfranco Zola after long calling for the midfield to contribute in the scoring department. And there was another goal for Carlton Cole, although the strike was soured by an injury that forced the England striker off at the break. And there was an inspired performance from Guillermo Franco, who also managed to get himself on the scoresheet.

There was also the now customary suicide pact among the players, with West Ham conceding three late goals to put their fans through the ringer.

Both sides had chances early on, Robert Green first parrying away Andre Bikey's drive from an acute angle, before Clarke Carlisle's header was cleared off the line by Scott Parker.

Down the other end Franco did well to release Collison on the right before getting his head to the ball, only to see his effort land on top of the crossbar.

Whereas Burnley couldn't score from their two early attempts, West Ham did just that from their second.

Parker was fouled on the halfway line, and while visiting players protested, he quickly dusted himself off to clip a ball over the defence. Stephen Jordan bizarrely tried to play Collison offside once the ball was in mid-flight, and the midfielder was given a free run on goal, delivering on his midweek promise to score more goals by slotting the ball past Brian Jensen.

Franco continued his impressive start to the game by seeing his header drop narrowly over the bar. The Mexican striker was to make a more telling contribution moments later, however. After collecting the ball on his chest from a throw-in, he slid a clever reverse ball between two defenders and into the path of Stanislas, who made the most of some poor goalkeeping by scoring from a tight angle at the second attempt.

There was one sour note to follow, as Cole collided heavily with Jensen on 36 minutes, requiring lengthy treatment, but before he was advised to sit out at half-time, he was able to move a step closer to his target of ten goal before Christmas from the penalty spot.

Radoslav Kovac showed his talents do not lie solely with his defensive ability, as he threaded a perfectly-weighted ball through for Jonathan Spector three minutes before the break. The American burst into the box and was brought down by a combination of Robbie Blake and Jordan, with Chris Foy having no hesitation in awarding a penalty. Cole stepped up for his final contribution of the match. 3-0.

Hines replaced Cole at half-time, and it was he who was fouled on the edge of the box by the hapless Jordan in the 55th minute.

Stanislas swung a wicked delivery on to the six yard line and Franco was able to get goal-side of his marker to head home for a deserved goal.

It now resembled a rout, and there was to be more joy for the Hammers when substitute Luis Jiminez galloped through and beat Jensen to the ball. Down went the Chile international and Foy awarded the game's second penalty.

Jiminez insisted on taking the kick and coolly dispatched it into the net.

However, there were to be more twists in this enthralling match, as Burnley finally came to life, albeit with the game dead and buried.

Chris Eagles cut in from the left and sent a teasing low cross into the middle, where Steven Fletcher was waiting to tap in.

Seven minutes later and it was 5-2, Fletcher once again getting on the end of Eagles' cross for a carbon copy of his first goal.

There was another late final twist, as Stephen Caldwell was sent off for bringing down Hines as the young forward burst through on goal.

Even then, West Ham pressed the self-destruct button and were left hanging on for dear life. Tyrone Mears bombed down the right wing and pulled the ball back for Eagles to slot home.

That was to be the end of the drama, and despite his side failing to keep their first clean sheet in the league since August, Zola can console himself by the fact that his team are three points better off and a step further away from the drop zone.