THE sleep-deprived contestants in Channel 4's Shattered would have found it impossible not to nod off during this one.
Battling to stay awake for a week, they would have struggled to last 10 minutes at the McAlpine, where Town slumped to a fourth defeat in five Reserve matches in what was their first Pontins Holiday League appearance in almost a month.
A 63rd-minute strike by trialist John Harrison and a penalty eight minutes from time from Dean West were enough to give bottom club Burnley the points.
Turf Moor manager Stan Ternent watched a line-up including six first teamers struggle to get going in a testing wind, but Town couldn't make their early bright play tell.
A 25-yard curling free-kick from Tyrone Thompson, which drifted wide of the target, was the nearest Town came in the first half, while substitute John McAliskey livened things up in the second and went close with a firm header on 72 minutes.
When Fola Onibuje just failed to direct a header on target from Martyn Booty's floated free-kick a minute later, it seemed Town might salvage something from the match, but it was not to be.
Trailing to Harrison's neat turn and finish, following good work and a right-wing cross from Matthew O'Neill, Town and their 193 fans knew it was all over when Burnley-born Adnan Ahmed tripped Joel Pilkington in the box.
West drilled the ball past goalkeeper Jacob Giles and that was that.
Biggest consolation for Town was that David Mirfin - who made a couple of solid challenges - got 45 minutes under his belt without problem, as did Ian Hughes, who is likely to be on the bench at Cambridge on Saturday.
Town: Giles, Booty, Hardy, Holland, Hughes (Walsh, HT), Mirfin (Hand, HT), Thompson, Mattis, Onibuje, Thorrington (McAliskey, 68mins), Ahmed. Subs not used: Draper, Young.
