Jimmy McIlroy summed it all up best on the long journey home. "A team can take so much and no more," he said, "then they reach breaking point. We decided we had taken enough from Spurs. That's the way it was with us this afternoon." And that's the way it looked from the sidelines as a ruthlessly determined Burnley gained sweet, sweet revenge for their Wembley defeat, triumphing at last over their arch Cup rivals - beating the so-called "unbeatables" on their own ground in a game which, for one reason or another, will long live in the memory of all who saw it. Make no mistake about it - January 16th 1963 goes down as one of the greatest days in the proud and sporting history of Burnley F.C.

All the headline-stealing shame heaped on the name of football by Tottenham's sickening, childish displays of temper in the face of defeat cannot hide the fact that Burnley got through to the fourth round of the F.A. Cup because of a magnificent performance against all odds. This was their finest hour since they clinched the First Division championship on that memorable May evening in 1960 - the only pity was that so few of their supporters were at White Hart Lane to see the grossly over-confident Spurs face their moment of truth.

That scoreline is convincing enough - but it fails to indicate just how much of a moral slaughter this game was. Tottenham disgraced themselves by proving that whilst they can hand out defeat, they can't take it themselves. The attitude of a number of their players was shameful. Maybe they were the pride of London. But without Blanchflower to pull them together and calm them down, they had little to be proud of on this occasion. Even their own fans were shocked at the behaviour of several home players who, with a less tolerant referee, might have received marching orders. Mr R Langdale of Darlington - the man in charge - must take a large share of the responsibility for letting the game sink to such a low ebb in sportsmanship. He should have stamped it all out before it reached the stage where one believed a player could get away with anything.

What a contrast Tottenham's display was to the widely-acclaimed sporting, gentlemanly manner in which Burnley took their Cup defeats by Spurs in each of the past two seasons. That was not done without terrific effort - and Burnley, remember, had much more cause to feel sore in each of those games. On this occasion, Tottenham could not complain at the result, for they were a well-beaten side long before the end.

We saw a new Burnley. Not in standard of football, for while this was good, in fact very good, they did not play any better than, say, against Leicester City at Filbert Street last season. Nor, for that matter, than they did during their best moments in about half-a-dozen home games this season. The difference this time was in their determination and fighting spirit. They played with a grim purpose and dedication which shook Spurs. But Burnley played it cleanly.

Maybe it was an illusion, but the determination seemed to me to stem from Talbut's no nonsense treatment of Smith in the first twenty minutes. Talbut, who had a magnificent Cup debut, was clearly out to show who was boss, and Smith did not like it one bit.Talbut's first-time tackling and general determination seemed to snowball through the rest of the team - first to the full-backs, then to the wing-halves and then to the forwards, who, after a quiet first half-hour, took complete control of the game.

Spurs had more of the play in the first 20 minutes, but only twice made any progress against Burnley's splendid defence. On the first occasion, Elder threw himself across the face of the goal to head out a Greaves shot, with Angus coolly completing the clearance. On the second, Blacklaw pounced on Smith's header after it had hit the crossbar. Spurs claimed the ball had crossed the line, but it did not look like it to me and Blacklaw assured me later that the ball had definitely not crossed the line.

Blacklaw tips superbly over the bar

It really was a treat to see the way young Talbut bottled up the virile Smith, who became more and more annoyed with himself as effort after effort was countered in play-it-cool style. Smith, I believe, was the root cause of the trouble which was to come later, and he gave a glimpse of it in a distasteful clash with Blacklaw for which the Spurs man was entirely to blame. Little was seen of Greaves, although he did send in three or four speculative drives which passed harmlessly wide.

Morning snow had made the surface very tricky, and players had difficulty in turning quickly. Even so, I would say the ground was no worse than Turf Moor for the League game with Sheffield Wednesday on December 29th. However, one or two promising Burnley moves broke down because of the underfoot conditions, these including a dangerous passing movement between Connelly and Robson (deputising for Pointer) and a cute long-range pass to Connelly from McIlroy which caught Spurs' defence off-balance and would almost certainly have brought a goal had Connelly been able to keep his feet.

As expected, Burnley made most progress down the wings. In particular, it was good to see Harris back to his best form and giving Baker a difficult time as Burnley gained the initiative. Spurs were getting precisely nowhere with their sorties because once the attack got anywhere near the Burnley penalty area, it seemed to run out of ideas. White, who was expected to be their creator-in-chief in the absence of Blanchflower, didn't seem to relish the conditions at all and was having a poor game, while wingers Jones and Dyson were cut down to size by the quick tackling of Angus and Elder.

Both sides played it rather cagily in the opening period, and Brown, who was later to look very shaky indeed, had not had a difficult save to make when, in the 40th minute, White Hart Lane was stunned by a Burnley goal. Lochhead, striving harder than even on his F.A. Cup debut, made the running for the goal, but it was a mistake by left-back Henry which was the decisive factor. Trying a quick clearance as Lochhead slighly overran the ball, he sliced it straight to HARRIS, who seemed to take an age before sending in a well-placed right-foot shot from just inside the penalty area which Brown never looked like stopping. Burnley were one up! The only other incident of note in the first half was a shot by White from the inside-left position which came near to producing an equaliser. White's shot curled dangerously across the goal and sped out of play about a foot wide of the post with Smith only inches off a touch.

With the second-half only two minutes old came the goal which, by my reckoning, clinched the game for Burnley. As has been the case with so many decisive goals for the Clarets, the scorer was CONNELLY who was having a real tussle with that man Mackay. The outside-right collected a long pass from Miller, made about 10 yards and sent in a low, left-foot shot. This time Brown dived quickly enough, but he was a long way off reaching the ball. Burnley's third goal, in the 55th minute, was the best of the lot. Harris, a surprisingly lively figure, started the move with a superb ball to McIlroy on the left wing. McIlroy darted to the byline, paused for a split second and then chipped the ball across for LOCHHEAD to cleverly sweep it over Brown's head with no further ado.

The incidents which were to ruin the second half and leave a nasty taste had begun between the second and third goals. Smith was still getting no change from Talbut and they stood together to face a throw-in on the right of the Burnley goal. Smith was seen to elbow Talbut in the ribs in a fierce manner. Smith was spoken to by the referee and play continued, but not for long. Next incident was a scene involving the referee, Dyson and Lochhead. The Burnley centre-forward was penalised for a foul, but Dyson did not seem to be satisfied with this and was going towards Lochhead when Mr Langdale intervened. Dyson half-brushed the referee aside - then thought better of it and raced half the length of the field to immediately send Elder sprawling with a very late tackle.

John Talbut goes down in after an elbow from Bobby Smith

Twelve minutes later, Dyson was in the picture again, foolishly following up after Blacklaw had saved his shot after a corner by Greaves. Dyson pushed Blacklaw two or three times then turned as Burnley's fourteen stone keeper threatened to retaliate. Blacklaw, in fact, had to be strongly restrained by colleagues and suddenly there were about fifteen players in the Burnley penalty area. For a change, Dyson was not involved in the next incident. Norman came upfield for a Greaves corner and when Blacklaw collected it safely, Norman ran straight into the goalkeeper. No action was taken by the referee.

Dyson goes in late on Blacklaw

A penalty area fracas ensues

Spurs were really losing their heads now, and looked a desperate side. It was all so unnecessary and pointless.But it still went on. Referee Langdale stood and watched as Lochhead clashed with Norman in a centre circle incident. The Spurs centre-half finished on the ground, but got up immediately and went towards Lochhead who then had cause to hold his hand to his cheek. Again no action from Mr Langdale, who saw it all from a matter of a few yards. The football had taken second place now, but the result was a mere formality. However, Spurs seemed quite set on making their mark on the game and in a Burnley right wing attack Connelly was floored from behind by Norman. This looked a clear case for a penalty, but again the referee preferred to play on.

Two minutes later Mackay, frustrated as only a cup-tie skipper can be when his team is losing was involved in another incident. Until then, verbal battles had been his metier, but things were about to change. The ball was many yards away when Mackay ran up behind Connelly, who had given him a difficult afternoon, and appeared to punch him in the back with both fists. Mackay was really getting into the game now, and with five minutes remaining he attempted to floor Lochhead, who was going through with the ball. Mackay half-missed Lochhead but, undaunted, set off after him again and succeeded in sending him full-length in a most violent style. In my opinion - and that of most onlookers - Mackay should have been sent off the field along with Smith and Dyson.

Mercifully, the whistle brought it all to a welcome close soon after this incident. Burnley had every right to walk off the field with their heads high which was more than one coulod say for some of the Spurs players. Don't believe other, though, than that this was a great display by Burnley, Spurs would not have needed to sink so low had they not been so obviously outplayed by a team on top of their form. Tottenham's basic fault was their over-confidence. If the truth was known, they never suspected for a moment that they could lose this game - and paid the price for this complete miscalculation. They missed Blancflower far more than one would have thought possible. The second-half would never had developed as it did had he been on the field. Of that I am sure.

Individually, Burnley were faultless. From goalkeeper to outside-left they reached the heights, being as determined as they were skilful, and this was clearly a decisive factor. None impressed more than Talbut, who played a tremendous part, and Robson, playing in only his second senior game since September 8th. Robson has been criticised for his lack of challenge in the past, but on this occasion the charge does not hold water. Harris deserves special mention too for scoring one goal and having a part in the other two, while Connelly on the other flank helped to prove the theory that Spurs are weak at full-back.

Tottenham failed by a long way, too, in their efforts to stop the Adamson-McIlroy threat. One would not say that the ice-cool Adamson had a storming game, but he was undoubtedly the man behind Burnley's successful strategy. McIlroy was again his faithful lieutenant, showing once more that he can have a good game in poor conditions. A result, then, that must go down in the annals of Burnley F.C. as one of the club's best ever achievements. How else can one record victory over the Cup holders on their own ground, even allowing for the ugly incidents which left such a sour taste?

Bob Lord: I remember Danny Blanchflower saying at our Cup Final banquet that Spurs would not have been able to take defeat in the spirit that Burnley took it. Well the point has been proved. When Spurs saw they were losing, they started to cut up rough. It was as simple as that. Our lads went on the field with the intention of giving all they had in the football sense, and if they keep on doing that (which I am sure they will) then it is going to take a very good team to beat them.

Harry Potts: Our boys played exceedingly well and no one can say they didn't deserve to win. Spurs' tactics? It is not for me to comment, is it?

Bill Nicholson: It would have been a better game if the conditions had been different. But we've no complaints - Burnley beat us fair and square. They'll take some stopping now.

Jimmy Adamson: Quite honestly, I don't feel as elated as I thought I would. I had better not say what I feel about Spurs' tactics in the second half, except that they were like little boys. Naturally, I was pleased with our performance. It was a team success and, of course, we are all cock-a-hoop about it. Now we face another tough match against Liverpool.

Jimmy McIlroy: I've still to beat Danny Blancflower in the Cup! Why didn't we play like that at Wembley? I don't know, but as far as today is concerned we knew we had it to do. We had taken just about enough from Spurs. Now it is our turn to laugh last. Even though we were three goals up I kept reminding myself during the game about that Blackburn match when we only drew after being three ahead.

John Talbut: What a game! And what a moment when we realised we had won. Bobby Smith? Yes, he was a rather difficult customer.

Bill Shankley: Well done, lads. I have never seen you play better. Burnley - or Liverpool - should win the Cup now.

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