Cup kings Burnley dump Baggies out

STEVEN Thompson struck twice as Burnley wrote another glorious cup chapter by dumping West Brom out of the FA Cup to book a fifth-round trip to Cardiff or Arsenal.

Wade Elliott opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time with a 20-yard volley and Thompson rifled in a second seven minutes after the restart.

Understrength Albion were given hope by Gianni Zuiverloon’s sweet 60th-minute strike, but in-form Thompson netted again late on for his fourth goal in two games to seal Burnley’s fourth Premier League scalp of the season.

Owen Coyle’s impressive Coca-Cola Championship outfit bundled Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal out of the Carling Cup and came agonisingly close to overcoming Tottenham in an epic semi-final encounter.

With one Wembley dream having died, another remains firmly alive after this latest success which left Albion to focus solely on their grim fight to avoid relegation.

BURNLEY: Jensen, Alexander, Duff, Caldwell, Kalvenes, McDonald (Gudjonsson 80), Elliott, McCann, Blake, Paterson (Rodriguez 90), Thompson (MacDonald 90).

WEST BROM: Carson, Zuiverloon, Donk, Pele, Cech, Kim, Dorrans, Simpson (Brunt 36), Filipe Teixeira (Hoefkens 57), Fortune, Bednar.

Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire).

WOLVES failed to pull clear of their promotion rivals at the top of the Championship after they were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by plucky Norwich last night. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s hat-trick, thanks to three assists from the impressive Matt Jarvis, should have been enough for the hosts against their relegation-threatened rivals.

But the Canaries, who showed plenty of courage and determination, earned a deserved share of the spoils thanks to captain Gary Doherty’s 65th-minute equaliser.

Lee Croft and former Wolves striker Carl Cort had earlier found the net for Bryan Gunn’s team who picked up a vital point in their battle to climb away from the drop zone. But it was two dropped points for a Wolves side who were punished for poor defending and wasteful finishing.

Mick McCarthy’s side stand five points clear of Reading and seven ahead of Birmingham, although their rivals each have a game in hand.

Last night’s results: FA Cup fourth round replay: Burnley 3 West Brom 1

League Championship: Bristol C 2 Charlton Ath1; Preston North End 1 Plymouth Argyle 1; Southampton 1 Sheffield U 2; Wolves 3 Norwich 3.

League One: Huddersfield T 1 Hartlepool U 1; Stockport Co 0 Milton Keynes Dons 1; Walsall 1 Leicester C 4; Southend 0 Scunthorpe 0.

League Two: Chester C 0 Rochdale 2; Morecambe 2 Brentford 0; Shrewsbury T 2 Accrington Stan 1.