BURNLEY snatched victory at the death and ended North End's 11-game unbeaten run after a breathless Lancashire derby.

Andy Gray's stunning 89th minute header earned all three points after the Clarets led at the break through James O'Connor - then incredibly looked to have thrown the game away with less then 15 minutes left.

Two goals in three minutes from North End turned a pulsating game on its head before Sean St Ledger restored parity instantly with a calamitous own goal.

And in an amazing finale, Steve Jones crossed for leading scorer Gray to head home his seventh goal of the season and send Turf Moor into meltdown.

There was no sign of the drama to come in a tense and nervy opening 45 minutes.

Burnley made one change from the side that drew 0-0 at Plymouth last weekend. Wayne Thomas returned and was handed the captain's armband in a terrific show of faith by manager Steve Cotterill. The Clarets remained unbeaten during Thomas's self-imposed four-match ban, but the former Stoke City stopper was preferred to Stephen Foster, who deputised ably for the injured John McGreal at Home Park.

And the reshuffled defence had a let off in the eighth minute when Danny Dichio, playing for the suspended David Nugent, had the ball in the Burnley net. Thankfully, the well-travelled hitman had strayed marginally offside as a block tackle fell kindly and the flag rightly sprung to the Clarets rescue.

Micah Hyde and O'Connor responded well for Burnley with low shots that were comfortably saved by Preston keeper Carlo Nash.

Other than that it was tentative stuff, but midway through the half, James O'Connor found room to advance into the Preston area only to see his fierce drive cannon for a goal kick off team mate Gifton Noel-Williams.

And as the half hour approached, Chris Sedgwick came closest to breaking the deadlock with a magnificent volley from 25 yards. The ball dropped out of the night sky and the former Rotherham midfielder smashed his shot inches wide of Brian Jensen's left hand post.

Back came Burnley and a minute before the break came the all important breakthrough. Three Burnley players pressed backtracking Graham Alexander into a mistake and Jon Harley pulled the ball back from the by-line for Noel-Williams.

His initial shot was half blocked, but the ball ran loose to O'Connor who blasted the ball gleefully home from eight yards, giving Nash no chance.

The Clarets started the second half in the same vein and Gray's spin and turn forced a corner that resulted in Thomas again testing Nash.

And North End had a piece of real good fortune just five minutes into the half when Dichio twice lashed out at Burnley players, yet strangely only merited a yellow card. First he reacted badly to Michael Duff's tackle by kicking out and when Thomas questioned the challenge, Dichio threw an arm out into the Clarets skipper's chest.

Aggrieved, Burnley set about seeking retribution and came oh so close to doubling their lead following the move of the game.

Five men swept the ball the length of the field and when Wade Elliott crossed perfectly for Gray, the Clarets striker nodded just wide with the goal at his mercy.

With a quarter of the game remaining, North End were struggling just to stay in the game and O'Connor again stung the gloves of Nash with a rising drive from just outside the box.

But one goal is often never enough and right back Alexander sent a warning shot back across Burnley bows with a magnificent dipping volley from fully 30 yards that Jensen turned over at full tilt.

And with 13 minutes remaining, so it proved as the increasingly dangerous visitors levelled things up. A header from sub Brett Ormerod dropped nicely on the edge of the Burnley box for Simon Whaley, who beat Jensen with an angled, low drive.

Worse was to come when, three minutes later, North End suddenly found themselves controversially ahead. Thomas collapsed in a heap on the half way line but play continued until Frank Sinclair hoofed the ball out for a corner from close to the half way line.

And from the resulting corner, Ormerod got the benefit of Sinclair's misguided header to smash the ball home from inside the six yard box.

That could have crushed the Clarets, but instead they hit straight back to equalise within a minute. Sinclair was again heavily involved as he pumped a ball into the heart of the danger zone, which North End defender St Ledger headed past his own goalkeeper under pressure from Gray.

Suddenly it was breathless stuff and the winner sensationally arrived when Jones beat Alexander and crossed for Gray, who beat Nash with a flick of the head from eight yards.

Burnley: Jensen, Harley, Duff, Thomas (Foster 84), Sinclair, Elliott (Mahon 90), Hyde, J O'Connor, Jones, Gray, Noel-Williams (Lafferty 84).
Subs not used: McCann, G O'Connor.

Preston: Nash, Alexander, Pugh (Davidson 87), Sedgwick, Agyemang (Neal 64), Dichio (Ormerod 71), St Ledger, Chilvers, Whaley, McKenna, Hill.
Subs not used: Lonergan, Wilson