Burnley have ended a three-match losing streak courtesy of a 3-2 victory over Bournemouth at Turf Moor this afternoon.
The hosts took an early lead against the Cherries and were able to hold on for all three points to maintain their fine home record this season and move five points clear of the relegation zone.
Bournemouth arrived at Turf Moor having never won in 13 previous away games against the Clarets, but they made the brighter start to the match as Dan Gosling fired one effort just wide before Tom Heaton denied Benik Afobe from close range.
That fast start soon felt like a distant memory, however, as Burnley took complete control with two goals in the space of just three minutes.
The first was the pick of the bunch as Jeff Hendrick controlled the ball outside the area before firing a sensational half-volley past Artur Boruc for the second Burnley goal of his career.
Burnley's second was a much scrappier goal, but it didn't dampen the celebrations from the home side as Stephen Ward smashed a rebound in from close range after Boruc had failed to gather Ben Mee's header.
It was almost three in the space of five minutes when Michael Keane nodded an effort towards goal, but this time Boruc was equal to it and turned the header behind for a corner.
Bournemouth, who were looking for back-to-back Premier League wins for just the third time ever on Eddie Howe's return to Turf Moor, began to grow into the match as the half wore on and almost pulled a goal back in the 38th minute when Heaton needed to turn Adam Smith's free kick over the top.
The visitors did halve the deficit right on the stroke of half time, though, as Afobe slotted home from eight yards after being found by Simon Francis's cutback.
Bournemouth quickly picked up where they left off at the start of the second half too, with Afobe sending a deflected effort narrowly wide before Smith also failed to hit the target.
Burnley boss Sean Dyche brought Andre Gray and Ashley Barnes on 10 minutes into the second half in an attempt to pin the dominant Cherries back, and the latter almost made an immediate impact when he fired just over seconds after coming on.
The changes seemed to work for the Clarets, and they almost restored their two-goal cushion on the hour mark when Barnes nodded a Ward free kick inches past the post.
A third goal did arrive for the hosts with 15 minutes remaining, though, when George Boyd buried his finish into the bottom corner after Gray had picked the midfielder out with a clever back-heel.
Bournemouth went in search of a route back into the match immediately and almost found it with just over 10 minutes left when Ryan Fraser cut inside from the left flank and curled an effort towards goal, but it drifted just wide of the far post.
The visitors' efforts to pull a goal back left more space in defence, though, and Gray almost exploited that when he raced through on goal, only to be denied by a fine stop from Boruc.
Arfield then dragged another fine chance wide of the target following a second Burnley break before Bournemouth finally had the ball in the back of the net, only for Afobe's finish to be ruled out for offside.
When the Cherries did get a legal second goal it appeared to be too late, with Charlie Daniels picking the ball up inside the area before blasting a fearsome finish into the top corner in the first minute of stoppage time.
The four additional minutes gave Bournemouth hope, though, and they almost sealed a dramatic late comeback when Joshua King cut inside from the left flank and drilled a low strike past Heaton's post.
In the end, though, Burnley held out for a valuable victory that takes them five points clear of the relegation zone, with the victory meaning that 16 of their 17 points this season have come at home.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, have only picked up five of their 18 points on the road and drop into the bottom half as a result of the defeat, now six points from danger.
Barney Corkhill
