ONCE again, heads are left scratching as Burnley's home-day blues mount up.

Away from Turf Moor, the Clarets are pulling up trees. But at BB10 headquarters, Steve Cotterill's men are reeling with serious headaches.

So far, it is turning out to be a hugely unpredictable start to the season.

Optimism among supporters was in healthy supply following a stirring display at Crystal Palace.

Full of heart, desire and endeavour, it chewed up and spat out dark memories of Wolves and Hartlepool.

And of all the opponents to face next, to back up the Selhurst Park performance, Colchester at home would be high up the list.

Of course, there is absolutely no such thing as a banker win in football, unless the coupon reads San Marino v Germany.

But as far as assessing Burnley's fixture-list, ticking off matches that look good, solid bets for three points, this was certainly among them.

Colchester, the Championship new-boys, were already staring at a long arduous battle for survival, beaten four times in five and without an away point.

The U's deserve nothing but praise for the tremendous progress shown over the last few years and, naturally, Cotterill demanded his side show their visitors full respect.

But tucked in the bottom three before Saturday, few would predict nothing other than a grim relegation scrap for a club competing at the highest level in their history.

However, instead of cranking up the pressure on the Essex men, Burnley succumbed to a third straight defeat on home soil.

And what will fan the flames of frustration most is, true to theory, Colchester were nothing special.

It just did not happen for the Clarets.

They gobbled up possession for fun and - for what seemed like 80 percent of the game - camped themselves inside Colchester territory.

But, ultimately, Burnley neglected to thoroughly test U's goalkeeper Aidan Davison.

For all their hard work, clear-cut chances were at a premium, as Cotterill's men lacked the spark from Selhurst Park.

Despite dominating, the killer ball into the penalty box was missing.

Andy Gray tasted little good service as, by-and-large, promising moves broke down too often.

Sometimes the build up was too slow, too mechanical, too predicable. Only in the final half- hour, when Gifton Noel-Williams caused a nuisance, were Colchester really stretched.

At the opposite end, it is astonishing that Colchester twice managed to score, given their shortage of adventure.

Both goals originated from sloppy, stray passes, first from Steve Jones and later Alan Mahon.

Turf Moor was stunned into silence when, completely against the run of play, Kevin Watson finished off a move he engineered, to prod the U's ahead midway through the first-half.

The visitors caught the Clarets cold again, Chris Iwelumo firing home from the penalty spot after John McGreal was adjudged to have hauled down Richard Garcia.

Referee Ray Olivier awarded the spot-kick on advice from his assistant, although Cotterill afterwards claimed the official running the line first indicated a corner.

And although replays suggest McGreal may not have touched the ball, it seemed harsh on the veteran defender.

And if Olivier was confident of his decision, why fail to show a card to McGreal?

Home fans, miffed at a sense of injustice, were in no mood to disguise their displeasure at the officials, while tensions soared as Colchester players regularly hit the deck to require treatment.

On the odd occasion, shouts from the stands were also entwined with boos, some directed towards Clarets players.

A section of supporters jeered on the stroke of half-time, while Noel-Williams was met with derision on his entrance.

It was extremely unwholesome and - as Cotterill pointed out - undeserved.

In fact, only after Noel-Williams partnered Gray in attack did panic set in the U's defence.

The transfer-listed striker pepped up his side, bringing a sense of urgency to proceedings.

Gray tucked away with two minutes to go as the Clarets bombed forward. It was just too late.

With another 10 minutes, an equaliser probably would have arrived.

Cotterill made just the one alteration to the side that grabbed a point at Palace, as captain Wayne Thomas returned from a one-game suspension to partner McGreal.

It meant no place for Michael Duff. On Wednesday night, the Belfast defender marshalled world-class strikers David Villa, Fernando Torres and Raul for Northern Ireland.

Despite his star role in his country's famous 3-2 win, Duff was forced to sit on the bench.

Fellow countrymen Jones and Kyle Lafferty operated in wide forward roles, but neither made a serious impact and were withdrawn in the second-half.

Lafferty provided a few decent crosses, but it needed the six foot four inch teenager on the end of them.

The 18-year-old fired the opening salvo on goal, cutting in on his left foot from 20 yards.

Good interplay between Micah Hyde and Jones teed up Gray inside the six-yard box. But back to goal and under pressure from Wayne Brown, Gray's turn and shot effort was snuffed out.

Despite carving out a golden opportunity, Burnley looked comfortable and patience was surely going to bring rewards.

However, from nowhere, the U's stung the Clarets after Watson intercepted a loose ball.

On the counter, Karl Duguid picked out Jamie Cureton down the inside right channel.

Burnley reacted too slow to the danger. Cureton's weighted cross sailed over Brian Jensen for Watson to side-foot finish from three yards.

Davison tipped wide Lafferty's skimming low drive as the home side responded, while Hyde's long-range piledriver was always sailing high.

Eight minutes after the interval, the Colchester doubled their advantage. Greg Halford scooped up Mahon's poor pass before launching a quick raid.

Halford squared to Iwelumo, who in turn freed Garcia, only for the Australian to fall under McGreal's penalty-box challenge.

After heated Burnley protests, Iwelumo made no mistake, firing to Jensen's left to bury the spot-kick.

The home-side reverted to 4-4-2, as Cotterill threw on Noel-Williams, Wade Elliott and Duff in a triple-substitution, and the move paid dividends.

Noel-Williams proved a huge threat with his aerial presence and his stinging volley produced a terrific one-handed stop from Davison.

Gray cut the deficit two minutes from time, stabbing home from eight yards after Colchester failed to clear Jon Harley's cross.

The Scotland international almost got Burnley out of jail in stoppage time.

One-on-one with Davison following Noel-Williams' flick-on, Gray was foiled as he tried to loop his header over the 'keeper.