Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler said: “The difference between the two sides was (Robbie) Blake, (Ian) Moore and (Glen) Little, who gave us a lot of trouble.”

Burnley boss Stan Ternent was rather more effusive about Ian Moore’s performance. “He was on fire and deservedly got man of the match. What I liked best was that we scored three top quality goals.”

The early warning signs were apparent when a courageous sliding tackle from Nayron Nosworthy was all that stood between Richard Chaplow and the first goal. Chaplow, returning from suspension, had been set free by Little’s perceptive through ball.

Tommy Johnson, the hero of Gillingham’s win against Charlton, was starved out of the game by a resolute back line with David May and Mark McGregor effectively stemming the flow of traffic. Burnley went ahead when left wing-back Mo Camara ran the ball out of defence and found Ian Moore’s head with telling accuracy from a wide left wing position while Paul Smith and Barry Ashby failed to plug the gap.

No wonder Hessenthaler said: “I found it really disappointing that Ian Moore scored with a header. He’s not much taller than me, so I’ll need to look at this one on the video.”

He will see that height has nothing to do with Moore’s strike; everything was down to being in the right place at the right time, something Moore did throughout the afternoon.

It was the start of a three-minute nightmare for the visitors. A rash challenge on Little led to a free kick from 20 yards out which Robbie Blake curved home from the cutest of angles.

“To be fair, Blake is the kind of player who can score that kind of goal,” Hessenthaler acknowledged.

Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen had barely broken into a decent sweat by half-time, when the Gills showed their frustration with some over-the-top tackling. Ternent tried to quiz referee Graham Laws about why John Hills was not booked after a scything tackle and was given his marching orders.

“It’s ridiculous,” protested Ternent. “I got sent into the stand for asking. That’s what the game is like these days.”

The fact that Burnley added a third following excellent running and a pinpoint cross from Little probably did much to damp down tempers. Blake’s run on to Ian Moore’s pass was superbly timed.

Jensen dropped the ball at Darius Henderson’s feet in the 71st minute following a Kevin James right-wing run for Gillingham’s barely deserved consolation goal.

Hessenthaler has more tough battles ahead. He said: “We need to be looking at the bottom three in the league. Bradford visit us next week and we are back here again in a fortnight.”