Burnley mark five years of Sean Dyche with battling win over Newcastle thanks to Jeff Hendrick strike

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It was only Burnley’s third home goal of the Premier League season so far and for long periods of this contest, it looked like it may never come, but Jeff Hendrick’s high, emphatic finish ultimately proved enough for Sean Dyche to mark the fifth anniversary of his appointment at Turf Moor with a valuable win.

Dyche is the Premier League’s third longest-serving manager and it is performances like these which form the foundations of his remarkable body of work in east Lancashire. This was an even contest against Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle United, who like Burnley have quietly impressed at the start of the new season.

Little separated the two hard-working if limited sides and on balance, Benitez will feel as though defeat is a harsh outcome, but under Dyche, this Burnley side has picked up a habit of doing just enough to win.

Turf Moor has a reputation for being something of a fortress, but Burnley began the night having only won one of their past seven home league matches and that against a pointless Crystal Palace on the brink of sacking Frank de Boer.

Dyche’s men attempted to fix that with a purposeful start. Before the first minute had elapsed, Jeff Hendrick had latched onto a loose knock-down to send a glancing shot across the face of Rob Elliot’s goal. Ashley Barnes was the next to test Newcastle’s goalkeeper in a dominant opening spell but Elliot beat Burnley’s lone frontman to a cross looping dangerously towards his far post.

The visitors eventually gathered themselves but only provided a threat of their own once their most naturally gifted player began imposing himself on the contest. Minutes after playing the pass of the night - a long, raking ball that split Burnley’s backline but ultimately came to nought - Jonjo Shelvey decided to go it alone with a shot from range that stung Nick Pope’s palms.

Neither side was short of effort, but there was an all-round lack of quality on display and one could be forgiven for forgetting that a win for either would send the victors above Liverpool and into the top six. Chances were few and far between for the remainder of the half. Barnes met Robbie Brady’s deflected cross with a header that bounced harmlessly wide while Newcastle went into the break with just two touches inside their hosts’ penalty area.

The second half would require something different and Ayoze Perez tried to find it with a curling attempt on goal after Joselu’s neat layoff a few minutes after the restart. For the first time, one of the goalkeepers was made to work, with Pope stretching to push it around his far post. Elliot was called into action at the other end shortly after but James Tarkowski’s header was a far simpler effort to save.

Other than those two fleeting moments of adventure, it was the more of the same standard, industrious and unspectacular fare. A welcome bit of light relief eventually came at the expense of Joselu when, while attempting to close down a dawdling Pope, he received an accidental boot below the belt. Even his manager could not help but smile during the Spaniard’s lengthy spell of treatment.

For a while, it looked as though that unfortunate moment would be the highlight of the second half, but Burnley gradually began to turn the screw, taking on the responsibility of a home side to attack.

Jack Cork, impressive in the middle of the park, tested Elliot with one attempt from range but his it was his next effort, parried by the Newcastle ‘keeper, that proved more telling. Johann Berg Gudmundsson picked up the loose ball and perceptively sent a cross to the far post where Hendrick was unmarked and waiting to chest the ball down then shoot high into the unguarded net.

In a game of few chances, the onus was now on Newcastle to conjure up an equaliser. Benitez threw Dwight Gayle, a late goal specialist, and Jacob Murphy into the mix but it was Joselu, now fully recovered, who went closest to levelling the score. For once, the excellent Tarkowski failed to get a body part in front of the ball and allowed a shot to zip through his legs. It went just wide of Pope’s right-hand post.

Barnes went close to doubling Burnley’s lead, forcing Elliot into a save late on with a rasping effort before Isaac Hayden made Pope do the same at the other end, but just as a night of end-to-end action threatened to break out, referee Mike Dean blew his final whistle and Dyche could celebrate a hard-earned win. Five more years?

Burnley (4-5-1): Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Ward; Cork, Hendrick, Defour (Westwood 76), Brady, Gudmundsson; Barnes.

Substitutes not used: Lindegaard, Vokes, Wells, Bardsley, Long, Arfield.

Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Elliot; Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Manquillo; Diame (Gayle 83), Shelvey; Ritchie (Murphy 79), Atsu, Perez (Hayden 76); Joselu.

Substitutes not used: Darlow, Clark, Saivet, Gamez.

Referee: Mike Dean (Merseyside)

Attendance: 21,031