Burnley 2, Sunderland 2.

CELEBRITY Burnley fan Alistair Campbell picked the right home match to write in his programme notes about how important it is to recognise the value of an away support.

The former No 10 director of communications/spin doctor feels a vocal backing when your team play away is crucial - and is something that should be recognised in match statistics.

With the chairman of Wigan publicly criticising the people of the town for not supporting the Premiership club - there were just over 15,000 for last week's home match with Arsenal - and attendances generally down, it was refreshing to see Sunderland fans turning out in force for the excursion to Turf Moor.

But the return leg of the 240-mile round trip for those who made up around 25 per cent of the near-15,000 crowd would have been arduous were it not for the efforts of Grant Leadbitter, David Connolly and Steven Caldwell.

With just over ten minutes left Sunderland were two goals down and staring at a demoralising defeat against a side competing for place in the Championship top-six.

Leadbitter dragged them back into it with a goal out of nothing from 20 yards and the determination shown by the 20-year-old not to let the game drift by appeared to galvanise his team-mates.

The chants of the away fans packed into the stand behind the goal the Black Cats were attacking in the second half, who had been vociferously backing their side from before kick-off, turned to roars as they sensed a genuine fightback.

The desire to attack, however, left holes at the back and Caldwell was required to superbly slide in on Steve Jones with seven minutes left as the winger was about to shoot in the box.

In the 92nd minute Sunderland broke and Connolly picked up possession in the Burnley half, rode a challenge and then smashed home an effort from 25 yards into goalkeeper Danny Coyne's left hand corner.

There was only one place the striker was going and that was straight to the fans who engulfed him.

"We could hear the fans before the game in the dressing room," said the 29-year-old, who made it three goals in his last six games. "They were either above us or beside us and you hear them singing songs about the players and the managers. The noise was coming through the walls.

"It's hard for them to come all this way and we were keen not to let them down. With that whole stand full we couldn't come here and just roll over - even when we were 2-0 down.

"I haven't had much of an opportunity at Sunderland to celebrate with the fans because they seem so far away. There's a bit of a track round the edge of the pitch.

"They travelled all that way and it looked like a long way for nothing so when I scored it seemed worth a booking."

Roy Keane may disagree with that sentiment, but he was happy to agree with the significance of scoring in front of the supporters.

"Fifteen minutes before the end my feelings were of anger and frustration," said Keane. "Come the end I was delighted.

"It's important to score at your end in front of the travelling fans. There were 3,000 or 4,000 there and it's great for them.

"That's what it's about - the players and the fans. It's not about me, the staff or the press. You just get joy watching them get some joy.

"You keep going to the end. There's been great examples over the years. Liverpool in the Champions League Final (against AC Milan in 2005), Manchester United in 1999 (against Bayern Munich).

"There's no reason why you can't score in the last minute. We've scored last minute goals and we've conceded goals at the end.

"Lucky he (Connolly) did score because Grant Leadbitter was free inside him so he would have got a right earful if he hadn't scored."

The two late goals probably saved a few more of his players from "right earfuls" with the last ten minutes disguising 80 minutes of largely inept play.

The Black Cats enjoyed a lot of possession and went forward in numbers but they created few scoring chances.

At the back they gifted Kyle Lafferty two goals. The former Darlington loanee couldn't believe his luck early on in both halves when he was presented with the two chances he converted.

Burnley broke into the Sunderland half in the ninth minute, Dean Whitehead went missing and as Stanislav Varga came to cover he left the Northern Ireland international unmarked. Wade Elliott played him in and he tucked the ball under Darren Ward's body.

His second was the result of a clanger from Dwight Yorke with Lafferty latching on to Trinidadian's backward header and finishing well from the edge of the box.

To the players' credit and the fans' relief Sunderland refused to lay down and made it a demoralising end for the home side.

Burnley boss and former Sunderland assistant manager Steve Cotterill couldn't hide his disappointment and even Alastair Campbell would struggle to find a positive spin to put on the last ten minutes for the Clarets.