going back to your rush of fuel... that sounds to me like the cold start injector pipe, you will get fuel there as you turn the ignition on, as it pressurises the system.. this would indicate to me that the relay and pump are working..
you need to start with the basics, the car did run, albeit badly, so there must have been some fuel and some sparks... you just need to find out which you have lost!
trust me, this will be something very simple, I deal with these kind of faults every day!