We made a perfect start to the game, in the second minute Dan Gardner sent in a corner which was missed by Burton keeper Jon McLaughlin and headed home by Sam Hird. After that, as expected, we were but under pressure by the visitors. Lucas Akins had a chance to put the Brewers level in the eleventh minute, when he was sent through on goal, but he couldn't find the back of the net and just missed to the right of the goal. Gboly Ariyibi nearly put us 2-0 up after some good work on the left from Dan Gardner, but the young winger couldn't finish the cross off, heading the ball just over. Burton had few chances until the end of the first half, when a corner put us under a massive amount of pressure, but the boys put their bodies on the line, throwing themselves at several shots from the edge of the box, to keep us ahead. At the start of the second half, when most fans were still drinking their beer or eating their pies, Burton striker Stuart Beavon put them level when he pounced on a rebound and finished to the bottom left corner. Yet again, we were caught sleeping early after kick off. The rest of the second half was fast paced, aggressive and very tense for supporters of both sides. I don't usually like to blame the ref, as i know how hard a job it must be, but this guy definitely merited the 'The referee's a wank*r!' sung by our fans at the end of the game. He had an absolute shocker. We had a huge penalty shout when Jay O'Shea was blatantly tripped up in the penalty area, one of their players sat down and literally picked the ball up on the edge of the box, but only got a yellow, and Burton should of finished on three or four more yellows than they did. However, it was still a brilliant second half. Our defence was still being opened up too easily, and they nearly took the lead in the 50th minute, when Akins hit the underside of the bar, and Armand Gnanduillet was unlucky to not score, as he rose above the defence and headed down into the corner, only for Burton keeper McLaughlin to produce a brilliant save and push the ball onto the post. Then, in the 94th minute, O'Shea had the ball on the edge of the box and was clearly taken down, but my favourite ref didn't see it and Burton went through to score up the other end. Brilliant.
As always, let's look at the positives. We only lost by one goal to the league leaders, and kept with them for the majority of the game, and we also managed to score a goal and make good chances against one of the best defences in the league. However, the negatives are much more noticeable. We have been leading in our last three home games, and only managed to get one point all together. We have conceded in stoppage time three home games in a row. Other teams are opening up our defence at will pretty much every game. We have now slipped down to 15th in the league. Also, the ref can't be held responsible for the loss, we should not of been beaten so easily on the break, and we shouldn't of had so many men forward when we were drawing. Oh well, onwards and upwards. Yet another entertaining match at the Proact!
Man of the match: Sam Hird
The Doncaster born centre-back has become probably our best defender over these past two seasons. He possesses speed and mobility that Evatt doesn't, and he has the experience and physicality that Raglan lacks. Yesterday he put us ahead, and was one of the bright points in a rather shaky defencive performance. As always, he offered great service to the midfield and was solid in the air. We really missed him when we played Colchester, and it's great to see him back. Other noticeable performers were Sam Morsy and Dan Gardner. Gnanduillet also looked on form when he came on and was unlucky not to score, and Rai Simons is definitely showing lots of promise.
Player Ratings:
Tommy Lee-6
Dan Jones-6
Ian Evatt-6
Sam Hird-8
Drew Talbot-5
Sam Morsy-7
Liam O'Niel-7
Jay O'Shea-5
Gboly Ariyibi-6
Dan Gardner-7
Ebanks-Blake-5
Subsitutes:
Rai Simons-6
Armand Gnanduillet-7
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