Boxing Day nightmare in 2020 for Jake
BOXING Day has brought mixed fortunes for Burton Albion in the last few years – and not more so than last season.
In fact, the whole festive season was a nightmare which cost Jake Buxton his job as manager in 2020.
On Boxing Day, the Brewers were thrashed 5-1 away to Lincoln City, who looked a good bet for promotion at the time as, with on-loan Nottingham Forest youngster Brennan Johnson on fire in midfield, they cut the Brewers open repeatedly.
It took a bad slip in defence for Kane Hemmings to put Burton on the scoresheet at all and the game had already been decided by the time he did.
Three days later, fellow strugglers Wigan Athletic came to the
Pirelli Stadium and it had become apparent that the game was a make or break for Buxton.
It was, as they say, a great game for the neutral, or a Wigan supporter. Three times Burton took the lead, starting with John-joe O’toole heading in his only goal for the club. Three times Wigan equalised within five minutes as young striker Kyle Joseph completed an impressive hat-trick.
That it was Wigan who next took the lead had an inevitable feel about it and they did, through the more experienced Will Keane, to make it 4-3 with seven minutes left.
That was that and Buxton’s time was up but there was a little more misery to endure before Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Dino Maamria began their revival mission.
All the problems that needed to be solved were laid bare by an abject performance at home to Oxford United on January 2, the U’s strolling to a 5-1 win without having to do too much and Hemmings almost apologetically tapping in a consolation goal.
The striker had scored for a third successive game but could hardly have taken any pleasure from
it.
Fortunately better things were around the corner.
The previous two Boxing Days had both brought wins for the Brewers. It was a stirring performance at home to Tranmere Rovers in 2019, Liam Boyce scoring twice to follow strikes from Scott Fraser and Lucas Akins. The 2018 Boxing Day game at home to Wycombe Wanderers was eventful, too, with four goals packed into an eventful 18 minutes at the end of the first half.
Buxton sliced the ball into his own net after 27 minutes to put Wycombe ahead but Akins equalised six minutes later, then, within a minute, set up David Templeton to put Burton in front with a precise finish.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, Marcus Harness crossed for Akins to make it 3-1 and that was how it stayed.