‘Outstanding’ response from young Albion
BURTON Albion Academy coach Sam Rose hailed an “outstanding” performance after the young Brewers came from behind to beat Huddersfield Town 2-1 at St George’s Park.
Prolific striker Callum Niven netted twice as Albion bounced back from losing their previous game 4-0 to Lincoln City in the EFL Youth Alliance.
The win over Huddersfield was more convincing than the scoreline suggests.
“After the disappointment of last week, I thought we were outstanding,” said Rose.
“The most pleasing thing for me was the effort the boys showed throughout to win the ball back when we lost it and we were always looking to play on the front foot.
“Eleven players working together as a unit is always the aim – we don’t always get it but that’s what we look for from the lads each week.
“When it happens, you’ve got every chance of winning games, as we saw here.
“It was frustrating to concede the first goal but we responded well and were really pleased to equalise and I thought we then dominated the second half.
“We only won it (the second half) 1-0 and probably should have scored a couple more goals to make the scoreline a little bit more comfortable but, on the whole, we were really happy with it.”
Rose was also impressed by how Burton played with the ball as well as without it and thought that a formation change proved key.
“We’re always encouraging the boys to be purposeful with the ball and to play through the pitch and I felt we did that well,” said Rose.
“We don’t always get that sort of performance for whatever reason but I thought playing with a back three suited us and set the game up nicely.
“They (Huddersfield) didn’t really get close to us when we were playing out from the back, so that allowed us to settle down on the ball and it was therefore more difficult for them to regain possession.”
Huddersfield took the lead when their captain, Michael Stone, capitalised on a loose touch to send Evander Grubb in behind the defence to score.
But Niven equalised before halftime with a 20-yard free kick after 41 minutes.
Niven gave his side the lead after the break when a cross from Tristan
Bennett was deflected into his path and he blasted the ball home from close range.
They came closest to a third when Luke Redfern’s header was parried and Drew Robinson hit the underside of the bar with a follow-up shot.
The Young Brewers’ last game of the year is on Saturday, December 18, away to Harrogate Town.
“It’ll be interesting because it’s a fairly long trip so we need to make sure that the lads do it properly,” said Rose.
“As coaches, we always take something away from trips like the one to Harrogate because they give us an idea of how the players might travel if they were to go and play in the senior team.
“At senior level they need to be able to prepare right and travel right no matter how far away it is.
“Hopefully, we can finish the year on a high.”