It’s an alarming start as Brewers hit by three-goal blast in half-hour
NO WAY BACK FOR BURTON IN A FIRST-DAY NIGHTMARE
BURTON Albion’s opening game of the new League One season was lost in an alarming first half-hour in which they were hit by a threegoal salvo by Wycombe Wanderers, the game finishing 3-0.
The Brewers looked disjointed and were in danger of being overrun during this period and while they improved in the second half, that was with the home side understandably happy to sit on the advantage they had.
Most alarming of all was that the game looked all too similar to a good few of those last season, Burton conceding an early goal and struggling to play fluent football going forward, where they rarely troubled Wycombe’s debutant goalkeeper Tyla Dickinson.
There was an attacking look to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s first selection of the season, on paper, with both new on-loan midfielders, Tyler Onyango and Quevin Castro included, along with new signing Davis Keillor-Dunn, while another new arrival, Victor Adeboyejo, started up front, making it four debuts in all for the Brewers.
There was no place for Calum Butcher in the squad as he is still suspended from last season and, as expected, Sam Hughes had not shaken off an injury in time to be involved, although fellow centreback Conor Shaughnessy had.
Charlie Lakin, William Kokolo and Frazer Blake-Tracy were also uninvolved.
It seemed odd that, having not played in central defence in preseason, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson lined up there, while Deji Oshilaja, who was deployed in midfield.
But Oshilaja was deep in his own territory when, 40 seconds into the game, he appeared lucky not to concede a penalty as he impeded Anis Mehmeti in the box near the bye-line on the Brewers’ right. Referee Gavin Ward was not interested.
The Brewers won the first corner on the left in the fourth minute, which Keillor-Dunn took, but it was headed clear comfortably.
Burton conceded a bizarre goal after seven minutes when the ball was rolled forward into a space in the box on the right by Josh Scowen and as defenders hesitated, David Wheeler nipped in and poked a shot under Ben Garratt as the keeper came off his line.
It all happened as if in slow motion and the lack of reaction from the Burton defenders was poor.
The Brewers were struggling to settle and Sam Vokes escaped down the left for a shot which Garratt parried after 11 minutes, the striker knocking the rebound wide.
After a Burton free kick in the 13th minute, Keillor-Dunn had a sight of goal from 25 yards and got his shot on target but it was comfortable for goalkeeper Dickinson.
The Brewers fell two behind in the 16th minute when Mehmeti dispossessed Joe Powell and pressed forward down the left with only Powell trying to get back to him. He was shaken off and the Wycombe winger buried a shot across Garratt.
To say it was the worst possible start to the season was an understatement.
Albion were second to everything and, at this stage, again relying too much on banging long balls forward, forced into it by a lack of options.
Long throw ins had not been seen in pre-season but Tom Hamer went across to the right to take one after 25 minutes and it came to nothing.
Mehmeti shot straight at Garratt from just inside the box as Wycombe came again a minute later.
A third goal followed in the 30th minute and this time the defence could not really be faulted. There seemed no danger when Hamer headed a cross away but Scowen met it with a stunning volley from 25 yards which flew past Garratt, the sort that can just as easily sail out of the ground.
Now Borthwick-Jackson moved to midfield, with John Brayford moving into the middle and Oshilaja going to right-back.
Another Hamer long throw was not initially cleared by Wycombe but when they did they counter-attacked quickly and Garratt had to save a fierce shot from Scowen.
Burton switched again, Hamer going to the right and Oshilaja to the left. Frankly, it was baffling.
There had been one or two nice touches from Onyango on his debut.
Keillor-Dunn was trying to get involved but not being picked out when he made runs, while Adeboyejo showed a willingness to work and chase without benefiting from any service.
It all added up to very little going forward in the half and it was hard to see how the Brewers could get anything out of the game at the break.
Perhaps surprisingly, Hasselbaink made no changes at half-time and there was a bit of an improvement.
Burton had a promising moment in the 47th minute when Onyango charged forward into space and found Castro, who cut in from the right and shot over. They had started the half trying to pass the ball more through the thirds, while Wycombe,
understandably, were in no hurry to go about their work.
Gareth Ainsworth’s teams can run a game down more tediously than most at the best of times but they could not be faulted for this – they had effectively sorted the points in the first half-hour.
Another neat move by Burton led to a corner on the left after 55 minutes. It came to nothing and Brayford, after challenging for it, needed treatment and a change of shirt. Before the resumption, Albion made their first change, Jonny Smith replacing Castro.
Smith’s first contribution, released down the right when Burton took a quick free kick for offside, was a cross straight out of play but his second cross was better, having to be headed out for a corner by Wheeler, which was again cleared easily.
Little was happening in the game with 20 minutes left and Terry Taylor replaced Powell, while Gassan Ahadme replaced Onyango after 73 minutes. Onyango had probably been the pick of the Burton players.
Louis Moult replaced Adeboyego with five minutes left and a string of Wycombe changes dragged the game out. There are going to be some late finishes this season with a regular five substitutions allowed.
Ahadme turned a Smith cross from the right wide at the near post in the 89th minute but there was to be no consolation goal for the Brewers on a hugely disappointing day.