BREAK RICOH STRONGHOLD
Beavon shines for the visitors
NIGEL Clough highlighted this win as a sign of how far Burton Albion have progressed – and how far they could go.
The Brewers sent Coventry to their first home league defeat of the season, and believes it could send a strong message to rest of the teams in League One.
Clough saw his side score twice after the break and end the game thoroughly in control.
He said:“Coventry were probably in the Premier League when I first started at Burton so it is good to come here and win. It puts a marker down to the rest of the teams.
“It was important to get the three points. We have Walsall snapping at our heels and they are all going to be chasing us hard.We have to just look to ourselves and keep winning.
“It was a very good win for us. We weren’t particularly good in the first half but we are about what we showed in the second.
“I thought we were nervous early on and we have had this problem before when we haven’t played for a while and it takes us time to get going.
“But it was much better in the second half. We scored two, hit the bar and restricted them to very few chances.We were well organised, we got our foot in well and stopped crosses at important times.We were very disciplined in all areas.”
Clough was spot on with his assessment. He could have been delivering a come-back team talk at half time as Coventry had had the best of the opening period.
James Maddison, again watched by a host of topflight scouts, picked out a superb pass in the 20th minute to put Adam Armstrong through but when the little striker crossed, Jacob Murphy could not connect.
Maddison then saw a curling free kick kept out by Jon McLaughlin in the 24th minute and the keeper came out on top again five minutes later when Maddison pulled the trigger. At the other end, Reice Charles-Cook had little to do in the home goal but when he was called into action in the 34th minute he did well to stop Tom Naylor’s 22-yard effort clear.
The opening goal had as much to do with Coventry’s failings as it did his Burton’s strengths.
There was little danger when fullback Aaron Phillips tried to chest the ball back to Charles-Cook in the 49th minute.
But the youngster got precious little purchase on the ball and simply presented it to Calum Butcher who did not need a second invitation.
Stuart Beavon, who had worked very hard on his own up front, then struck the bar with an angled shot, but even at that stage the home side looked beaten.
Beavon made sure of that in the 72nd minute. Maddison lost the ball as Coventry over-played deep inside their own half and then debutant Peter Ramage failed to cope with the high ball and Beavon made the most of the opportunity.
Coventry boss Mowbray was equally accurate with his assessment, but knows his side must bounce back.
He said:“I said at half time that the game may well be decided by a mistake and we must make sure it was theirs. We knew full well how hard they would be to break down.
“Ultimately a mistake cost us. We had talked about concentration and if it had to be 0-0 then so be it.
“Our mistake gave them a lift and we knew from that point it would be hard as we had talked about how often when they score first they go on to win a game.
“We have to put it behind us quickly and get back to winning ways.
“They are top of the league because they are very hard to beat. They make the game stuffy yet they look a threat on the break but we knew that and we have to accept what happened.
“This is the first time we have lost at home and only the second defeat in 18 matches, so we have to stay positive.”