BREWERS’ BIRTHDAY TREAT FOR GARNER
BURTON Albion first-team coach Andy Garner admitted it was the perfect birthday present as the Brewers continued their impressive 2019 away record with victory over Coventry.
Goals in either half from Lucas Akins and Jamie Allen were enough to stave off the 10-man Sky Blues and give Garner something to smile about on his 53rd birthday.
“Fantastic win,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about it all day. Just had a little prayer to hopefully get the three points. We’d probably have settled for a point, but to get three is fantastic.
“I think in the end, I know they had a man sent off, but I think that we deserved it.
“The only disappointment was the first 15 minutes. We weren’t particularly good. We didn’t do the right things and then they had a bit of pressure, but we soaked it up and got back into it.
“Then actually we had a good 15 to 20-minute spell in the middle of the first half and we actually got it down and started playing. I thought then that we were good value.”
Akins notched in his sixth league goal of the season to give Burton the advantage after 19 minutes, and Garner insisted it’s the easier goals that make a big difference.
“I’ve said before that the best goals in the world are tap-ins. I’ll take them all day,” he added.
Burton took the lead in the 19th minute when Marcus Harness beat the offside trap and pulled the ball back to Akins, who tapped in from six yards.
Coventry were rewarded for their patient build-up play when the ball fell to Tom Bayliss and the midfielder slotted the ball into the bottom corner after 51 minutes. The Sky Blues were inches away from taking the lead when Luke Thomas hit a post, before the game took another twist when Coventry’s Bright Enobakhare was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Allen won it for the Brewers on the hour-mark as he capitalised on a rushed Lee Burge clearance before looping a sumptuous effort over the goalkeeper’s head.
Coventry manager Mark Robins provided an honest reflection as he saw his side’s five-game unbeaten streak grind to a halt.
“We started off really brightly in the opening exchanges, however we were a bit negative and did spend too much time on the ball,” he said.
“As soon as they started to get a foothold in the game we conceded a poor goal. We worked our way back into the game with a great goal.
“We could’ve even gone two up through Luke, but unfortunately for us it hit the inside of a post. Then, we gave away a horrendous goal, with Burge not dealing with the situation.”