Dino happy Brewers got it right from the start
DINO Maamria was pleased that there was no repeat of earlier cup struggles as Burton Albion saw off Chippenham Town 6-1 in their FA Cup second round tie on Sunday.
The Brewers boss felt his side had been sufficiently in control to have scored their tally in the first half alone and it was, he agreed, the sort of dominance expected of a League One team against a non-league side – although such dominance is often missing in cup ties.
It had certainly been missing as Albion laboured to beat Needham Market – from a level below Chippenham – in the first round and was wholly missing as they struggled to get past League Two Tranmere Rovers in the Papa John’s Trophy last week.
This time, there were no such issues, with a string of chances coming before Burton broke through in the 26th minute.
Chippenham did not threaten at all in the first half, had a good spell and scored at the start of the second half but could not last the pace when the Brewers sent on fresh legs later in the game.
“Our start to the game was important,” said Maamria.
“Our preparation all week has been excellent. We know they beat Lincoln in the round before and I went to watch them and we did our homework on every player.
“We shared that with the team and I thought our players, especially our experienced players did very well.
“Deji Oshilaja was outstanding, he was the driving force, not just because of his goals but his attitude in the dressing room, in training all week.
“When you have those kind of players in your camp, you know you are in a good place.
“We learned from Needham Market and we knew we had to surpass Chippenham’s energy and have a good start.
“We knew they would defend deep and play with a back five and we knew how we could cause them problems.
“I’d have liked to be six up in the first half because I thought our first half was excellent.
“But they are a good team and showed that in glimpses in the second half and caused us one or two problems, so credit should go to them as well.”
Jonny Smith opened the scoring, Bobby Kamwa netted his second for the club, while Sam Winnall supplied two good finishes when he came off the bench and Oshilaja netted two fine goals to take his tally to a career-high six for the season.
But there were further bonuses as captain John Brayford returned after a month out and came through 90 minutes unscathed, while on-loan Ipswich Town defender Corrie Ndaba made an assured return from injury, replacing Adrian Mariappa after 66 minutes. Burton were without
Sam Hughes, who picked up a thigh injury against Tranmere.
“Corrie came on and gave us some composure,” said Maamria.
“He trained this week and I was close to starting him after we lost Sam Hughes.
“It was good to get him and John Brayford back in the team.”
Oshilaja, the undoubted man of the match after a wholehearted allround display, says there is a lot of positivity in the Burton camp.
“To score six goals and to be through in two cups now is very positive all round,” he said.
“I thought we played some great football and, to be fair, I think we’ve played some good stuff throughout the season, but we haven’t had that cutting edge at times. But we took our chances well and we could have scored a few more.”
Oshilaja scored his first goal at the end of the first half after a solo run on the right, finishing from a tight angle.
“I wanted to square it to Victor (Adeboyejo) as, obviously, I want to help him get his goals,” said Oshilaja.
“But the opportunity came my way as the keeper sat down so I thought ‘I might as well just score myself’ and I tapped it in!”
His other goal, in the last minute, was a sumptuously-struck 20-yard effort which gave keeper Wayne Henry no chance.
“My finishing is certainly getting better in training and I’m very pleased because I’ve been working on that a lot,” he added.
“This was a good opportunity for me to show it off and I’m very pleased with both my goals.”