Albion fail to weather storm as Cod Army claim win
HALF an hour into Burton Albion’s dreary and drenched League One game at Fleetwood Town on Saturday, home goalkeeper Alex Cairns sent a clearance upfield from inside his own area.
He made good contact and the ball looked destined to fly past the halfway line.
That was until the fierce wind caught it and the ball sailed back towards Cairns, who caught it.
That snapshot was enough to prove that this was not a normal game of football.
It was the sort of match after which a victory feels even more precious and hard-earned but a defeat feels that bit more galling.
In the aftermath, winning manager Joey Barton said: “Credit to both sets of players, they kept going right to the end and I am pleased we got the three points because these are the games you look back on.
“It does not have to be pretty, good football or fancy goals, it is about grinding out a result and the lads were first-class.”
Nigel Clough, meanwhile, was left to bemoan the conditions and some untimely injuries to several key players ahead of tomorrow’s Carabao Cup quarter-final at Middlesbrough.
Liam Boyce and Scott Fraser had to come off with thigh and groin problems respectively and David Templeton injured the same shoulder that caused him issues earlier in the campaign, while Kyle McFadzean and Damien McCrory were not involved because of injury.
Some of the Burton players who did make it through the contest were helped to get their boots and socks off by other team-mates, so cold were they by full time.
The cold will have bitten that bit harder with the result and the game was ultimately decided by the way Fleetwood managed better when the conditions were in their favour.
Albion had the strong wind on their backs for the first half but they could not seize the early initiative, as they had done the previous weekend in victory over Shrewsbury Town.
The one change from that match was a straight swap at the back, Ben Turner replacing the injured McFadzean.
There was an initial switch in shape, with Will Miller partnering Boyce up top and Fraser moving to the left flank in a 4-4-2.
That approach was altered midway through the half, though, when it became clear that playing into that front two was not being aided by the conditions.
Clough urged his players to keep it shorter and tidier but, even then, they struggled to land a telling blow on their hosts.
Simple passes went too regularly astray, with players misjudging the wind, either over-hitting them or being too conservative.
In one such moment, Lucas Akins’ inside pass was picked off by Paddy Madden, Ashley Hunter set off on a counter-attacking run and found Ched Evans, whose shot was deflected and just made it over Bradley Collins’ crossbar.
Collins was forced into a tidy save to deny Madden soon after, when Conor McAleny found his way past Reece Hutchinson to cut the ball back.
Stephen Quinn dropped deeper and deeper in search of the ball and while Albion’s attempts to stick to their passing play were admirable, it was barely possible in the wind and rain and they did not do enough to adapt and make the conditions work in their favour.
Fraser unleashed a couple of long range shots that flew off target.
A few more of those, with the wind adding speed to the efforts, might have tested Cairns.
As it was, the Fleetwood keeper was most worried before the break by an overhit back pass from Hunter.
The Cod Army took little time to get their own favour from the breeze in the second half.
Collins could only palm out a wind-assisted cross from the right and in the ensuing scramble inside Burton’s box, Jake Buxton – on at half-time for Boyce – was adjudged to have brought down Evans.
Buxton appeared to slip in the act of making the challenge and that did not help his cause as he caught the Fleetwood striker after appearing to get a touch on the ball.
Up stepped Evans to convert the spot-kick into the bottom right corner of Collins’ net.
The first goal was always likely to be crucial but Burton showed more willingness to get an equaliser than they had before falling behind.
The introduction of Marcus Harness on the right wing to replace Jake Hesketh, struggling in the cold, was noticeable, with the academy graduate beating men at will.
He set Miller up to go close, while another of his moves ended with Jamie Allen forcing a brilliant, diving save from Cairns from 18 yards.
It was an unexpected fact of the game that Albion looked more threatening when playing into the wind but Fleetwood came close again when an overhit cross from Hunter turned goal-bound, only for Collins to tip it over the bar.
Back came Albion and Harness, the winger dancing past three would-be tacklers before sending a
tame shot at Cairns.
With a lead to protect and the wind in their favour, the hosts were happy to cede territory and drop deeper, making it harder for Akins and Miller, partnered together up top in the second half, to find space in which to work.
The home fans momentarily thought the points were sealed late on when Dean Marney turned home Madden’s low shot, only for the flag to be raised for offside.
But even the late addition of Templeton to the fray could not provide a dangerous enough attacking platform for Albion.
And the ex-Rangers winger ended the game in discomfort after injuring his shoulder in an aerial collision with Lewie Coyle.
Templeton did pick out an overlapping run from Hutchinson in stoppage time but his low cross was directed straight at Cairns to sum up a deflating afternoon for Burton.
It was a 10th defeat of the League campaign for the Brewers.
For all the pre-match talk about Christmas being a good time for them to start finding that long-missing consistency, this setback means the same questions will be asked again before Saturday’s trip to Luton Town.
Before then, there is the small matter of the Carabao Cup quarterfinal. That, at least, has been a competition in which the Brewers have not struggled to maintain form.