BURTON went down fighting against ENER-G Midlands Premier Division leaders Khalsa.
The hosts, boasting a galaxy of former internationals and Commonwealth Games players, were rattled by a fightback by the red and greens.
Burton technical director Tony Stringer said: “We didn’t really want the final whistle.
We had the legs on them all day and we had them worried.” Khalsa had won every game this season, but with a specific game plan, Burton went to have a go.
It started very well for the visitors and the midfield battle was keenly contested, with the returning Jamie Cooper having an impact alongside Paul Cleaver.
James Buttler was marshalling the defence well and put in a man-of-thematch performance.
Khalsa did take the lead when some dazzling individual skill left the visitors exposed for a simple finish but, undeterred, Burton replied immediately, and from their first penalty corner, Mark Northcott drag-flicked home.
The rest of the half was an attritional battle and it took something special to open Burton up again — a fired-in ball being deflected cleverly over goalkeeper Martin Jarvis.
It was a bit of a sucker punch, but Burton had proved they are able to compete with the best.
It was to take ex-Great Britain player Scott Cordon — Burton’s former coach — to change the game, playing in an advanced role and making Khalsa tick.
Burton were cruelly denied a penalty corner five minutes after the re-start when Paul Scarborough put the ball on a foot in the D.
Khalsa immediately countered and scored after a good exchange of passes.
They then made it 4-1 from another flowing move orchestrated by Cordon.
Burton were then reduced to 10 men as Rich Stringer made a clumsy tackle.
Khalsa should possibly have had a man red-carded after a blatant elbow to the face of Scarborough, but the offence went unpunished.
This spurred Burton on and they finished the strongest, scoring their second goal from the unlikely source of skipper Ed Clamp.
His straight strike from a penalty corner proved too powerful as it evaded the keeper and dipped over his legs.
Stringer is optimistic that better times are around the corner for Burton as they attempt to avoid relegation in their first season in the top flight of Midlands hockey.
He said: “We have nearly completed our first half of the season in the Premier Division and the lads are getting better every week.
“We have a good squad and the second XI are really supporting us with strong performances in their Premier Division.
“We have under-18s aplenty learning a good trade and when we add in the fact that Ash Wheldon, Angus Falconer, Rob Wright and Carl Williams were all missing against Khalsa, we are confident we will get the points to stay up and make Burton a regular Premier Division team.
“Sides won’t like playing us because we compete and we are now fighting.” Burton wrap up the first half of the league programme against former National League side Harborne at Shobnall on Saturday, push-back 1pm.
BURTON 2nds entertained Harborne at Shobnall with hopes of taking all three points as the opposition were below them in the league table.
So it proved, with Burton securing a 3-1 victory.
Burton started well, making several forays into the Harborne circle without reward, although Graeme Hamblen did force the ball home on one occasion only to be denied by a third party obstruction elsewhere.
Harborne left their forwards high for long balls, but the Burton defence was very well marshalled by Dave Munn and they were limited to a couple of short corners in the first half, which they were unable to convert.
After 20 minutes, Luke Pelech robbed the Harborne right-back and took the ball towards the top of the circle.
Spotting the keeper had left his right post unguarded, he let fly with an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Danny Hibbert converted a short corner just before half-time to give Burton a 2-0 lead.
With only 11 players and no rolling substitutes, the second half was always going to be hard work, although it is much easier to run that extra five yards when you are winning.
With 10 minutes to go, Al Lawrence was accidentally felled in the Harborne circle and had to leave the field with a broken nose.
Burton converted the short corner with a neat passing move that gave Kevin Stanyon time to pick his spot from 10 yards out, but the last 10 minutes had to be seen out with only 10 men.
The defence held firm, however, restricting Harborne to speculative balls into the D which were dealt with competently.
Being without one forward meant the ball came back at them too often, however, and Harborne were able to convert one short corner to deny Burton a clean sheet.
This result means Burton sit comfortably in mid-table with four wins from eight matches in the highest league available to them in Midlands hockey.
This weekend’s match away to Olton & West Warwicks will be a much sterner test.
BURTON’S fourth string went second in the Central League East Midlands Premier Division after a comfortable win at Loughborough Town.
The visitors were able to contain any Town pressure and mount some of their own attacks, and Joe Kinsella finished off a fine passing move.
Matt Mousley added the second just before the break after a pinpoint pass from Glyn Holland.
In the second half, Town rallied to make it 2-1, but this spurred on Burton and skipper Ian Brown burst forward from defence to put through Andrew Woolly, who unselfishly squared for Holland to roll the ball into an empty net.
Mousley scored his second from a penalty stroke to complete the scoring.
Burton face fourth-placed Northampton Saints at Uttoxeter on Saturday followed by third-placed West Bridgford a week later, so the next two games will define whether they can sustain a promotion push as the first half of the season concludes.
BURTON 6ths entertained West Bridgford 9ths at Repton and ran out comfortable 7- 1 winners thanks to goals from John Healey (3), Ben Tivey (2), James Morrison and Ryan Healey.
The game was very competitive, with Burton only managing to put some distance between themselves and the opposition with a flurry of five goals in the last 15 minutes as West Bridgford tired and gave the home side’s forwards a lot more space than they had enjoyed earlier in the match.
