COVENTRY & NORTH WARWICKS 5
BURTON 1
BURTON were given a harsh lesson in the fickle nature of sport as their ENERG Midlands Premier Division struggles continued.
The red and greens travelled to fellow strugglers Coventry & North Warwickshire and turned in their most dominant performance that was laced with passion and purpose — only to crash to another damaging defeat.
Coventry penetrated Burton’s D just five times — but scored on every occasion — while the visitors’ plight was not helped when a major claim for a penalty stroke was turned down with the score at 2-1.
From the first whistle to the last, Burton were in charge, passing the ball with accuracy and pressing Coventry all over the pitch, forcing turnover after turnover.
They could and should have been three up within five minutes, but instead, Coventry countered and smashed home to take the lead.
Undeterred, Burton stuck at it but just could not find a reply.
Coventry then went two up after Matt Evans was impeded outside the Burton D after making a great tackle.
No whistle was blown and the ball was fired into the D before being deflected high into the air for a forward at the far post to smash it baseball-style past goalkeeper James Morrison.
Burton protested but to no avail as the umpires waved them away.
The mood at half-time was very upbeat and Burton knew the game was not done, and so it proved as they got it back to 2-1 within five minutes of the re-start.
Paul Scarborough converted from close range as Burton camped in the Coventry half.
Then came the game-changing decision.
A Mark Northcott drag-flick was stopped on the line by a Coventry leg.
The umpires convened and awarded a long corner. Burton were shell shocked and tempers flared.
Having to chase the game, they left themselves exposed and Coventry played on this with long balls and high forwards.
A 3-1 scoreline quickly became 5-1 as Burton threw caution to the wind in an attempt to get something from a game they had dominated.
The fifth came after the Coventry forward had dribbled it with his feet past Phil Holmes, leaving even the Coventry supporters shocked that the goal stood.
The result has left Burton bottom of the pile but a mini-league of five teams is now developing.
Hard work, togetherness and a change in luck will see the red and greens climb the table.
This starts with Northampton on Saturday at Shobnall. Push-back is 1pm and all support is welcome.
BURTON 2nds entertained Barford Tigers at Shobnall on Saturday — the first time they had met for over 20 years.
The game was very open, with shooting opportunities coming thick and fast at both ends.
The first half, however, was notable for the inaccuracy of both sets of forwards, with neither side able to hit the target and force a save from the keeper from the top of the D.
Eventually, Tigers were able to engineer an opportunity from close range and their centre forward made no mistake.
Half-time enabled Burton to regroup and words from the captain about getting results when in the D — being shots on target, goals or short corners — came good in a 15-minute period at the start of the second half.
A flurry of short corners saw Kevin Stanyon convert two flicks and Al Lawrence score from close range following a neat spin to give Burton a 3-1 lead.
Tigers then renewed the pressure as Burton stepped back slightly, but the visitors were unable to convert.
Burton pressed again looking for a fourth, but a turnover on Tigers’ 25-yard line gave a defender the chance to play a 60-yard ball to the centre forward at the top of the circle.
Goalkeeper Russ Davenport made the first save, but the rebound fell kindly for the forward, who finished well to reduce the deficit.
The hosts got nervous as Tigers looked for the equaliser, but with five minutes to go, a mistake on their left allowed Burton to counter-attack down the right.
Jason Smith crossed for Jacob Kemp to shoot at the keeper, but the rebound fell comfortably for Stanyon to complete his hat-trick.
The game then fizzled out as Tigers realised they could not get back two goals and Burton held on to record their second win of the season, 4-2, and move off the bottom of the second team league table.
