Burton Albion 5-2 Accrington Stanley Six Things: Akins the hero

“Err… cheers Lucas, you can put me down now” https://www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk/ (Credit: John Potts and Richard Holmes)

Lucas Akins became Burton Albion’s top all-time EFL goalscorer on Saturday, when his brace helped the Brewers to a deserved 5-2 win over relegation-threatened Accrington Stanley. Here’s our Six Things from the contest.

Burton’s first half pressure

Despite some decent pressing early on, Accrington were largely on the back foot in the first half, when they were forced to rely on Jonny Maxted. The goalkeeper’s palms were stung by Kyle McFadzean’s drive midway through the first half, before he then denied Jamie Allen with his feet just before the half-hour mark. Burton posed a threat down the left with adventurous left-back Colin Daniel combining well with the neat-footed Scott Fraser – Marcus Harness also looked lively in the channels, even if he struggled to find opportunities to shoot on his favoured left-foot.

Stanley’s double sucker-punch

Nigel Clough’s side had the upper-hand, so it came as surprised when the visitors took the lead on 37 minutes. Janoi Donacien, deputising at left-back, picked out an excellent diagonal ball to Billy Kee, who held off Daniel to knock down for Sean McConville, unchallenged by Jake Buxton, to prod through Bradley Collins’ legs. John Coleman’s side then doubled their lead just three-minutes later, when Daniel Barlaser picked an inch-perfect through ball to set free Jordan Clark, who was fouled by Collins before Kee converted the spot-kick. Importantly for the hosts, they halved the deficit before half-time when Fraser eluded Barlaser’s attentions to combine with Harness and tuck the ball into the far corner, but they could be aggrieved to even be behind.

Templeton of Accrington doom

Although Burton played well in the first hour, the fact they had two forwards on the pitch rather than three – with neither Lucas Akins nor Marcus Harness being an orthodox striker – meant they struggled to truly occupy defenders. The equilibrium of their attacking play was well and truly restored though midway through the second half, when wide forward David Templeton replaced the more conservative Kieran Wallace on the left. That alteration meant that when one of the front trio was doing some of the creative work between the lines, they still had two other players likely to break into the penalty area and get on the end of moves. This had a transformative impact on the dynamics of play, with McFadzean – who had shown aggression as well as excellent ball-playing qualities at centre-back all afternoon – blasting home a superb free-kick within four minutes of Templeton coming on.

History-makin’ Akins

Accrington’s half-hearted press – always likely to leave gaps but especially so in a 4-4-2 – allowed Burton to play the effervescent Jamie Allen through on goal and although the former Rochdale midfielder was denied by Janoi Donacien’s goal-line block, Harvey Rodgers subsequently left his leg out on Templeton, allowing Akins to convert from the spot. That goal saw Akins become Burton’s top all-time EFL goalscorer – ironically overtaking opponent Billy Kee – but the Brewers stalwart’s day would get even better. He was making the right channel his own and, after teeing up Templeton for a tap-in on 82 minutes, he completed his brace in the final minute of normal time from the spot, following Mark Hughes’ body-check. The only thing that would have made the 30-year-old’s day more special would have been a hat-trick – but you can’t have everything.

Bad day for Coleman’s side

This was a hugely disappointing result and second half performance from Accrington, who failed to retain any of the qualities that allowed them to start well: namely coherent pressing and a willingness to hold onto the ball under pressure. Clearly, they missed the non-stop running of Paul Smyth and while Scott Brown’s ferocious closing down made up for the Northern Irishman’s absence early on, he understandably did not have the stamina to maintain that work so high up the pitch and thus there needed to be a rotation of roles which perhaps did not lend itself to a coherent display, despite a decent shift from Sam Finley. Equally though, the Reds have some reasonable technicians and are at their best when they combine closely in the opposing half; they need to be braver on the ball to initiate that link-up play. Accrington are, however, still doing very well to compete at this level.

Could Burton push?

Doncaster Rovers’ 4-0 defeat at Luton means they are without a win in seven league games with just three goals scored in that sequence; that run has seen them temporarily fall one point behind Peterborough, with a game in hand – and Posh fans are not overly optimistic about their prospects with midtable form since Autumn. All of this means that there is potential for a late-runner to gate-crash the race for sixth – and Burton could fit the bill. Clough’s troops have won back-to-back games with eight goals scored – bagging five for the first time in a league game for nearly half-a-decade – and in the EFL Cup we have seen them record three victories over higher-league opposition. There is a real energy about this Brewers side who press with impeccable consistency and are a serious threat in transition – their season might not be over just yet.