First of all, no Brucie Watch tonight. I didn’t see him, so I assume he must have been taking a peek at Middlesboro. So, by way of compensation, it gives me great pleasure to bring you….. For A Burton Fans View , CLICK HERE
CLOUGHIE WATCH!
I hadn’t been in close proximity to Brian since I had a chat with him at the 1982 European Cup Final. I say behind him at Eton Park this evening, in a style somewhat reminiscent of a stalker. I don’t think he remembered me from Rotterdam in ’82. Strange feeling, really – normally I bring you tales of Brucie – generally regarded as the greatest player never to have captained England. Tonight it’s Cloughie – the greatest manager never to have managed England. Anyhow, Cloughie spent all evening shouting insults at the officials. Good to see he hasn’t lost his touch!
To the game:
Blues fielded an Academy side, augmented by Vaesen, Hughes, Purse and Carter. From the kick off, Blues were in control of things but Burton (IP Freely’s tip to be the next good team to come out of the Conference) looked solid. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a teamsheet so I can’t comment on any of their players but suffice it to say that they employ a style of play relying on defending high up the pitch, mainly extensive use of an offside trap, and then using a tidy passing game up front to try and work their way through the opponents’ defence. Good to watch.
Blues had Hughes and Barrowman up front and, for the first fifteen minutes or so, the offside trap got them nearly every time. Disappointingly, Barrowman was wearing gloves! I never thought I’d live to see a Scotsman wearing gloves on a football pitch. It’s the beginning of the end, I tell you – watch out for the inevitable white boots and tights!
Blues took the lead after 13 minutes. Bryan Hughes emulated Gazza’s legendary goal against Scotland by lobbing the ball over the head of a big defender, running around him and burying a half volley from about 15yds. Marvellous.
25 minutes and it was 2-0. Burton had a corner which Blues defended well. Clearing the lines, Peter Till pressured a Burton defender back into his own half, robbed him of the ball, took it to the by-line and cut it back for Darren Carter to slam home from about 12 yds.
Almost straight from the kick-off Burton made it 2-1. A trademark tidy passing move across the penalty area was finished off by Andy Simpson with a great curling right footer from outside the area, beating Vaesen all ends up.
Apart from the offside trap, Burton’s defence was looking very shaky. Blues won a series of free headers from corners but failed to hit the target with any of ‘em. Burton’s goalie (I think it was their reserve goalie was a nervous wreck every time the ball came near him). More goals looked inevitable.
After 40 minutes, a big-time balls-up by Purse nearly led to Burton equalising. He passed the ball straight to a Burton player on the edge of the box. Vaesen rescued the situation with a great save, tipping the shot around the post.
The last kick of the first half again saw Vaesen making a great diving save, following yet another good Burton passing move which had carved the defence open.
Half time 2-1.
After a short but unproductive half-time break during which I discovered:(a). they had no pies, and (b). Vile were leading 1-0 against Chelski (the Burton fans were MOST dismayed to hear Vile were winning – I never realised they were disliked so much this far North of Brum) the second half kicked off. It quickly became clear that Bertschin and Hall had worked hard in the interval and arranged things so that Blues would gamble with the offside trap far more aggressively. The forwards were right on the shoulders of the defenders and playing wider. This caused the back line to stretch, making it harder for them to synchronise the offside trap. These tactics forced the linesman into having to make far more borderline decisions, a fair number of which he seemed to be getting wrong, which rattled the Burton defence and reduced poor old Brian Clough in front of me to a state of smouldering incandescence!
51 minutes and it’s 3-1. Carl Motteram tore down the right, outstripped the defence and crossed for Asa Hall to sidefoot home. The cavalry charge was on!
56 minutes: Purse again brings Vaesen into action with a misplaced back header which Nico has to stretch to gather, at the second attempt.
60 minutes: Barrowman hits the post
61 minutes: Purse booked after clattering some bloke. Cloughie is furious – he claims he was the last man and should have walked. Cloughie taunts Purse with a shout of “no wonder Cunningham’s got yer place in the team, lad – you’re a has-been!”
62 minutes: A fine diagonal pass from Carter springs the offside trap and sets Peter Till free down the right. He cuts the ball across to Hughes who slots home for his second, looking offside. The ball may have been cut back to him, which would have made him onside – I couldn’t tell from my post behind the raging Cloughie. 4-1.
65 minutes: 5-1. Again, Carter springs the trap, this time setting Hughes free down the right. Hughes pulls the ball back for Barrowman to calmly place the ball in the corner.
72 minutes: Some hapless Burton midfielder passes the ball out of play, behind his target. Cloughie waits until he’s within earshot and informs him ‘That was crap, rubbish. It stinks. Bloody stinks. Garbage.”
84 minutes: 6-1. Hughes completes his hat-trick with a fine swerving right foot finish following a swift passing move around the box, involving about six players.
85 minutes: 7-1. Hughes again. Purse carries the ball out of defence. Keeps calm, waits and waits, then unleashes Motteram again down the left. Tired, hassled defender left for dead and Motty picks out Hughes who this time elects to use his left foot to slam the ball in off the post.
87 minutes: Blues are running riot. Motteram yet again rips the defence apart, pulls the ball back to the edge of the penalty area where the lurking Hughes cracks a volley against the post.
90 minutes: Ref blows whistle to put a stop to the slaughter. Cloughie trudges down to the board room. Sadly, I’m unable to report on his post-match appraisal with the officials.