Whalley goal for Town but its The Brewers who progress to the second round
Town: Joel Coleman, Ryan Haynes, Omar Beckles, Shaun Whalley, Greg Docherty, James Bolton, Alex Gilliead, Lenell John-Lewis (Fejiri Okenabirhie, 69) Luke Waterfall, Josh Laurent (Lee Angol, 81) Ollie Norburn (Charlie Colkett, 31).
Subs: Steve Arnold, Kieran Kennedy, Mat Sadler, Lee Angol, Fejiri Okenabirhie, Charlie Colkett, Anthony Grant.
Burton: Stephen Bywater, John Brayford, Jake Buxton, Kyle McFadzean, Ben Turner, Scott Fraser (Reece Hutchinson, 77), Joe Sbarra (Elliot Hodge, 90), Lucas Akins, David Templeton Liam Boyce, 66) Ben Fox, Marvin Sordell.
Subs: Liam Boyce, Elliot Hodge, Marcus Harness, Reece Hutchinson, Harry Campbell.
Referee: Graham Salisbury
Assistants: Barry Croff and Graham
Fourth official: Christopher Ward
Attendance: 2708 (127)
It wasn’t to be for Askey’s men in the first round of the Carabao Cup, losing out 2-1 to Nigel Clough’s Burton Albion.
Despite Town taking the lead through Shaun Whalley in the first half, the Brewers fought back in the second half and got the winning goal through Lucas Akins.
Team News:
John Askey made one change from Town’s team on the weekend. Lenell John-Lewis is introduced into Town’s starting 11 for this evenings Carabao Cup tie and will lead the line against the Brewers.
First half:
Town started the game in dominant fashion, keeping possession and looking dangerous going forward. Similar to the last fixture, Town’s wing play was a constant threat to the Brewers back four. A few half-chances were coming Town’s way, but nothing significant to trouble Stephen Bywater.
Town were also doing well to neutralise any attacking threat from Nigel Clough’s men. Tidy tackling from Ryan Haynes and James Bolton ensured the door was kept shut for the Brewers attacking contingent.
Shortly before the half hour mark, Town’s dominance paid dividends. A neat through ball from Bolton found Shaun Whalley in the box; through on goal the winger made no mistakes and fired home the ball high above Bywater, putting the Shrews in the lead.
Alex Gilliead continued to be a problem for Burton’s John Brayford. The winger was often finding pockets of space on the edge of the box but couldn’t calve an opportunity out for himself.
Against the run of play, Town’s lead was snatched away. A minute before the end of the half, David Templeton found himself with half a yard of space in the Shrews box. The winger did well to beat Bolton and slotted home into the bottom corner of Joel Coleman’s net.
Town went into the break level on the score line, after a late equaliser from the Brewers. Askey’s men would have been disappointed to not be entering the break in the lead, after a good first-half performance.
Second half:
Town started the second half looking to attack the Burton back line at any chance. Gilliead was looking a constant threat along the edge of the box and the winger had his first chance of the half just three minutes in. A hard long-range effort just whispered over the bar, to the relief of Bywater.
Bolton was given a yellow card in the 62nd minute, for a late challenge on Templeton.
Just a minute later, Burton were awarded a penalty by referee Graham Salisbury. The referee deemed that Luke Waterfall obstructed Scott Fraser just inside the box; Lucas Akins stepped up and slotted the ball into the left corner, giving the visitors the lead.
Burton were the team in the ascendancy as the half went on. The Brewers came close to adding another goal to their lead in the 77th minute. Liam Boyce latched onto a cross and headed the ball hard, but the Brewers sub put the ball just past the post.
As the game drew to a close, so did Town’s chances. Burton were doing a good job of sealing out Town’s forwards and Burton looked the likely team to be progressing to the next round.
The game ended 2-1 on the score sheet and John Askey’s men would have been disappointed to not be progressing to the next round of the Carabao cup.