Burton Albion 2 Stevenage Boro 1 STEVE WATKINS reports The away day woes continued for Stevenage Boro on Friday night when they slipped to defeat having taken an impressive lead against 10-man Burton Albion. The visitors took the game to their opponents f
Burton Albion 2 Stevenage Boro 1
STEVE WATKINS reports
The away day woes continued for Stevenage Boro on Friday night when they slipped to defeat having taken an impressive lead against 10-man Burton Albion.
The visitors took the game to their opponents from the off in a first half that typified everything good about Boro this season.
They created chance after chance, the first after just two minutes when Steve Morison raced through on goal unchallenged, but could only slip the ball wide of goal with just the keeper to beat.
Stevenage were dominating against a lively side, and took the lead on 16 minutes when Jon Nurse controlled a George Boyd ball into the box with his chest before drilling the ball clinically past Kevin Poole.
Burton had their moments too though, the best coming when Keith Gilroy ballooned a shot over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
But life was to be made difficult for them moments later when Aaron Webster was ordered from the pitch for hauling down Nurse when he would surely have doubled the Boro lead.
The remainder of the half was all Stevenage as Ronnie Henry toepoked the ball over from a corner, Nurse hit a post, and the home keeper saved brilliantly from both Boyd and Morison.
The second half was a different story as Burton's 10 men rallied.
They levelled on 55 minutes when the Boro defence switched off, allowing Gilroy to atone for his earlier miss and net from close range.
Boro looked a different team from the first period and this allowed Burton into the game, something they needed little invitation to do.
Another save denied Boyd before the game reached its closing moments.
It was almost inevitable that Burton were to nick a goal, and that they did as the defence looked all at sea again when Santos Gaia skied a low cross.
Danny Potter could only punch into the path of Paul Carden whose skewed shot flew across the goal and into the net, out of the reach of the unsighted goalkeeper.
There was time for a last Boro attack, and Morison's header from a corner looked all but in. A last-ditch goalline clearance from Ryan Austin denied him though, leaving Boro to count the cost of a fifth away defeat of the season, with only the one win.
MATCH FACTS
Brewers v BORO
5......................Goal attempts......................9
3......................Shots on target ......................5
2......................Shots off target......................3
0......................Hit woodwork......................1
3......................Offsides......................6
12......................Free-kicks......................9
2......................Corners......................8
TEAM: Potter 5, Fuller 5, Henry 6, Gaia 6, Nutter 5, Nurse 7, Beard 6, Miller 6, Binns 6, Boyd 8*, Morison 6.
SubS not used: Deen, Oliver, Dobson, Sealey, Julian.
BOOKED: None.
ATT: 1,907.
REF: M Brown.
Subs must play at least 20 minutes to earn a player rating.
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