BURTON ALBION 6

ALDERSHOT TOWN 1

ALDERSHOT Town's bizarre defeat at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday provided plenty of material for lovers of statistics.

It was the first time the Shots had conceded six goals in a league match as Aldershot Town and the first time Burton Albion had scored six as a Football League club, while Greg Pearson hit a hat-trick in 14 minutes. And it all happened in Aldershot's 1000th competitive fixture.

In their previous seven league and cup games, Aldershot had conceded just five goals and claimed three of the clean sheets that manager Kevin Dillon prizes so highly.

So what went wrong here? Aldershot were the better side early on and there was no sign of a one-sided scoreline for 30 minutes. But a penalty opened the floodgates to the tune of four goals in the last 14 minutes of the half, and there was no coming back from that.

Although substitute John Grant did pull one back, Aldershot finished the game with 10 men after a straight red for skipper Anthony Charles, while two further goals took the Brewers' tally to six.

Dillon was determined to view it as a one-off result. "We scored a good goal and we hit the post, apart from that not a lot happened.

"We're disappointed in the result and performance but I thought we did well in the second half. We ended up losing 2-1 second half and there were lot of positives. Our centre-forward (Marlon) Jackson was outstanding and John Grant looked lively when he came on. But there were basic errors for the goals and the penalty looked harsh."

The manager was less than impressed with referee Andy Haines. "I've been 33 years in football and that's the most inconsistent performance I've seen."

It would be easy to blame Aldershot's demise on a hangover after their narrow FA Cup defeat to Tranmere in midweek, but the visitors began strongly, even in the absence of injured striker Marvin Morgan.

It might have been a different story if Marlon Jackson, given the lone striker's role, had taken a good chance on 15 minutes. Oliver Bozanic, making his first start, set up Jackson beautifully, but his 16-yard shot was too close to Artur Krysiak who made the block and the loose ball was scrambled away by skipper Darren Stride.

Albion, who had already appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty for handball against Ben Herd, had better luck on 31 minutes when referee Andy Haines immediately pointed to the spot after Tony James' shot struck Chris Blackburn.

Pearson converted confidently for his sixth goal of the season. Fourteen minutes later, his tally stood at eight as he and fellow striker Steve Kabba ran riot in the closing stages of the half.

On 39 minutes, a fine passing move down the left resulted in on-loan player Kabba slipping the ball through to Pearson who finished clinically.

Four minutes later, the normally sure-footed Charles slipped, allowing Pearson to race clear again. Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz bravely denied him a third goal, but the ball rebounded off Kabba into the net. Burton were playing well – they were also having all the luck going.

Pearson duly completed his hat-trick as the half went into injury time. Tony James headed a corner goalwards and the ball was flicked in by the poacher supreme.

It had been a disastrous spell for the Shots, but, to their credit, they gave the travelling fans something to cheer about in the second half.

Within seconds of the restart Scott Donnelly was through in a one-on-one with Krysiak, but his attempted chip was too high. John Halls and Louie Soares tried their luck from distance and then Jackson headed wide at the far post as Ben Harding played in a good cross.

John Grant came on to partner Jackson and it took the former leading marksman eight minutes to pull one back. Herd swung in a searching cross and it was the Grant of old who directed his header beyond Krysiak into the far corner.

Within two minutes Blackburn struck the post with a powerful effort and another Grant effort forced a fine save from Krysiak.

But the game turned into a rout as Burton added further goals on 72 and 84 minutes.

Pearson played in Keith Gilroy down the right and the resulting short cross left Kabba with a tap-in.

Charles' dismissal for a last-man challenge on Jacques Maghoma merely rubbed salt into Aldershot's wounds.

Dillon sent on Martin Hinshelwood to shore up the defence, but Burton made it six when Kabba laid on a goal on a plate for substitute Shaun Harrod.

An afternoon for Aldershot, and especially Anthony Charles, to forget in a hurry.

Burton Albion: Krysiak, Boertien, Webster, Penn, James, McGrath, Stride, Pearson (Harrad 78), Kabba, R Jackson, Gilroy (Maghoma 75). Subs (not used): Simpson, Walker, Phillips. Booked: McGrath, Gilroy.

Aldershot: Jaimez-Ruiz, Herd, Straker, Donnelly (Hinshelwood 79), Blackburn, Charles, Soares, Halls, M Jackson, Harding, Bozanic (Grant 59). Subs (not used): Chalmers, Hylton, Winfield. Booked: Blackburn. Sent off: Charles.

Referee: Andy Haines.

Attendance: 2,457.