Away Days: Burton Albion

8 December 2023

Stevenage travel to Staffordshire for a Sky Bet League One clash with Dino Maamria’s Burton Albion…

Boro have enjoyed a superb start to life in the third tier, having won ten of their first twenty league games, which sees them occupy fourth place in League One. In the side’s latest league game, they welcomed fellow promotion chasers, Peterborough United, to The Lamex Stadium before being held to a 2-2 draw.

Later in the week, attention briefly turned to the FA Cup as a 1-1 draw with Port Vale resulted in a replay away from home this coming Tuesday.

The Opposition

Burton Albion have had a rather unsatisfactory campaign so far, having won just five of their first 19 league games. The side sit 17^th in the table, just four points above the drop zone.

The Brewers have struggled for form in recent weeks, having failed to score in their last four league games, which included a heavy 4-0 loss away to Peterborough United.

Three days after that defeat, Burton hosted Promotion hopefuls, Portsmouth, and suffered a 2-0 defeat, as well as losing Steve Seddon to a second yellow card. The former Boro left-back will be unavailable for selection this weekend.

On Saturday, Dino Maamria’s side will be searching for their first league win and first league goal since October. Their top scorer, Joe Powell, has a goal tally of just four.

The Manager

Current Burton Albion boss, Dino Maamria, will be a well-known name to Stevenage supporters. As a player, the Tunisian forward made 108 appearances in a Boro shirt, scoring 38 goals. He then returned as a coach under Graham Westley in the memorable back-to-back promotion era, which saw the club win the Conference and the League Two play-off final in consecutive seasons.

In March 2018, Maamria returned once again, but this time as first-team manager. His first full season in charge consisted of a late play-off push, but in the September of the following campaign, he was relieved of his duties.

Head-to-Head

Boro and The Brewers have been rather familiar with each other over the years but haven’t met for almost nine years. From 21 previous encounters, Stevenage have won 10, Burton have won eight and the sides have drawn three times.

The 2014/15 campaign saw Stevenage’s last trip to Pirelli Stadium as they were held to a 1-1 draw, with both goals coming through own-goals.

During the club’s Conference days, Burton were a regular opponent. Perhaps one of the more memorable ties with the Brewers came in the 2008/09 FA Trophy third round, as Boro won 4-0 at The Lamex Stadium, through goals from David Bridges, Mitchell Cole and Steve Morison. That same FA Trophy campaign ended up being pretty successful.

The Stadium

Pirelli Stadium has been home to Burton Albion since it opened in 2005. The ground has a capacity of 6,912, with a record attendance of 6,746 being set in a clash with Derby County. The East Stand terrace typically houses travelling supporters.

Officials

Ben Atkinson has been appointed Match Referee for Saturday’s game, with Danny Gratton and Marvyn Amphlett as Assistants, and Cristopher Husband as Fourth Official. Atkinson has dished out 71 yellow cards and five reds in 15 games this season.

Match Reports

Report: Burton Albion 1-2 Stevenage

9 December 2023

Boro pick up a hard-earned three points on the road through goals from Kane Hemmings and Jamie Reid...

Stevenage travelled to the Pirelli Stadium for the first time in almost nine years as Burton Albion looked to stand in the way of another three points in League One.

The gaffer made five changes from last weekend’s FA Cup tie against Port Vale as Dan Sweeney, Jake Forster-Caskey, Nick Freeman, Harrison Neal and Kane Hemmings returned to the starting eleven.

Intially, the side lined up with a back five of Luther James-Wildin, Dan Sweeney, Terence Vancooten, Carl Piergianni and Dan Butler in front of Taye Ashby-Hammond between the sticks.

The midfield trio consisted of Harrison Neal, who was handed his first league start, Jake Forster Caskey and Nick Freeman, behind the strike force of Jamie Reid and Kane Hemmings.

After just six minutes, Burton Albion were awarded a penalty and it was Joe Powell to step up and take. Taye Ashby-Hammond guessed correctly and denied the penalty, but he couldn’t do anything about the rebound as Deji Oshilaja opened the scoring.

Despite going a goal down in harsh fashion, Stevenage spent large portions of the first half on the front foot as they hunted down an equaliser. Jamie Reid’s low cross from the right-hand side after twenty minutes almost crept in at the near post, but Max Crocombe pushed it out for a corner.

Then, moments later, Jake Forster-Caskey sent a dangerous low ball into the box which ended up at the feet of Kane Hemmings who fired over the bar.

Over five minutes remained of the first half when Stevenage came incredibly close to levelling the scoring. Jake Forster-Caskey’s corner caused all sorts of problems as a goal mouth scramble occurred. Jamie Reid’s back-heel led to many claims of the ball creeping over the line, but the officials said no.

As the fourth official held up one minute of additional time, Boro found their deserved equaliser. Carl Piergianni’s cross met Luther James-Wildin who knocked the ball across the face of the goal for Kane Hemmings to fire home against his former club.

It seemed the perfect time to score as the sides went into the break a goal apiece.

Boro came flying out of the blocks after half-time as they looked to take the lead, and five minutes into the half, they were awarded a penalty after Jake Forster-Caskey was tripped.

It was Jamie Reid standing over it, leaving Boro fans with absolutely no doubt, as the number nineteen converted to score his 17th of the season in all competitions.

Boro really stepped up a gear after their second goal with some fine football on display. The visitors were extremely dangerous in wide areas with many threatening balls being sent into the opponents’ box.

The gaffer made his first change on the 67^th minute as Harrison Neal, who had been mightily impressive in midfield, made way for Louis Thompson in a like-for-like swap.

A rare chance came for the hosts with under twenty remaining as Mustapha Carayol’s cross met the head of Sam Hughes, but Boro’s Ashby-Hammond produced a wonderful save to keep a hold of his side’s lead.

A triple Boro change was made with under ten to go as Aaron Pressley, Elliott List and Ben Thompson were all introduced in place of Kane Hemmings, Jamie Reid and Jake Forster-Caskey.

A few minutes later, another change was made as Dan Sweeney made way for Jordan Roberts, with Luther James-Wildin moving into the back three and Nick Freeman occupying the right wing-back role.

With Stevenage still a goal in front, the fourth official indicated six minutes of added time as Boro worked their socks off to stay on top.

Burton Albion had a late free-kick just outside the area, but Taye Ashby-Hammond stretched to his right to deny to the delight of the away end.

Eventually, the referee blew his final whistle to award Boro a well-earned three points away from home which sees them climb to third in the table. Boro were on top for a large portion of the game and deservedly walked away the victors.

Attention now turns to the FA Cup replay against Port Vale on Tuesday to decide who travels to Maidstone in the third round.

Attendance: 2406 with 292 away.

Ticket News

Tickets & Travel: Burton Albion

6 December 2023

Match tickets are on sale for Boro’s Sky Bet League One fixture at Pirelli Stadium vs Burton Albion…

Kicking off at 3pm on Saturday 9^th December, Stevenage make the 226-mile roundtrip to take on Dino Maamria’s Brewers.

Match tickets are available online at www.borotickets.co.uk, the Club Shop (open Mondays, Tuesdays & Friday 10am-5pm) and from Pirelli Stadium on the day.

Seating:

Standing:

Please note, all prices increase by £2 on matchday.

Disabled supporters are charged at the full price for their age category and are entitled to bring a carer free of charge.

Any tickets not collected from the Stevenage FC Club Shop before midday on Friday 8^th December will be taken up to Burton for collection there.

Travel by Coach

The Stevenage FC Supporters Association coach will be departing The Lamex Stadium at 10am on the day of the game, so please ensure to arrive with time to spare in order to confirm a scheduled departure. Tickets cost £25 for SA members and £30 for non-members.

To book a seat, visit www.sfcsa.co.uk/home/travel and book online.

Travel by Train

Purchase your train ticket to Burton at www.nationalrail.co.uk and keep up-to-date with latest travel info by following @nationalrailenq.

For more travel information to Pirelli Stadium, click here.