U's 2-1 Burton: Bouncing to Wembley
Tuesday 6th May 2008 - U's 2-1 Burton: Bouncing to Wembley
"Special Match 4." That was the stark legend on the ticket, its unassuming title merely hinting at the potential vicissitudes that lay in store that balmy Tuesday night, a contest that would end in tears of joy or tears of
disappointment, prolonging an exhausting season for one more monumental match or cutting it dead with brutal finality. A bit like a final elimination heat of 'Britain's Got Talent' without the deluded dingbats and talentless no-hopers, Histon and Droylsden having already long since fallen by the wayside. Motormouth smoothie Simon Cowell was there, though... my mistake, it was Graham Westley. And who was that chubby, charmless chancer with a dubious past in the back of the Main Stand? Piers Morgan or Steve Evans? No, must be a trick of the light.
The Abbey had not known an atmosphere like it in years. The end-of-season weather was perfect, sunny, warm and still as the shirt-sleeved amber hordes turned up in their thousands upon thousands, the atmosphere beginning to build from 6.30 onward as they began their singing and chanting long before the players had even emerged for the warm-up. The yellow-clad Burton fans were also in good voice, although their numbers were distinctly underwhelming, failing to even half-fill the South Stand.
For the last few years the big-match ambiance for United has been connected with desperate survival battles rather than contests for upwardly mobile glory. The last time that happened was almost ten years ago, but the mood in the NRE, the Habbin and even the Main Stand was more reminiscent of the early-Nineties glory years of Beck, Dublin and Philpott and those huge promotion and championship clinching games of 1991 against Bradford and Swansea. Many denizens of today's NRE had not even been born then, and for United's younger followers this was their first taste of possible glory after so many years of disappointment, desperation and despair. They had earned this.
After Friday night's titanic tussle at the Pirelli, both managers shuffled their packs to try to sway the deadlock their way. JQ changed the formation from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2, with Mark Peters restored to centre of defence in place of Michael Morrison, Courtney Pitt back wide left instead of Stephen Reed, with Danny Brown pushed into central midfield, and set piece hero Lee McEvilly came in for Mark Beesley to partner Magno Vieira up front. Leo Fortune-West returned from loan exile at York to take a place on the bench, with Ben Farrell the unlucky one to miss out on a place in the squad.
Not to be outdone, Nigel Clough altered the left-hand side of his team, with winger Keith Gilroy surprisingly dropped in favour of Dave Farrell, who had not played a first-team game for over a month, and left-back Paul Hurst was dropped from the squad altogether to be replaced by Aaron Webster.
The noise could be heard halfway across the city from three packed sides of the ground as Burton kicked off and were almost immediately dispossessed by the speedy Vieira, who was upended by Michael Simpson on the halfway line. United wasted no time in throwing bodies forward as Mark Albrighton lofted the free-kick to the far left corner of the penalty box; Wayne Hatswell rose majestically to head down to McEvilly, and his well-struck shot was turned onto the post by 44-year-old keeper Kevin Poole. It rebounded across goal, and there was Rob Wolleaston galloping in like the thoroughbred he is to lash home into the empty net from pointblank range. 31 seconds gone: 1-0!
Three-quarters of the ground went mental, raising the noise to near-deafening levels as they acclaimed the most perfect start imaginable. What a stunning start to one of the most important games in both clubs' history.
United gained their first corner two minutes later, Wolleaston's effort cleared by Albion skipper Darren Stride, and it was the U's midfielder who had the next attempt at goal on 8 when McEvilly's header sent him into the box but he shot wide under pressure from preposterously-becoiffed right-back John Brayford. Not long afterwards he sustained an injury by the Main Stand touchline and received treatment half-on and half-off the pitch as the ref remained blissfully aware of his condition, but he soon returned to the fray and ran it off in a few minutes.
As the match settled down, Burton began to regain their composure and pass it around like the good footballing side they are. And on 14 United fell victim to one of the set pieces that were their undoing on Friday. John McGrath's speculative shot hit Hatswell and went off for a corner, which was curled in at head height by the same player. In a packed box it was Burton striker Shaun Harrad who got his head to it at the near post, flicking on for his strike partner Daryl Clare to nod home from inside the six-yard box. Fair play, good comeback: 1-1.
JQ had made great play of the winning experience of many of his players, for which he chose them in the first place. So that made United's transmogrification into a bunch of nervous ninnies even more startling. The back three Albrighton, Peters and Hatswell has a combined age of 100, and for a time they looked like a collection of doddering Corporal Joneses, yelling "Don't panic!" as they bumbled around in a blind funk. Twice in a minute Danny Potter called to catch routine high balls only for one of them to ignore his cry and try to head clear themselves, getting into a tangle with their keeper at the same time. The third time, Peters actually paid heed to his keeper and was rewarded with an approving "f***ing listen!"
It soon became apparent that the team was not gelling at all. Brown and Carden are both natural holding players, so both stayed deep, leaving Wolleaston alone to get forward in support of McEvilly and Vieira, while wing-backs Pitt and Gleeson also remained withdrawn to keep their eyes on the Burton wide men. End result was a succession of high balls, most of which seemed to find their way to the decidedly non-target-man-shaped Vieira, which were either lost or flicked on to no-one, the few colleagues who were in the same half too far away to get near the ball.
Add to that Danny Brown's marked inability to find a team-mate with any sort of pass, and you had a disjointed, dysfunctional team which was just inviting Burton to swarm all over them, although they were still in the process of truly finding their feet themselves.
Brown, trying to compensate by sheer force of will, became an unsurprising first bookee on 18 for a clumsy clash with Simpson on halfway. Then a dreadful attempted pass by Pitt sent Harrad haring towards goal; Albrighton got his foot in then seemed to slip, the ball squirted off Peters and as Harrad chased, Potter finally got hold of the thing.
Then on 29 Albrighton made a terrible hash of a back-pass, setting up that man Harrad for another run on goal, and this time his shot from fifteen yards was superbly tipped past the post by the ever-alert Potter. United still looked as nervous as a litter of kittens who had just been told that God is a dog.
Potter collected a long-ranger from McGrath on 32, then the U's finally got some men forward. McEvilly set up Wolleaston for a shot that was blocked, then on 34 Pitt was felled by Andy Corbett and his low driven free-kick spooned into the air off McEvilly and was cleared for a corner which came to nothing.
Pitt's venturing away from his defensive duties began to make his side more of an attacking threat, his corner on 35 just too high for Peters, and he linked with Vieira on 37 to find Paul Carden, whose exquisite chip from 25 yards was tipped acrobatically from under his own crossbar by the ever-sprightly Poole, who must have had Sanatogen injections beforehand.
Clare scuffed a shot wide a minute later up the other end, and three minutes further on Pitt sent Vieira racing into the box, but he slipped as he stopped to turn and the ref judged that he had exaggerated his fall and booked him for 'simulation.'
Best chance of the last few minutes of the half fell to the visitors, one of their characteristic brisk counterattacks seeing Simpson set up Harrad for a lash at goal from just inside the box, but that man Potter was there again to narrow the angle and push the ball away.
So a breathless half finished level, and for all their amazing start, United had been second-best for much of it, their system malfunctioning and looking stilted against Burton's freer-flowing game. Nerves had undoubtedly played their part, and never did a manager need to produce an inspirational team talk, tactically and psychologically, more than Jimmy Quinn did during the interval. Meanwhile a packed and tense Abbey bubbled and huddled and buzzed with talk of what had been and what might be.
The United players were back out first, well ahead of their opponents, but the first moment of danger in the second half came from Burton as Farrell sped down the left past a struggling Gleeson and crossed to an exposed far post where Corbett could only stab the ball to a relieved Potter.
After that, though, you could almost hear United jaws set as, roared on by a frantic support, they began to lay siege to the Burton goal, wing-backs and midfield now pushed further forward in support of the strikers. On 47 Gleeson arrowed a cross over from the right and Vieira, would you believe, nipped ahead of two defenders and met it with a perfect bullet header that was screaming into the top right-hand corner until Poole launched himself sideways and back and produced a phenomenal flying tip over the bar. Breathtaking stuff.
Wolleaston's ensuing corner found Peters, hanging in the air like something out of 'The Matrix,' and his towering header smacked off the top of the bar and away. Farrell was beginning to give Gleeson a hard time down the Burton left, however, and on 52 he bypassed him again to launch a cross at Harrad, who nodded over.
Now the game was truly on. Simpson evened up the bookings on 55 for a foul on Hatswell, and two minutes later United went close again when Pitt curled a cross towards the far post from deep in the left channel; just when the ball seemed to have sailed over everyone's head, Gleeson arrived late and his flying header was sneaking in at the near post until Poole threw himself across goal to make another brilliant block.
Just before the hour JQ made his first change, withdrawing the willing but mostly ineffective Vieira for the goal-poaching experience and intelligence of Lee Boylan. And on 63 United went ahead for the second time.
It was that man Wolleaston again, once more in a well-advanced position in the right channel on the edge of the area. His lob was clearly intended to be a cross rather than an attempt on goal, but the ball sailed unerringly from his boot, high over the helpless Poole, and dropped like a guided missile into the far corner of the net. Pandemonium. 2-1!
It was a lucky goal, yes, but United had earned it through their second-half pressure. And sometimes the only way to beat a goalkeeper in 'worldie' form is with a miscue when he saves all the perfect volleys you can hit at him.
Once again joy was unconfined as the NRE, the Habbin and the Main Stand were united in song and bouncing, a truly awesome and joyous sight. JQ did not rest on his laurels, however. Recognising that Brown was one mistimed tackle away from a second yellow, not to mention many of his passes were still falling to sky blue shirts, the redoubtable skipper was replaced by Stephen Reed on 64.
Burton fought back spiritedly and gained a succession of corners, the last of which on 70 from Simpson somehow bounced low across the whole of the six-yard box without anyone getting a touch, although it caused about six thousand near-heart attacks before it was hoofed clear by Albrighton at the far post. The U's back line was now back in 'business as usual' mode, cool, calm and uncompromising in the tackle and in the air and with a team in front of them that now looked organised, focussed and determined to see this one out.
United struck back on 73 through Pitt once again, his cross into the box finding the shiny bonce of McEvilly, and although Big Mac was falling backwards, he managed to aim a tremendous header low for the far post which was just creeping in until Poole produced another classic save, scrambling low to his left to fingertip it around the post. The U's target man then went on to pick up a bizarre booking for timewasting in an untidy incident that didn't look like anything of the sort.
On 77 both sides made changes. Burton introduced their only sub of the night, striker Matt Williams, in place of Farrell, while LFW was brought to the fray instead of McEvilly, withdrawn partly though fitness and probably partly due to his also now being on a yellow card. Leo only got on after a minute of pantomiming with the electronic numbers board by fourth official John Hopkins, whom many will remember as one of the worst refs they have ever seen. Looks like fourth officialling is beyond him too; how's your tea-making, mate?
Big Leo is just the sort of man to bring on in this sort of situation, awkward, tough, experienced and expert in keeping the ball. Remarkably, eight of the U's team now out on the pitch started United's first home game of the season, a 2-1 win over Oxford on 16th August, the only differences being Peters for Morrison, Hatswell for Gavin Hoyte and Carden for Darren Quinton, who had encouragingly been spotted joining in the warm-up before the match along with Mikey Hyem after both suffered bad injuries earlier in the season.
United remained dominant in possession, but were still vulnerable to the odd Burton break such as the one on 82, a flowing one-touch move which entailed a long, raking crossfield ball from Stride to Webster out wide and a lofted cross to the far post where Corbett was lurking, but he volleyed wildly wide.
The hosts roared back again, egged on by their coruscating support. Pitt embarked on a run down the left on 85, beat his man, cut inside at speed and with everyone expecting a cross, arrowed a vicious shot which miracle man Poole somehow pawed wide; from the resultant Wolleaston corner Peters saw his goalbound header hacked away by Webster. Burton countered, then United broke back when Reed sent Boylan racing alone apart from his marker, Stride, down the middle, culminating in an attempted curler from the 'D' which sadly forgot to curl.
Pitt summed up his lung-bursting second half on 88 when Reed lofted a hopeful time-consuming ball from deep to the far corner, and when the U's wingman saw that Burton were slow to get after it, he went into full sprint mode to run forty yards to nick the ball off Stride's toe and get to the byline to pull a cross over. Even when it was cleared back towards him, he gave chase again and gained his side a throw-in. Clearly exhausted after such a bout of running late in the game, he was heartlessly booked for 'time wasting' by ref Mullarkey when he was too slow to take the throw. Too knackered, more like.
The ninetieth minute arrived, and LFW, who had been doing a sterling job alongside Boylan in keeping both the ball and Burton occupied, received it with his back to goal some forty yards out, surrounded by three defenders. Boylan was behind him, jogging back from an offside position, so Leo juggled with the ball for a few moments, then in one stunning movement turned on a sixpence and in a trice was haring clear towards goal with only Poole between him and the clincher as sky blue shirts trailed vainly in his wake. Poole advanced to the penalty spot and waited, LFW shot low for the left-hand corner from the 'D', and once again the keeper won the battle of the veterans as he got a touch to divert it off for a corner.
They could probably hear the groans of frustration all the way up to London Road. United's cool front two, assisted by Carden, embarked on a spell of keep-ball in the corners as four added minutes were indicated and excitement in the Abbey arena mounted to near-hysteria levels. Keep the ball. Keep the ball. Keep the ball!
Then suddenly Burton were breaking down the right channel, Hatswell slipping as Clare burst past him then sent Harrad clear ahead of him. Bearing down on goal, Albrighton stopped him in his tracks with a bulldozing tackle as he made to pull the trigger and got the ball off for a throw-in in the corner. Then, foul throw: relief.
The rest of the match was played out down the Habbin touchline as throw after throw was contested then knocked back out of play by both teams. Then, just as the tension was becoming unbearable, came the blessed relief of the final whistle. We had done it!
This was not a time for restraint. The pitch invasion started hesitantly with a few ecstatic revellers, then as the remaining amber army saw there was no resistance, the trickle became an avalanche. Meanwhile, some nutter had let off a dazzling red flare at the front of the Habbin before it was snatched from his hand by a policeman who then tried to work out what to do with it while the perpetrator legged it. Ridiculous, hilarious, we didn't know whether to laugh or cry with joy as the pitch filled with singing, dancing, bouncing U's supporters.
JQ waved his thanks before being engulfed in a sea of hugs, Danny Potter sped around the pitch punching the air and roaring his delight, and, delightfully, many supporters took the time to go over and applaud the loyal, vocal Burton fans who had stayed to acclaim what had after all been their club's most successful season ever.
This is what following United, following any football team is all about. For every year of joy your team brings you, there will be five years of pain or just plain mediocrity. Our joy is overdue, and the suffering which prefaced it just makes the pleasure all the sweeter. Savour it, enjoy it while you can, never ever forget it. It will go away again some time soon, but its memory will linger and sustain you until it comes around again. And again. And again.
We will have to go through this all once more on Sunday week at Wembley, when every emotion will be magnified by a factor of ten. Whatever happens, this has been a season to remember, to live long in the memory. But we want more. Believe, and it will happen. Believe!
Statto Corner
Rob Wolleaston scored the fastest goal ever seen at the Abbey when he notched in 31 seconds. The only faster goals scored by United have all been away: a Pat Kruse own goal against Torquay in 6 seconds in 1977, Michael Cheetham in 21 seconds at Peterborough in 1990, and Dave Kitson in 24 seconds at Swansea in 2003. Previous fastest at the Abbey was by George Reilly versus Carlisle in September 1988: 35 seconds.
It's that score again: the U's started the season with two 2-1 wins, and have now notched fourteen by that score this term. One more would do nicely.
Tonight saw the largest attendance at the Abbey since 1st October 2002, when Sunderland slaughtered United 7-0 in the League Cup. Biggest previous League crowd at Newmarket Road was 7,505 for the visit of our old chums the Posh on 15th December 2000. Outcome was a dour 0-0 draw. In United's side was John Dreyer, and he was present tonight as well in his new capacity as assistant manager at Stevenage, along with his boss, the shy, retiring Graham Westley.
Tuesday's crowd of 7,276 was very similar to that which attended United's first playoff semi-final at home to Maidstone on 13th May 1990. 7,264 saw a 1-1 draw with a visiting side which included Warren Barton, Ken Charlery and future U's Steve Butler and Jason Lillis. United won the return leg 2-0 and of course triumphed 1-0 over Chesterfield at Wembley in the final with a goal by Dion Dublin, who retired from playing on Saturday at the grand old age of thirty-nine.
The only other playoff semi-final at the Abbey attracted an attendance of 9,225 versus Leicester on 10th May 1992. Again United drew 1-1, but perished 5-0 in the second leg to fall just short of the inaugural season of the newly formed FA Premier League. David Oldfield played for Leicester, as he did for Peterborough in the League match mentioned above in 2000.
Kevin Poole turned out for Leicester against the U's in both League games of 1991-92, a 5-1 thrashing at the Abbey followed by a 2-2 draw at Filbert Street, but by the time the playoffs came around he had been replaced by Carl Muggleton. His first-ever game at the Abbey, however, had come the previous season when he kept goal for Middlesbrough in their 2-0 defeat in the FA Cup Fourth Round.
United finished the league season on 86 points, their joint highest-ever tally in a season. This equalled their count in 1990-91 when they won the Division Three title by a point from Southend on the last day. Their highest total under two points for a win was the 65 which won them the Division Four championship in 1976-77.
Player Ratings
Potter 9. A couple of brilliant, vital saves in the first half kept his side level. Not much to do in part two, by contrast. Loved the celebration afterwards!
Albrighton 8. Got his head onto absolutely everything.
Peters 8. Uncompromising and hard-tackling as ever.
Hatswell 8. Like his defensive colleagues, recovered from a jittery start to grow stronger as the game went on.
Gleeson 7. Given a tough time by Farrell, especially in the second half, but stuck at it gamely.
Brown 6. No faulting his attitude or commitment, but much of his passing verged on the disastrous.
Carden 9. The heartbeat of the side.
Wolleaston 8. Revelled in more attacking role and back to somewhere near his best just at the right time.
Pitt 9. Stuck to a mainly defensive role in the first half, blossomed forth in part two with some lung-bursting runs, crosses and one tremendous shot.
Vieira 6. Tried his darnedest, but had too much 'service' aimed at his head or chest when he needs the ball to feet, to run onto.
McEvilly 8. Not fully match fit yet, but made the first goal and was always a handful for the Burton defence.
Boylan 8. Did a quite superb job in keeping the visitors busy with endless darting runs and useful hold-up play.
Reed 7. Settled in comfortably to do a good, solid job in the middle.
Fortune-West 9. Absolutely tremendous menace in the last fifteen minutes and so unlucky to be denied a goal at the end.
Match Summary
It was magical, unforgettable night of drama and, dammit, a few tears at the Abbey as United scored the quickest goal ever seen at this fine old ground, recovered from an equaliser and produced a barnstorming second half attacking the NRE to clinch an emotional and deserved victory, and with it a second trip to Wembley. Tonight was what the game is all about and will live forever in the minds of everyone who was lucky enough to be there.
Man of the Match
Paul Carden. United's most consistent player ever since he joined us, he patrolled the midfield tirelessly and laid the foundation for a memorable triumph.
Ref Watch
Mullarkey 6. Seemed determined to give every trivial decision against United and handed out some pernickety yellow cards to the home players while ignoring more serious fouls. But hey, we've seen worse (shudder).
Non-League Player's Name of the Week
Lincoln United's tongue-tying Nathan Forbes-Swindells.
Soundtrack of the Day
Delays 'Hooray!'
Andrew Bennett
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