BURTON Albion saw their Birmingham Senior Cup run come to an end, as Nuneaton Borough came back from three goals down to secure a 4-3 win.
Both sides started the game fairly evenly, with two good chances for Tom Hewlett in the space of two minutes, but both attempts were saved by Boro’s goalkeeper Breedon.
On three minutes it was Nuneaton who thought they had opened the scoring, but the linesman on the nearside ruled otherwise, with questions of a handball during the scramble in the six-yard-box.
Further attempts from Templeton and Daniel never really tested the Nuneaton goalkeeper but the Brewers maintained the majority of control in the first 15 minutes. Daniel had the ball in the back of the net shortly afterwards, only to be deemed as being offside when he received the ball.
A flurry of chances for the Brewers came a minute either side of the 20-minute mark, with David Templeton’s cross not reaching a yellow shirt in the six-yard-box. It was then Templeton who had the next opportunity, hitting the bar from a tight angle just inside the box. A follow-up attempt saw Jack Holmes hounded by a Nuneaton defender and the goalkeeper Breedon made a routine save as a consequence, just as the Young Brewer entered the box.
30 minutes in and it was once against the Brewers who had the best chance to open the scoring. Jack Holmes took on three Nuneaton shirts before laying the ball to Ethan Vale. His stinging cross was met by Tom Hewlett but he could only direct the ball narrowly wide.
Tom Armitage who blocked a cross for a Nuneaton corner, was then in action as he cleared a follow-up cross from the same corner. He set Jack Holmes off running, who played a one-two with Joe Sbarra before his shot took a deflection and the resulting corner came to nothing.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 39th minute, when a flowing Brewers move saw Nuneaton short of bodies at the back. Hewlett playing in COLIN DANIEL, and it was he who rifled a shot into the back of the net.
A second opportunity came two minutes later, as a looped free-kick from David Templeton fell to Daniel again, but he couldn’t quite meet it and the Nuneaton ‘keeper Breedon was able to collect the ball.
One minute before half-time and it was a second for the Brewers and COLIN DANIEL. Jack Holmes swept the ball up after Nuneaton lost possession in the Brewers’ half, and darted upfield. He played a neat ball to Daniel on the right hand side of the box and he calmly placed the ball into the centre of the Nuneaton net.
HALF-TIME: Nuneaton Borough 0 - 2 Burton Albion
In the second half, the Brewers picked up where they had left off. On 51 minutes, DAVID TEMPLETON took his turn to get on the score sheet. A ball from Daniel into the centre of the Nuneaton half was met by Hewlett, and after tangling at the feet of him and the defender, the ball dropped to Templeton who scored into the far top corner.
Ben Garrett was being occasionally tested by the men in blue and white, saving two efforts in as many minutes as Borough looked for a way back into the contest.
It was then back up the other end of the pitch and a fine cross from Templeton straight at the feet of Colin Daniel, but he couldn’t turn the ball home.
Suddenly it was Albion who were under pressure, as a Jack Byrne goal on 69 minutes saw Nuneaton get a goal back to make the score 3-1.
Two minutes later, scorer turned provider as Joel Kettle met a Byrne cross and made the contest much closer at 3-2. An equaliser was averted on 72 minutes by Luke Redfern at the far-post, but that eventually came 60 seconds later when an acrobatic overhead kick from centre-back Kettle made the tie 3-3.
From there the game was much more open. Joe Sbarra saw his effort hit the side-netting on 80 minutes, following his own defensive work in clearing the ball from a countering Riccardo Calder.
But in the 91st minute, it was Joel Kettle who rose highest at a corner to nod home and score his hat-trick, making the score 4-3 and putting Nuneaton into the next round.
FULL-TIME: Nuneaton Borough 4 - 3 Burton Albion.
Attendance: 211
BREWERS XI: Garratt, Lal, Armitage, Sbarra (C), Anderson (Redfern 64'), Vale, Hewlett, Holmes (Beardsley 83'), Daniel, Hart, Templeton (McLean '69). Subs not used: Smith (GK), Williams.