ALBION had to settle for a point from a gritty encounter with Fleetwood Town thanks to Joe Powell’s first goal of the season.
The Brewers midfielder scored after seeing his penalty saved on seventeen minutes, the ball falling straight back to him to lash home and make no mistake at the second attempt. Albion barely had time to settle before young midfielder Junior Quitirna fired home an equaliser of top quality but neither side could live up to the early promise as the game became a struggle and lacked any real quality. Albion climbing out of the bottom four because of a point that built on a promising week.
After the midweek win at Vale Park that secured the first three-point haul of the season Dino Maamria saw fit to name an unchanged side for the visit of the Cod Army. It was the first time since 4th October last year that Albion had had the luxury of naming the same starting eleven in successive games. The only change came on the bench where Kegs Chauke replaced Rekeem Harper.
Fleetwood had an early opportunity to test Max Crocombe but Jack Marriott could only fire straight at the keeper in the opening seconds.
Albion soon got on the front foot and began to dominate but it took unitl the seventeenth minute to get the breakthrough. Mark Helm was felled by Ben Heneghan’s challenge inside the box and although Jay Lynch saved Powell’s spot kick, the midfielder was on hand to lash home the rebound.
The visitors were not behind for long as a stunning curling and dipping effort from midfielder QUITIRNA levelled things up three minutes later.
Albion suffered a blow just after the half hour mark when Jasper Moon picked up an injury that he could not run off and had to come off, Ryan Sweeney slotting in at the back.
Kwadwo Baah went close for Albion on 35 minutes although he didn’t make the best connection with his shot on the edge of the area as it dribbled wide of the post.
When Mustapha Carayol went down in a penalty area scramble just before the break it looked more of a penalty that the one already awarded but referee Ollie Yates remained unconvinced.
HALF TIME: BURTON ALBION 1-1 FLEETWOOD TOWN
Neither side could find a rhythm early in the second half and both sides eventually turned to their benches. While Fleetwood turned to the guile of Jayden Stockley to pep up their attack Albion looked to Kegs Chauke and Josh Walker to inject some pace and creativity in the final third.
Quitirna went close with a rasping low drive on 68 minutes as a fortunate bounce in midfield allowed the youngster to burst forward but Crocombe was able to watch it go wide of the target with relative comfort.
Powell tried to turn provider on 75 minutes with a curling free kick but Hamer, having made a good run could only steer his header over the bar.
Albion’s final throw of the dice was to send on Josh Gordon for Kwadwo Baah but in a frustrating end to the game a clear chance for a winner just wouldn’t fall Albion’s way as both Powell and Oshilaja failed to keep efforts on target.
ALBION: Crocombe; Hamer, Hughes, Moon (Sweeney, 32), Seddon; Powell: Baah (Gordon,82), Helm (Chauke, 62), Oshilaja, Carayol (Walker, 62); Lubala.
Substitutes: Blackman, Caprice, Gilligan.
GOALS: ALBION – Powell (17) ; FLEETWOOD – Quitirna (19)
Referee: Ollie Yates
Attendance: 2,750