Burton Albion Reaction
The Mikes hopes of another victory over league opposition in The Birmingham Senior Cup bit the dust with another controversial sending off. After keeping a full complement all season, Jason Holmes became the third Mikes player to see red in successive games.
On the half hour, Holmes reacted angrily following a free kick which was awarded after he had slid in and deflected the ball out for a throw in. In isolation, his frustrated comment could be considered a red card offence to the letter of the law, but in the context of almost identical incidents which went unpunished both before and afterwards, the striker's dismissal was exceptionally harsh.
Despite a very bright opening, the Mikes trailed to a controversial opener when the sending off occurred. Defending a corner, skipper Tom Stevenson was clearly shoved in the back. Still off balance, he brought down Greg Pearson as he stretched to clear the loose ball. Pearson clinically dispatched the spot kick via the underside of the bar. His second came just before the break from a header.
The Mikes had come very close on the stroke of half time when Stevenson had an effort cleared off the line, but they were literally handed a lifeline when Mokofo was penalised for handling Lee Osborne's diagonal ball which was destined for Lyndon Weller. Osborne stepped up, but struck the post with his spot kick.
Pearson completed his hat trick shortly afterwards and the game was over as a contest. However, the Mikes refused to lie down and worked exceptionally hard, turning in a second half performance full of guts, determination, and no little quality.
Rob Mallaband was understandably frustrated "The sending off spoiled the game. I firmly believe it was a case of cause and effect. The lads were very frustrated about the first goal and the obvious foul in the build up. That certainly contributed to the sending off just afterwards. Full credit to the lads though, the performance afterwards was excellent. At times in the second half you wouldn't have realised we had a man less".
The Mikes will look to take the performance levels into Saturday's crunch FA Vase tie at Blaby and Whetstone
