A first-half hat-trick from Kane Hemmings saw Burton Albion extend their impressive form against Crewe Alexandra at the Alexandra Stadium yesterday.
Manager David Artell named an unchanged side from Tuesday’s 1-0 home win against Doncaster Rovers but Callum Ainley returned to the bench after being sidelined due to injury for the last 4 months. Former Alex players Ben Garratt and John Brayford both started while Colin Daniel and Luke Varney were not involved for the visitors.
The opening chance and goal of the game came in the 10th minute with a long throw from left-back Tom Hamer wasn’t dealt with by the Alex defence with Hemmings turning the ball in from close range before the first chance for the Alex saw Charlie Kirk pull the ball back to the edge of the area for Murphy to be denied by Garratt down to his right.
The lead would be doubled midway through the half with Garratt’s goal kick being flicked on by Lucas Akins with Hemmings firing through the legs of Dave Richards before the third came on 33 minutes with Rio Adebisi giving the ball away to Hemmings who held off Omar Beckles, firing past Richards into the bottom corner.
Into the second half with Tom Lowery having an effort saved by Garratt early on before Ainley and Chris Porter came on before the hour-mark as we reverted back to a 4-4-2 formation.
The next games for the Alex see us travel to Northampton Town next Saturday before a trip to Charlton Athletic the following Saturday.
What can we take out of this game?
It’s really frustrating that we’ve handed a team that is in great form over the last couple of months an easy win without them having to do much to earn it. That said, Hemmings took his goals well and it’s another game that we haven’t been good enough in either box with Garratt not tested enough (though he didn’t look too comfortable with the little that he had to deal with).