SATURDAY 12th JANUARY 2008

VAUXHALL MOTORS 1 v 4 BURTON ALBION

F.A. CARLSBERG TROPHY 2nd ROUND

If Vauxhall Motors thought they were in for a tough afternoon, any doubt was removed inside the first seven minutes as Nigel Clough’s full-timers raced into a 2-0 lead in this  F. A. Trophy tie - and barely had to look back, as they cruised into the last sixteen at the expense of a gallant Vauxhall team.

Facing a side unbeaten away from home and flying high in the Blue Square Premier, the last thing Motors wanted to do was fall behind early on, but that is exactly what they did as the Brewers struck after just two minutes, when a right-sided corner was headed back across goal from the far post by John McGrath for John Brayford to nod home from close in.

Five minutes later the visitors were two up when Daryl Clare converted from the penalty spot after Jonathan Egerton was harshly adjudged to have handled inside his own area.
But Motors never gave up the ghost despite this awful start.  Peter Heler went close, his header flying just over the bar and Paul Taylor stung the fingers of Albion keeper Kevin Poole from an acute angle, as they gamely fought back.

And Poole rescued his side again when he raced from goal to take the ball off Taylor’s toes at the end of a fine run by Anthony Wright.

But just before the break, the task was made even harder as the former Chester striker Clare struck again at the end of a neat move. Motors keeper Lloyd Rigby made three excellent saves during the tie to keep the score down, but even he was powerless to prevent McGrath from slipping home a fourth as early as the 55th minute, when he won a race to the long through ball ahead of Jordan Holmes to effectively kill the tie.

Vauxhall grabbed a late consolation to reward their gallant showing, when Heler struck a sweet left-foot shot beyond the reach of Poole and inside the far post in the 89th minute.

Vauxhall: Rigby, Owens, Dames, Williams (Roberts 68), Holmes, Brannan, Heler, Smith, Wright (Whittaker 51), Egerton (Hitchen 61), Taylor.  Sub not used: Griffiths, Dickenson.