Needham Market lose 2-0 at League One Burton Albion in first-ever appearance in the Emirates FA Cup first round
Needham Market’s record run in the Emirates FA Cup ended with a 2-0 defeat in the first round at Burton Albion.
Deji Oshilaja’s 34th-minute strike was all that separated the two sides after 90 minutes at the Pirelli Stadium, with substitute Joe Powell adding a second for the Sky Bet League One hosts deep into added time.
The Marketmen had won through four qualifying rounds to reach the first-round proper of the famous old cup competition for the first time in the club’s history, but were giving up four leagues and 80 places in the football pyramid against their opponents.
The non-league side from Suffolk, who play in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central, four leagues below Burton, were backed by a large and vocal support in a crowd just shy of 2,000.
Needham boss Kevin Horlock made two changes to the side which started in last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Bedford Town, as captain Keiran Morphew made his return after a month out injured on the sidelines.
Midfielder Noah Collard was also handed a recall to Horlock’s starting line up, with Hugh Cullum and Jamie McGrath both dropping to the bench for the Marketmen.
Needham were resplendent in one-off kits to mark the occasion of their first appearance in the first round of the FA Cup, which included the players’ surnames on the back of the red and black shirts.
While the Marketmen made changes to their attire, it was Burton who were making alterations to their own pitch after five minutes, as Needham’s Patrick Brothers snapped a corner flag while attempting to prevent giving away a corner.
The visitors were forced into some early defending, most notably from a series of long throws by Tom Hamer, while goalkeeper Marcus Garnham was at his best to deny front man Victor Adeboyejo on 18 minutes, clawing away his header from close range.
Burton were beginning to carve out chances at a more frequent rate as Charlie Lakin sent a low ball across the box which found Oshilaja, and Garnham got his fingertips to his effort to send it over the crossbar.
The deadlock was broken on 34 minutes as Burton’s pressure finally paid off. Garnham kept out Oshilaja’s initial strike, but the home captain reacted quickly to send the loose ball past the Needham goalkeeper.
The League One hosts spurned an inviting chance to double their lead before the break when Terry Taylor blazed over, having been found in acres of space in the box by Lakin.
Burton pressed for a second after the interval with Oshilaja guilty of firing wide when in front of goal, while Garnham bravely rushed out to thwart Adeboyejo at close range.
At the other end, Needham were feeding off very few scraps with real clear sights of goal hard to come by. Ross Crane’s driving run into the Burton box ended with his strike being blocked by the home defence, before in the last seconds of added time Horlock’s men threatened a dramatic equaliser.
Substitute Seth Chambers and Jake Dye both had efforts blocked in quick succession and Christian Frimpong then fired over and, with Needham committing more bodies forward in a late bid to find an equaliser, Burton put the tie to bed through substitute Powell with the last kick of the game.
It was a brave and valiant effort from the Marketmen who took in the applause from both sets of supporters inside the Pirelli Stadium at the full-time whistle.
Needham will now turn their attention back to their league campaign when they host runaway leaders Tamworth at Bloomfields on Tuesday (7.45pm).
Burton Albion: Sinisalo, Borthwick-Jackson, Oshilaja (c), Hughes, Mariappa (Onyango 72’), Keillor-Dunn (Powell 61’), Smith, Adeboyejo, Lakin (Carayol 61’), Taylor, Hamer. Subs not used: Garratt, Gilligan, Mancienne, Kamwa.
Needham Market: Garnham, Hammond, Dye, Frimpong, K Morphew (c), D Morphew, Lay (Bennett 58’), Collard (Fitzgerald 58’), Ingram, Brothers (Chambers 78’), Crane (Knights 89’). Subs not used: Shorten, Cullum, Clark, McGrath, Exworth.
Referee: Andrew Kitchen. Attendance: 1,989.
