Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s Burton Albion smash Doncaster Rovers after a phenomenal second-half display

Burton Albion march on with a third consecutive victory in League One, and one that perfectly encapsulated what the Brewers have been good at since the Dutchman came in.

A composed first-half mixed in with a counter-attacking second-half saw Burton Albion absolutely breeze past Doncaster Rovers 3-0.

From the first 45 minutes, this result was probably unjustified for the Rovers, but the Brewers completely picked the hosts apart sealing the win with 15 minutes to go.

Burton have been a completely changed team since the arrival of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as their new manager and have been playing some nice and intricate football.

From the touchline, the Dutchman with his assistant Dino Maamria demand their players to get everything spot on. In the defensive phases, they stay compact and avoid creating gaps that the opposition could run into. Whilst in attack, their 4-2-3-1 formation allows the wingers, the centre-attacking midfielder and the striker to pile pressure on the opposing defenders.

The way Hasselbaink uses his substitutions to full effect also shows how much he puts faith in his players for all of them to do their jobs correctly.

Kane Hemmings, Ryan Broom, Danny Rowe and Terry Taylor all played their roles to a tee with all of them helping to drive the team forward and also help out defensively when needed the most.

Doncaster may have dominated possession with 61% to Burton’s 39%, but it was the effectiveness of the Brewers’ tiny spells of possession that saw them create their big chances.

A quick throw-in saw Ryan Edwards sprint at pace down the left flank. Burton’s number four drove into the box before laying the ball off to Lucas Akins who smashed the ball into the back of the net.

This perfectly showed what Hasselbaink expects from his players, speed, precision and accuracy. Edwards used his blistering pace and Akins used his strikers’ instinct to be there for his teammate and to fire home the first goal of the evening.

A couple of minutes later and the spoken precision was back at the forefront of Burton’s play. Michael Mancienne delightful through ball found Edwards but he was unable to curl the ball as it cannoned off the post. Hemmings picked up the ball on the rebound but his wild curler went just wide of Ellery Balcombe’s left post.

Ben Garratt’s free-kick was nodded down by Tom Hamer, who started another fantastic attack. The defender’s header went into the path of Hemmings who passed the ball onto Edwards.

The midfielder saw Hamer running on the overlap and played a perfect ball to him. Hamer then fired the ball from outside the box, beyond Balcombe’s outstretched glove and into the net to double the lead for the visitors.

To stamp the seal of approval, Hayden Carter was able to get on the scoresheet after a well-worked free-kick. Danny Rowe crossed the ball into the box with John Brayford heading the ball down. Hemmings played another vital part in a goal as he trapped the ball down and passed it off to Carter who fired the ball into the goal to cement a fantastic first victory for the Brewers at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Burton now look like a well-oiled machine with John Brayford captaining the side and the front line of Lucas Akins, Joe Powell, Ryan Edwards and either Michael Fondop or Kane Hemmings, the Brewers look to be moving in the right direction.

With the Staffordshire club now 11 points above the dreaded drop zone, they have more or less confirmed their place in League One next season with six games to go.

The Brewers still have a chance of making their way into the top 10 with 10th place Gillingham, who have also played a game more than Burton, only eight points ahead of them.

Hasslebaink has completely turned this side into real threats to any team and after being destined for relegation back in January. The tide has changed and they could be real play-off favourites next season with the right recruitment.

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