Fleetwood Town lost out to Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Cod Army took a first-half lead when Burton’s Deji Oshilaja nodded Barry Baggley’s looping cross into his own goal before Dan Butterworth poked home a second with his first touch.
A Second-half onslaught followed from the home side as Oumar Niasse grabbed a goal on either side of Louis Moult’s strike, which found the back of the net.
Town had the opening chance of the game when Cian Hayes picked out Ged Garner on the left. He took one touch before firing a low, driven effort across goal from range - forcing Ben Garratt into a smart, diving save, pushing the ball clear with his left hand.
Fleetwood continued to put the home side under pressure when Hayes and Baggley – who replaced the injured Danny Andrew – linked up nicely in the middle of the park before finding Paddy Lane out wide. However, his teasing ball into the danger area wasn’t met by a Fleetwood body.
In the 19th minute, the Cod Army were rewarded for their bright start when they took the lead. It looked like Baggley’s looping free-kick was met by the head of Nsiala who nodded home. But, after confusion amongst the Burton backline, it was Brewer’s defender Deji Oshlaja who got the final touch.
Town looked to double their lead almost instantly when Lane linked up with G.Garner. The forward looked to pick out the bottom left corner but was denied by Garratt for the second time.
The home side responded and came close to levelling the score when Jonny Smith struck the woodwork after finding space inside the area. The Cods got enough bodies around the ball to deny the Brewers at the second attempt.
The winger had another chance to level the score just before the break when he received the ball on the edge of the area. He saw not one, but two efforts blocked before Harry Chapman had a third charged down by the Fleetwood defence.
Smith was at the heart of the action once again in the second half when he drove down the right-wing and into the penalty area. His shot, however, was too high and didn’t trouble Kieran O’Hara.
With 57 minutes on the clock, Butterworth entered the field in place of G.Garner. Just one minute later, he met Hayes’ ball across the six-yard box to give his side the lead with his first touch of the game.
At the other end, Niasse almost halved the deficit when he forced a sublime save out of O’Hara, who dove to his right to make the save from close range.
Butterworth came close to adding to his tally when he tried his luck from the edge of the area. His strike was just wide of the far post.
Just after the hour mark, the Brewer’s pulled one back. Conor Shaghnessey saw his header bounce off the crossbar and O’Hara was in the way to deny Smith’s follow-up. However, Niasse was able to pounce at the third attempt and poke home from close range despite the goalkeeper’s best efforts.
Fleetwood came close to finding a third when Hayes dispossessed Sam Hughes – who was the last defender – and played Butterworth through on goal. This time, the goal scorers saw his effort saved by the Burton stopper.
The pair linked up again with just under 15 minutes to play. Haye’s fizzed the ball into Town’s number eight who after a nice touch, unleashed an effort on goal, forcing Garratt into a smart reaction save.
The home side came close with 10 minutes to play when Ciaran Milligan slipped in behind. His shot was blocked by Nsiala before it could reach the goal line.
In the 82nd minute, the home side levelled the score through Louis Moult who poked home from 12 yards after Hughes hooked the ball back into the danger zone.
Town almost regained their lead immediately when Hayes found the net, but the flag was raised on the near side.
The Brewers completed their comeback in added time when Niasse was played in behind. He beat Callum Johnson before firing past O’Hara.
Town XI: O'Hara (GK), Andrew (C) (Biggins 7’), G.Garner (Butterworth 56’), Morris (Thiam 64’), C.Johnson, Baggley, Lane, Nsiala, Boyle, Johnston, Hayes.
Unused subs: Cairns (GK), Donaghy (GK), Bird.
Burton XI: Garratt (GK), Brayford (C) (Moult 82’), Oshilaja, Chapman, Smith, Hughes, Shaughnessey, Niasse, Hamer, Mancienne (Saydee 60’), Lakin (Gillian 60’).
Unused subs: Kovar, Borthwick-Jackson, Ahadme, Maddox.