Brentford 1 Luton Town 0. Let the records book show the Bees as unbeaten in the Championship since late October and now up to third place in the table. Two points behind Swansea City and with a game in hand on the team we visit next week. Another clean sheet and a performance that saw us come out of the blocks flying before falling off a cliff late on in the first half and struggling to get even close to competing before muscle bound ref Steve Martin (does he work out?) put everyone out of their misery. It was a second half that had been as painful to watch as an episode of Mrs. Brown’s Boys and, certainly, there was nobody laughing at Lionel Road. Moreso when Ivan Toney was shown a second yellow in injury time and sent off. Along with Tons Lockyer for the visitors. He’ll now miss the Leicester City FA Cup tie on Saturday but should return for the trip to Wales on Wednesday night. It was a frustrating end to a challenging game. Moreso as his dismissal seemed innocuous at best. Even ‘official’ noted in their own match report that it was a fracas, “Which seemed to amount to little more than being in the same area as an angry Lockyer”.
Still. We won. Luton can understandably feel hard done by after throwing the kitchen sink at Brentford. They played out of their skins and it was only the combination of resolute defence, rock solid Raya and some spurned opportunities that preserved our scoreline’s unblemished complexion.
One could argue that the game may well have been out of sight by that point with Brentford starting at 100mph. Sergi Canos coming close with a blistering effort before Samman Ghoddos, in for the suspended Josh Dasilva, followed up his FA Cup goal with an absolute beauty fifteen minutes in. Toney and Mbeumo exchanging passes before Ivan’s quite exquisite first time cross into the box was met with the sweetest of connections by the, err, lurking Ghoddos. Timing and quality of the sort Mrs Brown could only aspire. Slick and measured. It all happened so fast and so sweetly it was like watching a replay on Nintendo Super Soccer. A video game quality goal to open the floodgates. Or so we thought.
Alas not. Rather than herald an onrush of goals, that was it. The closure of our training ground thanks to that virus having a clear and visible effect on just about everyone. The Bees struggling to get out of their half as the midfield dissolved. The absent Josh Dasilva and Christian Norgaard so conspicuous by their respective absences as we offered all the resistance of a sodden tissue. Yet, somehow, that last line of defence held firm. The odd foray forward saw a couple of chances presented to Ivan Toney. The player unable to find the net when, perhaps, he might have expected to make the game safe.
Yet, as we’ve already said, the record books won’t care about that. The table doesn’t lie. Brentford are up to third. Swansea and Norwich City firmly in our sights. Leicester City next up in the FA Cup and a chance, perhaps, for those exhausted legs to get back up to speed. Whether through a complete break or an hours’ run out to keep things ticking over. I’m no fitness coach but what seemed apparent was the impact our Championship absence – the was the first league game since beating Bournemouth in late December – has had. Still, we’ve got a week to figure out the best approach to how we deal with that side of things. I’ve no doubt our coaching staff already have it all well under wraps and in hand.
Thomas Frank would share similar sentiments to yours truly at full time . (Hey, chuck enough mud and some of it sticks). He used his own round up to summarise that second half as, “Painful to watch and be a part of, it happens in football sometimes. We got too passive”. True enough, but we won. We’re up to third. We’ve now got (yet another) wonderful opportunity to define our season. The trip to Swansea City one which feels akin to that game at Leyton Orient all those years ago. The one where we reeled them in and ended up celebrating like we’d won the FA Cup. Oh to come even half way close to playing like that. If we do then there’ll be good times ahead. The opportunity to close in on table topping Norwich City.
That was awesome and exhausting in equal measure last night. But that’s football. It’s the result that counts and , perhaps, hanging on to that victory will turn out to be a most unexpected psychological boost. A punchdrunk boxer clinging to the ropes yet still able to stay on his feet. A demonstration that, actually, we can grind out a backs to the wall performance and come away with all the points when not at our very best.
Whatever you read into it, the points are all that matters. Now bring on Swansea . Bring on Leicester City. Bring on some R&R.
Nick Bruzon
BrentfordFC 