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It’s never a dull at Bramall Lane when the Bees are in town. It was always going to be hard to better last season’s blockbuster for drama when two teams battled it out for promotion with less than competent referee in charge. Three sendings offs. Eleven yellow cards. Four penalties – of which two were missed – later and there we had it …. Probably the most exciting game of the season. 

This season’s game tried it’s best to better that humdinger and came close in many ways. Two sides battled out a pulsating goal-less draw in which, once again, the referee was the focus of controversy.

The Bees recalled Diagouraga back into the side adding some steel to the centre of midfield in place of Reeves. Toums looked enthusiastic and confident after his successful loan spell at Pompey. Elsewhere, Trotta was reinstated to the striker role in place of Grigg.

Brentford started brightly. A display of fast-flowing attacking football rocked United for the first 20 minutes. Chances from Trotta and Donaldson should have seen the Bees take the lead as United were pinned back in their own half during a period of sustained pressure. Once again, despite their excellent approach play, the Bees lacked bite in front of goal.

With only one result on the cards, the referee then stepped in to re-address the balance. Trotta was played through on goal. In flies Kieron Freeman with a last ditch tackle from behind. Trotta goes down. Ref gives a penalty and sends Freeman off. Malarkey ensues. Referee then walks over to his assistant referee. After lengthy deliberation, he calls Freeman back from the tunnel and picks up the ball for a drop ball – overturning both his earlier decisions. Remarkable.

To be fair, looking at the replay, Freeman’s tackle on Trotta was quality. He got the ball cleanly. The ref’s final decision was correct. However, in the flash of the moment, from where the away fans stood it looked like a foul. The referee also being 100 yds closer to the action also thought it was a foul. The referee made a call – albeit hastily. Then changed his mind. He changed the mood of the game in an instant with his manhandling of the situation suddenly giving United the psychological advantage at a time when the Bees were massively on top.

So suddenly it’s all change. The United crowd burst into life after half an hour of slumber, and give their team a sudden injection of belief as they tried to take the game to the Bees. Could have swung the game completely if United had anyone up front who could finish.

The second half carried on much the same as the first. The Bees came out the traps continuing to play excellent football whist United sat back and dreamt of Wembley. Diagouraga, Douglas, Dallas and Trotta went close for Brentford whereas Flynn and Porter went close for the Blades in a rare United foray on the Bees goal.

We have always found our trips to Sheffield enjoyable – this one included – and Sheffield fans have always been by and large extremely hospitable. If by any chance our paths don’t cross next season, the trip to Bramall Lane will be sorely missed. United fans we spoke to after the game felt that Brentford played some great football but lacked that cutting edge in comparison to Wolves who they played a few weeks back who looked like they would score every time they went forward.

Delighted with a point, they were at the same time extremely complementary saying Brentford were a good side and felt the Bees would go up. They also promised to do us a favour when Rotherham went down there next week. Hopefully they’ll stick to their word.

Put it down to lack of confidence. Tiredness. Nervousness. The most disappointing thing about this Sheffield result was, like the Oldham game, Brentford could have nabbed all three points and, with Wolves dropping points at lowly Stevenage, looked to re-ignite their title challenge.

But on the flip-side, every Brentford fan we spoke to before the game said “I’d take a point now”. And that’s exactly what Brentford did. They didn’t lose. They stubbornly ground out a result. Something that promotion teams are supposed to do. Something that Charlton did when they won the league a few seasons back. Something that Brentford needed to do. Two losses in 28 matches. That’s excellent form. Let’s not get too greedy.

The draw meant Brentford increased the gap against their rivals not only giving them a bigger cushion but also psychologically giving them a huge advantage as they go into this crucial 7 day spell.

Wins against Notts County and Crawley will really set Brentford in the driving seat teeing up the match at Swindon as a real nail biter. It’s now time for the fans more than ever to really get behind the team.

The Notts County game is looking lively and remember it’s buy one ticket get one free for the Crawley game on Tuesday 10th April.

United was a great result. Let’s now put that behind, get your mates down to Griffin Park over the next few games and – in the words of Public Enemy – bring the noise.

BillytheBee
@billythebee99