Leyton Orient left Griffin Park on Monday night with another maximum three-point haul from a keenly contested match in which the Bees had dominated over all, but had once again failed to turn possession into clear goal-scoring chances – Dave Mooney’s penalty and a clinical finish from Shaun Batt sealing a 2-0 victory.
The sense of déjà vu among the home fans after the match was palpable – once again attractive, imaginative build-up play had come to nothing – with the opposition demonstrating the ruthless killer instinct that is needed in front of goal and scoring both of their two shots on target.
Leyton Orient were not at their best, but had the maturity to soak up the Bees’ pressure and look dangerous on the break. Goal-less at the interval it was clear that the game’s first goal would prove decisive in a very cat-and-mouse affair, and that’s how it proved.
Despite Brentford having taken the game to Orient in the first period, coming forward, the visitors certainly had a quality about them, but the penalty decision came out of the blue – Shaleum Logan being adjudged to have brought his man down in the area after a long ball had caught him out of position. Moody made no mistake from the spot and left the flare-smoke engulfed away end choking with joy.
Brentford have earned a reputation for their bounce-back-ability, the Bees’ never say die attitude was one of the vital ingredients that took us to the brink of promotion last campaign, but after the set-back, and despite three attacking substitutions being made (Dallas for McCormack, Teixeira for Fillo and Trotta for Grigg) the fresh legs failed to make an impact. Trotta came the closest to scoring but his shot was blocked near the line by his own player, Clayton Donaldson, for whom nothing seemed to go right on the night.
For most Bees fans this was the first chance to see the Liverpool loanee, Teixeira, about whom a lot of superlatives have already been written – but in truth he had no impact on the match and gave the ball away a lot. After the game Uwe Rosler said that we hadn’t used the young Portuguese prospect in the right way, although a couple of good passes to spread the play suggests he could be another one for the future. It is the here and now that is becoming a little concerning however.
Yes there is a hell of a long way to go this season and a couple of back-to-back wins will turn things around, but there are some very worrying traits re-emerging. The stats speak for themselves with Brentford having 17 shots to Orient’s 7 … But out of our 5 on target we scored nil whereas Orient scored both of theirs – and one was a penalty.
Many times are we going to have to read ‘punished for our mistakes’ or look at hugely disproportionate match stats in the Bees’ favour but no win to show for them? A more settled team, where we let the opposition worry about us rather than the other way around, might also be required. The Bees have been unlucky with injuries, but not all of the team changes we are witnessing are enforced – Leyton Orient are underlining how effective a settled side can be – did they chop and change worrying about us?
One look at the League One table pretty much tells you all you need to know about the Bees’ start to the season – so far, not so good.
Dave Lane
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