Brentford’s form and fortune continued to improve as the team made it three wins in a week – Marcello Trotta’s first-half goal proving decisive – but the win should have been far more emphatic. The Bees were quick out of the traps and carved out several goal-scoring chances in a dominant first 45.
The bumper crowd, which was a smidgen below 10,000, witnessed the reds play some attractive, attacking football from the start, with Shrewsbury Town also contributing to an entertaining first half. But it was the home side who created all the chances.
Kadeem Harris’ injection of wing-wizardry is certainly having the desired affect – the loanee once again demonstrating that pace and trickery in the wide positions has been one of the vital missing ingredients so far this season. And it was the Cardiff City winger who set up the winner – jinking in from the left to provide the perfect cut-back for Trotta to volley home on 20 minutes. He’s incisive, un-selfish and great to watch.
And it was the much maligned Trotta who almost doubled the advantage, his goal-bound shot being tipped over by the Shrews’ keeper Weale as the home side continued to push forward and create chances before the interval.
Shrewsbury upped the ante in the second period, in what proved to be a very different 45 minutes – I wouldn’t go as far as saying that the Bees took their foot off the gas – but there was certainly a different tempo to the home side’s play. The match statistics underline Brentford’s superiority in terms of shots and shots on target, but the Shrews edged the possession over all thanks to their second-half showing and, on another day, and with some more potent strikers, Brentford could have paid the price for not continuing where they had left off.
But, in truth, Shrewsbury rarely threatened to breach the Bees’ defence – McCormack, Bidwell, Craig and Dean looked solid at the back – meaning the words ‘David Button’ and ‘clean sheet’ can finally be used in the same sentence again.
This was far from the perfect Brentford performance, however, it is clear that a corner has finally been turned and the lads are inching towards the kind of form we had all been expecting. Nine points from nine is just what the doctor ordered, and a bumper Bees following can be expected at Crawley next weekend to cheer Uwe and his team on as they look to reel in the teams above them.
Dave Lane
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