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Brentford were left ruing several more fat slice of bad luck yesterday, as Sheffield Wednesday left Griffin Park with an undeserved three point haul following their late winner.

Brentford, looking to build upon last week’s victory over Preston, brought James Tarkowski back into the starting line-up ahead of Yoann Barbet, in an attempt to handle the physical threat, so it was ironic that a long ball overt the top from a quick break that followed Jake Bidwell’s bar-rattler saw the game turn on its head. Tarkowski was not the last defender when he brought down Atdhe Nuhiu, so Brentford may appeal the red.

After an average start the Bees had began to look far bright, the Wednesday break and the resulting trip, red card and penalty, was an unexpected twist, however, down to ten men, and a goal behind, Dijkhuizen’s team produced a rousing second half performance in which they not only drew level, but looked set to grab a well deserved win.

The second half spirit and desire was hugely encouraging, and the arrival of Sergi Canos signalled an all-out push for victory, one that looked to be paying off.

The equaliser came from a big upfield clearance from David Button which fell to Alan Judge, the Irish forward lashing the ball home from fully 25 yards… And Griffin Park was in full voice again as the team pushed on.

Lasse Vibe skied a shot when perfectly placed and Wednesday hacked everything that moved as they desperately tried to keep Brentford at bay… So much so that they were also reduced to ten men after Jeremy Helan was dismissed for serial offending.

But, just when it seemed that a point was the least that Brentford would achieve from an entertaining clash, disaster struck – another hoofed ball caught O’Connell out, the ball hitting him on the back before he tumbled, which allowed Lucas Joao a clean run on goal – he beat Button fairly easily. The Owl’s striker then rubbed salt into Bees wounds with a strange celebration that involved taking two minutes to undo and retie his boot laces, which the referee didn’t punish and Button was shown a yellow for overstepping his protests.

As you’ll hear from the Beesotted Pride of West London podcast, there were some mixed feelings about the game back in the pub afterwards, but most fans left Griffin Park not too down in the dumps, knowing the Bees hadn’t deserved to lose.

I had a long chat with Marinus and his assistant coaches Roy Hendriksen and Simon Royce after the game, all of whom seemed very down, but adamant their team would bounce back on Tuesday night against Birmingham City.

Let’s hope so… We all need another win very soon.

Dave Lane