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No Brentford fan who was present inside Griffin Park on Monday 6th May 2013, or who was sat watching it on television, will ever forget the scenes on the pitch following Adam Forshaw’s winning penalty shoot-out spot kick. For what had preceded it, not just during the game, but also in the weeks leading up to the emotional meltdown at the Ealing Road end, was once again, beyond the comprehension of any drama scriptwriter.

Brentford were superb during the game, after a nervy start the Bees bossed the match, showing all and sundry what a quality outfit we are – Swindon the best footballing side in League One? Yer ‘avin a laugh. They certainly know how to score though, even when they’re being outplayed, and they’ll go up next season for sure.

Brentford went ahead courtesy of an own goal from a corner, but the Bees had been knocking on the door thanks to some great attacking play – Diagouraga and Adeyemi were outstanding in the middle, with Forshaw once again showing the kind of form that suggests we are very lucky to have him. Trotta and Donaldson were also causing all sorts of trouble, and it was this duo that combined to produce the second goal – the Italian striker teeing up Clayton on the edge of the area – his quickly taken poke finding the bottom corner to send Griffin Park wild.

Swindon weren’t in the mood to roll over through, and their persistence, after the Bees had lost possession looking for a third, plus a couple of lucky breaks, pulled them back into the tie through Adam Rooney… Brentford went in 2-1 up however, an advantage they fully deserved.

The second period was only moments old when the reds were gifted a third – Swindon giving away a cheap ball on the halfway line, which allowed Donaldson to race cleat through on goal… How many times have we seen him fluff those? Not this time though, oh no, and just as he did against Portsmouth a few weeks ago, the perfect finish was found at the perfect time… Surely that was game, set and match? Nope, don’t be soft!

Swindon then grabbed another poached goal, Joe Devera slamming home from a half-cleared corner, then, the infamous fourth minute of injury time goal spell struck again… Swindon’s giant defender, Flint, powering a header into the back of the net in yet another twist to the Bees’ season… another sickening blow, one that no team could bounce back from again, surely?

I tweeted at the time saying that no matter what happened next, it had been an amazing season, played out by a team that NEVER EVER gave up, but in my heart I was expecting the worst. Uwe had understandably brought on Paul Hayes for Trotta to help hold the ball up and count the clock down when we were 3-2 up, he wasn’t the man needed to outpace tired Swindon defenders, and with the aerial threat of Flint, I feared it would be Swindon that would score again and go on to claim a place at Wembley. Thankfully, however, a rash challenge on Donaldson by Byrne saw the ref produce a red card, and the pendulum swung back once more.

After the last couple of weeks’ drama from the spot, penalties seemed the fitting way to settle this tie, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer…. I went into some sort of trance during the shoot-out, I moved away from my friends, and just Tweeted the outcome of each kick, trying not to get dragged into the magnitude of the moment… I wouldn’t go as far as ‘staying cool’, just not wanting to have my heart ripped from my body once more when and if the ‘inevitable’ happened.

And did the ‘inevitable’ happen? Did it f*ck. The lads were robotically accurate and smashed home each and every penalty… Moore made one critical save from Story, which left Adam Forshaw to etch his place in Brentford folklore forever more.

The pitch invasion that followed was a joy to watch and be a part of … a night to remember, a night when Brentford made us proud beyond belief, a night that leaves us one match away from where we deserve to be.

Dave Lane

Beesotted’s video will be uploaded later on Tuesday, we’re piecing together all the amazing clips right now… In the meantime… Read Condorman’s great Pitch Invasion article by clicking here!