Well, Easter Monday was a little bit of a damp squib frankly. A soulless stadium, devoid of home support, with nothing to play for, and that seemed to infect most of the players and travelling away fans. It really had the feel of a meaningless game. Nothing was going to take the shine off the Bees promotion party, though, although the general mood around the fans was one of general relaxation. Maybe the party mood hadn’t quite hit the still shocked Bees fans, maybe we just don’t know how to react to being promoted with 3 games to go, maybe we’re just boring old farts….I dunno, the feeling is really weird!
So, now to the even more meaningless game against Colchester. Wolves (congrats) are Champions. No-one can or will catch us. However, there is something to play for……..we could send Colchester down! Being professional, we ought to be doing our best for the likes of Tranmere, Crewe, Notts County and Carlisle, so unlike the game against Franchise FC aka MK Dons, this game could have a bit of an edge. And let’s face it, there’s nothing like rubbing oppositions’ faces in the mud and sending any team down has a certain feeling of smugness that surrounds it. Sure, meet them in the pub afterwards and sympathise, but let’s face it, the chant of “that’s why you’re going down” always bring a smile to most fans’ faces, even more so if it really is an act of incompetence.
Colchester will be worried about us. We, of course, won’t be worried about them in the slightest, but they will be about us. Colchester’s top 3 scorers, Freddie Sears, Jabo Ibhere and Marcus Bean have a combined total of 18 goals in the league. That’s only 1 more than Clayton has scored in the league this season. In fairness to the U’s, they don’t really seem to get spanked, and appear to get plenty of shots off on goal, so they will pose a threat. And, they are fighting for their lives. However, they have only won 1 game in their last 8, losing 5 of them, so they are not exactly high on confidence either.
So, what to expect on Saturday? Colchester will try to attack us, fluff their lines, and the mass of Bees fans will be taking the mick as best as we can. Certainly, expect another Conga. Oh, and lots of Bees fans in fancy dress, seeing as it’s the last away game of the season. It would be a travesty if King Kev doesn’t get another sub’s appearance and get to 499, so I predict he will make another appearance. I also predict Clayton will blaze the ball over the bar at one point during the game when it might seem easier to score. Bob the Kitman might well get sung at again, and Sammy Saunders will milk any songs thrown his way too. And, at some point, we will sing about Colchester going down. I am going for a 2-1 win to the Bees in any case, with quite a big crowd (I believe we are taking up around 2700), and the U’s will surely come out in force to watch the mighty Brentford.
If it’s your first visit to Colchester’s “The Weston Homes Community Stadium”, then you’re in for a disappointment, like many modern stadiums. It’s very much a bog standard identikit modern stadium that lacks character, a bit like Shrewsbury. And it’s nowhere near Colchester itself, so expect shuttle buses to take you to the station or take up the option of over-priced parking at the stadium itself.
Let’s enjoy the day, hopefully we’ll get to see champagne football from our lads, spank Colchester into submission and then head on back to London for a few.
Dan “Leicester Bee” Suh – @DanSuh_KF