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Beesotted contributor, Chris Horricks, provides us with a timely reminder of some of the amazing moments the left boot (and head) of a certain Jose Ignacio Peleteiro Ramallo has dished up this season… Take a bow Mr Jota, thanks for some amazing memories during 2014/15.

So here we are, two games to go and ‘Tinpot Brentford’ are still very much in the hunt for a Play-Off spot. Back in August opening the season without a win in the first 3 games and looking as if we’d be in for a long slog and relegation dog fight, even the most optimistic Bees fan would have struggled to see how we’d get into the top half let alone top quarter, after all there were surely far too many ‘big clubs’ in our way. But then something changed, something marvellous, something incredible and certainly something very Un-Brentford.

That thing was the arrival as a second half substitute in an away game at Blackpool, one Jose Ignacio Peleteiro Ramallo, or as it said on the back of his shirt JOTA. Stuart Dallas and Alex Pritchard may have scored the goals at Bloomfield Road that night but there was a certain spark about the little Spaniard that suggested that if his influence could rub off on the rest of the team that something out of the ordinary could just happen. Within minutes of coming on he could have found himself on the score sheet with a run from deep resulting in a shot that narrowly avoided the far post.

At his own admittance he took a little while to find his feet in England and was initially only used as a substitute while he got up to speed with the physical nature of The Championship. Even during the settling in stage he managed to find the net in a 3-0 win over Leeds United at Griffin Park, a goal taken with such style and aplomb that we started to wonder if at £1.5m this could be as significant a signing as when Manchester United bought Eric Cantona from Leeds for £1m. Whilst the fee paid may pail into insignificance compared with the £90m for Gareth Bale and his ilk, Jota coming to TW8 from La Liga sent out a signal of intent and change.

While we as fans may never know what happens in training it would be a fair assumption to suggest that Jota’s technique and ambition may have forced his fellow midfielders to up their game in order to not be left behind. Take Toumani for instance, within the cause of a season he’s gone from apparent ‘outcast’ loaned out to Portsmouth to consistently putting in man of the match performances, never seeming to put a foot wrong, dovetailing sublimely with Dougie.

Steadily finding his feet and getting rave reviews in the process for jinking runs and skill the likes of which we’d not seen in a Brentford shirt for generations if indeed ever before. On one Friday evening in a televised match there was a moment that etched him into the Griffin Park hall of fame instantly. This wasn’t just another game, this was a home game against Fulham, 10 minutes from the end Fulham led by a goal to nil, but a Harlee Dean screamer of an equaliser brought parity.

In the past Bees teams of old would have settled for a draw against a side full of internationals and multi million pound players, but that’s not how our team and club operate now, in stoppage time Alan Judge controlled a ball like a performing seal before a pin point pass found Jota wide on the wing, taking a quick glance to see what options were open to him, he quickly decided to take matters into his own hands, or rather feet, cutting in and jinking past Fulham defenders as if they weren’t there before unleashing a shot that flew into the net like a rocket sending Bees fans everywhere into delirium. In addition to the goal winning the game it also gave birth to a song which has echoed around many a stadium in the following months, that of the now vastly popular ‘Jota, In The Last Minute’. Bees fans hold him in high regard and sing his song as often as we do, due in no small part to the regularity of him scoring at the death.

His 10 goals at the time of writing have all been outstanding however three stand out, the forth at Fulham (also in the last minute), the magnificent top corner strike at Cardiff and arguably the best of the bunch at Blackburn, a 70 yard run followed by low drive causing Mark Burridge on Bees Player to go into his now customary cry of GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL JOTA!!!!

He gives us that extra something that has been missing for far too long that other clubs have had and that is hope, while he’s on the pitch there could always be a last minute goal if its needed to salvage a draw or even win a game, its not only goals that have made him adored his left foot needs to be seen to be believed, its less a body part than a magic wand weaving his spell over other teams and picking out runs from the rest of the dynamic midfielders at our disposal.

Regardless of what happens at the end of the season be it in 2 games, 4 games or who knows maybe even 5. We have had an excellent season for a newly promoted club tipped by many to go straight back down and have had the joy of watching Jota, even if the vultures take him from us 2014/15 will live long in the memory as the year a star was born

SING IT LOUD, SING IT PROUD….JOTA…..IN THE LAST MINUTE

Chris Horricks