Brentford slipped to a third consecutive defeat but, in truth, the loss could have been far heavier and the Bees have David Button to thank for keeping his side in the game at the break.
The Rams came out of the blocks brightly and had the home side on the back foot from the start – Button was forced into a string of fine saves with Dean Smith’s defence, and a re-arranged midfield that included Yennaris, McEachran, Woods and Kerschbaumer and Judge, struggling to cope with powerful threat… but as the half wore on it looked as if the belief was starting to drain from Darren Wassall’s players.
Alan Judge went close with a curling shot that forced a good save from Scott Carson, while Jack O’Connell’s header flew just wide from a free kick… nil-nil at the interval.
After the break the Bees upped the ante and whatever was said at half time seemed to raise the tempo… a great run by Alan Judge was rewarded when his swerving shot found the net on 51 minutes, much to the relief of the Brentford faithful who were starting to wonder where the next Bees goal was going to come from. But could the Bees hold out or add to their lead to claim a much-needed win?
Unfortunately the Bees stopped attacking and gave away possession far too cheaply in the final period of the match, Dean Smith’s substitutions also didn’t have the desired effect – instead of fresh legs brining new energy they seemed to disrupt the home side and Marco Djuricin and John Swift failed to adapt to the pace of the game and contributed little.
David Button was finally beaten with ten minutes to go after the Bees defence stopped to appeal what looked to be a hand ball on the edge of the area – Jeff Hendrick’s strike brought the scores level – before Cyrus Christie turned the game on its head with a poached goal from a ricochet in the box.
Canos came on or Kerschbaumer in an attempt to salvage a point, and although Djuricin went close with a diving header, and the Bees had a header cleared off the line deep in injury time, it was Derby who netted again on the break – Chris Martin rubbing the Bees’ noses in it with a well taken third.
As you will see from watching the Beesotted Terrace and Pub Video (click the link at the top of the page) and from listening to the Beesotted Pride of West London Post Match Podcast (link above), there were some rather honest and frank opinions shared regarding Brentford’s worrying form of late.
Although most fans believe that we will be ultimately spared a relegation battle, clearly all is not well in the camp – Brentford have lost their spark and exciting flare in recent weeks and ten goals conceded in three matches paints a worrying picture.
The players can start to put things right on Tuesday evening when Wolves come to town, but we had been hoping for a positive response from the two previous defeats only to be disappointed and frustrated.
Come on you Bees!
Dave Lane
@beesotted100
Hi Dave – The reality is that some of our players aren’t quite good enough to challenge at the top end of this division – not their fault but true nonetheless. We were spoilt last season with the quality of players and the team played some fantastic football which has obviously raised unrealistic expectations amongst some supporters.
I take heart from the Walsall team that came down and beat us in the Cup – that team was dynamic, skilful and played some decent football – most importantly it was Dean Smith’s team and showed us what we can expect when he gets his type of players in. There’s obviously going to be a clear out in the Summer and expect to see a lot of new faces come in. Let’s all try and stick together while we’re going through this transition – the future is still very bright for this Club.
Have to agree with the above. Dean Smith has a team he inherited. He had no say or control over who has gone and was not permitted to buy any new players. They were all decisions of those above him, the Co-Directors of Football, the owner or the players themselves. After all, we have DS as he was one of the few “managers” out there who would agree to the system we now run. Now he has to show his true “managerial” credentials by working with the players who remain and organising the team structure to gain the points we need for safety. In the summer he will no doubt be given some options to buy and next summer we shall see Dean Smith’s side playing at Griffin Park.
I am somewhat nervous as to whether we will survive, as we have no strike force, a very leaky defence and a midfield that has been severely weaken by the loss of Toums and Douglas. I believe, as many have said, that we can accumulate those points from the teams that are actually worse than us. We will then end up in a league position that reflects who we are.
We are effectively in pre-season training for next 2016/17 already but with a lots of pressure and potential cost.
Relieved after last night. We can do it. It is in no way Dean Smith’s team for next summer, but a team that he can organise to hold there own in this league for now, albeit not up against the top bunch. Great result, well done!