BillytheBee looks back on an action packed weekend in Lancashire as he finds a plethora of fans who celebrated like they won the FA Cup on the trip to Oldham.
It’s that time of the season. Bees are second in the race, they can see the finish line way, way in the distance but, after a hard eight months’ toil, the team are on their hands and knees and are crawling towards it.
And, with the sun shining in Manchester for al fresco pre-match beers, meeting Gordon Banks strolling around the football museum before the game, and good banter with all sorts of different fans before the game, it looked like this was lining up to be the perfect day.
Brentford went up to Oldham with the perfect opportunity to put a decent cushion between themselves and the chasing pack. But, once again, they failed to deliver as they ground out a 0-0 draw with their Lancashire hosts.
This performance draws big parallels to games earlier in the season – pre-Stevenage lock-in – when Brentford were playing quality football but failing to carve out many decent opportunities. Carlisle at home was a prime example – a team there for the taking after being whipped by everyone else – but Brentford were unable to break them down and ended up having to share the spoils.
Oldham were very similar… A team struggling near the foot of the table unable to score goals. It should have been easy pickings for a rampant Brentford, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. In fact, if anything, it was Oldham who could have come away with a greater share of the spoils.
This trip to Boundary Road was different in so many ways. First of all, it was actually relatively warm in Lancashire so, for once, your face wasn’t frozen into a contortion by the fierce winds whipping in from the Pennines.
Secondly, the Oldham fans were potty for it. The did bring the noise – drummer and all – sharing an end with the Brentford fans which is always good for the banter. They brought their own little party to Boundary Park, which eventually the Brentford fans responded to creating a rare decent atmosphere in the ground.
Thirdly, Brentford fans actually bought relatively good numbers to Boundary Park (500 plus) – a ground where over the years we have looked for any excuse not to visit and not bad considering many of those fans will have done 1,100 away-miles in a week, including two trips to Sheffield on a Tuesday night.
Fourthly, it was actually a half-decent game for a 0-0 draw.
Oldham had the better of the first half. Button was brought into action on more than one occasion as their players smelt blood – Clarke-Harris and Philliskirk going close for the Latics.
It was all change in the Brentford line-up with Yennaris at right back, McCormack in Central midfield, Dean and Tarkowski in the middle of defence. Meanwhile, Oldham packed their midfield putting the onus on the Bees to break them down, whilst they hit us on the break when we made mistakes and gave the ball away.
This tactic caused us problems and Mark Warburton blasted the Brentford players after the match for their first half performance which was, by fairly recent standards, pedestrian and uninspiring.
The fact that teams are setting themselves up against Brentford in such a way that the Bees have to work hard to break them down is something that Warburton and the team are going to have to deal with. Harris and McAlaney gave us different options to open up stubborn defences and Sam Saunders is sorely missed with the added injection and enthusiasm he brings to games. We also miss Saville in the centre of the park and need him back for Sheffield.
It’s the ability to switch things up when it’s not going quite right which has been missing over the past month or so. And something that we need to get back on track with.
Substitute Dallas missed a gilt-edged opportunity in an improved second half to wrap up all three points for the Bees in the second half when, after excellent work by Clayton Donaldson, he was teed up just outside the six yard box. All alone with loads of space, his volley was somehow ‘miraculously’ saved by Rachubka but, in reality, he should have done better with the whole goal at his mercy.
But every cloud has a silver lining as Orient lost at home to give us an even bigger cushion. And whilst Rotherham and Preston made up more ground, automatic promotion is still very much in the Brentford’s court. The reality is, and forget the fact that we could have and maybe, on paper, should have won this game, we snagged a point away from home. A difficult point against a team fighting for their lives who raised their game against us.
Wolves lost away to unfancied Gillingham. Orient lost at home to Bradford. It’s that time of the season and there are going to be quite a few funky results flying about over the next few weeks.
The calculators were out on the train on the way home with all sorts of permutations flying about. The long and the short of it – Brentford need four wins in eight games to wrap promotion up. That’s all our home games. Possibly five. Unless Rotherham go around beating everyone including Wolves and Sheffield Utd. The fact is – our rivals are running out of games.
Tuesday against Sheffield Utd is important for morale and keeping ahead of the pack. But reality is a point on Tuesday, followed by a win in our next two home games against a resurgent Notts County and the team bordering on relegation who ironically could still make the playoffs, Crawley, keeps us very much in track for our top two target.
Only time will tell if this Oldham result will become another ‘Hartlepool’ – the game we should have won at the back-end of last season to guarantee us promotion. Thankfully, the ridiculous unbeaten run we went on has allowed us some ‘slippage’, enabling us to keep our head above water while treading furiously at times like this.
As push it up man says “Keep it tight Brentford” for the next few games before bringing in the new blood. Sam Saunders should hopefully be fit and raring to go for the run-in. His re-appearance in the team will be like Brentford making a new signing.
Hopefully, with a recharged Sam Saunders in the fold, and the team tucked into the herbal equivalent of red bull, they can then pick themselves up in April just in time to steam full force over the finish line.
BillytheBee
@billythebee99
