2025 has been one giant mess for me and because of that it had been 5 months since I last made it south to see my beloved Bees in action. Things are still a mess and may be for a while yet, but there was never any question of me missing the final home game of the season.
When the local rivals come to your backyard, you turn up to support your team in taking them down, especially when a loss would allow them to complete their first league double over you since 1939.
Brentford had been in tremendous form during the run-in too and shooting for their 5th win in a row as Fulham rocked up to our Hive and not that I’m superstitious at all but…. maybe I should have either stayed away or at least followed my normal pre-game routine.
Normally I catch trains to Kew Bridge Station, getting in at least 45 mins before kick off, grab a programme and head to my seat, picking up a pizza and a drink on the way. So, for this huge Derby showdown I got a lift from my Uncle, arriving less that 30 mins before kick off and grabbed a hot dog and a drink on my way to the seats. That may sound trivial to some, but sometimes you have reasons to do things and veering away from my traditions came back to bite this time.
The visitors took the lead thanks to Raúl Jiménez’s point blank header that crossed the line by squirming under the diving body of Mark Flekken.
In truth they were good value for their lead, but should have been down to 10 men just 4 minutes later as Kenny Tete was being run ragged by Kevin Shade on the Bees’ left wing and deserved a second yellow for a pull back identical to the one that had seen him yellow carded in the 14th minute. The ref waved away the host’s protests though, his backbone having evaporated in the 6 intervening minutes.
Going 1-0 down just 16 minutes in galvanised the hosts though and a minute after seeing their rivals get away with a huge one they had drawn themselves level, Bryan Mbuemo sweeping home after his excellent pressing work had won the ball back high and Yoane Wissa had slid the ball through into his path.
Mbuemo was clinical then, but proved to be far less so from 12 yards. Handed the chance to fire Brentford ahead from the spot, when Shade was taken down in the box, he saw Bernd Leno drop to his right and palm the ball clear of the goal in his first failure from the spot in his Brentford career. At the time it seemed not to matter, with Fulham hardly getting a touch of the ball let alone a kick, but it would come back to haunt the home fans before the final whistle.
As the game careened towards the break Brentford finally took the lead they deserved as Wissa proved his poachers instincts to tap home a Christian Nørgaard header on the goal-line. The skipper will want the credit for it but as Wissa wheeled away not a single home fan cared, we were beating Fulham and that’s all that mattered.
It clearly matter to Marco Silva in the visitors’ dugout as he made the changed that flipped the game on it’s head, first bringing on captain Tom Cairney at half-time and then unleashing Harry Wilson with 23 minutes left. These substitutions proved to be inspired as just 3 minutes after introducing Wilson to the fray the visitors had ruined the hosts’ party and taken a 3-2 lead.
Two goals in as many minutes did the trick for the visitors, starting with Cairney rising highest 6 yards out to meet a sumptuous cross and nod home. The equaliser finished off a good team move, but the winner was pure solo virtuosity.
Wilson collected the ball deep on the right, then slalomed his way around the red and white shirts all the way to the centre of the pitch, 30 yards from goal, before unleashing a sweet strike that curved its’ way into the top corner and far beyond Flekken’s reach. It was a beautiful goal worthy of winning any match, just a shame it had to be the one that lost my beloved Bees the big derby.
Completing the double over us for the first time since 1939 leaves Fulham able to overhaul us by bettering our result at Molineux when they host the wounded Mancunian beast at Craven Cottage on the final day.
To have lead for long periods of the game against your bitter rivals, who should have been reduced to 10 early doors, is an extremely bitter pill to swallow but that shouldn’t take the shine off what has been the best season in our history.
Lest we forget, we have easily secured survival and can now look forward to a 5th straight season in the top tier. A decade ago we were licking our wounds after losing the League One play-off final to Yeovil Town and now we go into the final day disappointed to only have an outside chance of qualifying for the Europa Conference League next season.
The Football tourist 