The Football tourist

East London’s Finest

On Tuesday 27th March 2024 I stepped back in time 5 years to The Braemer Road Stand of Griffin Park, just 15.1 miles away from the original.

Despite having seen Brentford handily humiliated in this area the day before (https://the-football-tourist.com/2024/02/27/smashed-to-pieces/) I went back to the east end for a second evening in a row, but this time I took the precaution of dropping down 2 leagues to take in a promotion 6-pointer in League One.

The setting for this mighty battle was Brisbane Road, now known as the Gaughan Group stadium for sponsorship reasons but which I will continue to call by its original name, a ground that has been on my football bucket list for years.

Stepping inside the ground was like stepping back into a memory, a beautiful memory laced with gold that left me floating on air. As the teams were announced and I watched the teams begin their walk down the tunnel I was praying for a home win to keep me floating.

To any Brentford fans missing the Old Ground I cannot recommend a trip to Brisbane Road highly enough, from the exterior to the food, from the view to the loos it will take you back to your favourite games at Griffin Park and the joy of celebrating that victory in the pub of your choice. (mine was The New Inn)

**The Teams and Fans Pay Tribute To The Late Great Stan Bowles**

The game that drew me to this glorious ground was a must win for Leyton Orient as they played host to Blackpool with both teams sitting on the brink of the playoff places.

Orient were 2 points behind their visitors as the Seasiders got us underway, knowing that any win would see them leapfrog their opponents and close the gap to the promised land.

The first half was equal parts combative and skillful, with the visitors making much of the early running. On the front foot they went after their hosts with both CJ Hamilton and Callum Connolly taking it on themselves to drive the hosts back.

Early on the hosts seemed especially petrified of Hamilton and doubled up on him whenever he had possession. Perhaps this fear was warranted as it was through his excellent work that the first true chance was crafted, sliding a tantalising cross through the host’s 6 yard area that Jake Beesley was mere inches from tapping home.

His sliding effort was followed up less than a minute later with a powerful drive from 16 yards out by Jordan Gabriel that cleared the bar by a good few feet.

The Tangerines were the only team causing their opposition problems early on though and if they had taken their early chances the outcome of the match could have been so different, but they didn’t and The O’s began to grow into the game.

It took them 23 minutes for the hosts to create a clear opening to test Daniel Grimshaw between the Blackpool sticks and when they did it was a test that was far too easy to pass with Omar Beckles trying to cut the ball inside to Ruel Sotiriou and sliding it behind him instead, straight into the stride of the recovering defender.

This was enough to fire up Tom James at left back though as he picked up the ball in midfield and drove toward the visitors box before laying it off to a teammate to mess up the shot. Finally seeing their team take the game by the scruff of the neck was a huge morale boost for the home support, who made their presence known for the first time in the 25 minutes from kick-off.

James’ solo effort from 25yards a minute later was hooked so far wide that he may have regretted not leaving the shooting duties to a teammate once more, but he was single-handedly forcing his team into the reckoning.

***Should’ve Rented A Flat At Any Corner***

Neither team was able to get the breakthrough before half-time and neither manager was happy enough with what they’d seen from their side to leave things be during the break either.

Both managers dipped into their bench, but it’s fair to say that Richie Wellen’s idea to switch George Moncur with Rob Hunt worked out far better for the hosts than Neil Critchley deciding to bring on Andy Lyons for Jordan Gabriel did for the visitors.

Less than 15 minutes into the second half Lyons would be heading back down the tunnel on a stretcher, having gone down with no-one near him clutching his leg. It is never nice to see anyone leave the pitch this way and when a player goes down with no-one near him it is rarely good news.

In the days since the game Critchley has confirmed that Lyons sustained a knee injury that “doesn’t look good”,

The worst part about this setback for Blackpool was it capped off a period of Orient domination that also saw the hosts take the lead.

***Never Nice To See, I Wish Andy Lyons A Swift Recovery***

The Seasiders had come out the tunnel swinging and were in the hosts area within a minute of the O’s kick-off, but that was the highpoint of their half as minutes later they were hit with the sucker punch.

Sotiriou burst out down the right wing and fed the ball across the box to Ollie O’Neill in the left channel. He announced himself to the home support with a delicious finish smashed across the keeper and into the bottom right corner of the net.

It was a brilliant sweeping move from the East Londoners to spark joy in the home stands, but with that joy came a distinct wariness. Orient had only won once in the last 3 games they took the lead and the first of those they lost in the 88th minute, so the home fans were unwilling to celebrate the 3 points before the final whistle.

The players did their best to calm the fans nerves though by bossing the rest of the half, barely giving the Tangerines a kick. Sol Brynn could’ve taken a nice half hour nap after the hour mark, his team were so in control he had vanishingly little to do between the sticks.

It was only when the ref blew the final whistle and the win was secured that the home stands allowed themselves to explode in ecstasy.

After a shaky opening 20, where they were lucky not to drop behind their visitors, the hosts took the match by the scruff of the neck and never let it go. It was a pleasure to witness.

From the second I saw the stadium to the moment it slipped from view on my way back to the tube this team had my soul.

In West London I have my beloved Bees (forever my number 1), south of the Thames it’s AFC Wimbledon that command my loyalty (a pleasure to know they won the ‘Dons Derby’ at the weekend, but now I have found a third London love. Orient are my East London Love story.

Sure the ground is a little run down in places, but the experience from start to finish was just magical. I will be back again some day for another match supporting East London’s Finest.

Tonight though I’m back off east to Yorkshire and Bradford City’s Valley Parade, my third new ground in a week.

Smashed To Pieces

No beating around the bush on this one. Brentford were abysmal at the London Stadium last night as the Hammers carved through them with ease and were extremely unfortunate to only score 4.

The final scoreline of 4-2 was extremely flattering on the visitors as they had no answer to the fast flowing football of a West Ham United team desperate to turn their fortunes around, having lost the last 6 on the bounce in all competitions.

David Moyes had spoken before the game about a new contract being on the table for him to sign, but that he was waiting to do so until the end of the season. Perhaps he’s hoping to be able to renegotiate the terms to be far more personally lucrative and if they have many more performances like last nights he will get that wish.

From the moment they kicked things off the hosts stamped their authority on proceedings and by the time the Bees managed to string together a meaningful period of possession 10 minutes later they were already 2-0 behind.

The worst thing about that scoreline is that it could easily have been doubled if Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek had their shooting boots on. Within 3 minutes of kick-off Kudus was fed the ball in acres of space on the edge of the box but he shanked his shot so badly that it flew out into touch for a Brentford throw-in on the far touchline.

A minute later Soucek followed this up by expertly chipping the ball over the bar from point blank range, after the ball had been slid beautifully through to him from the left wing, as he floated away from whoever was supposed to be marking him.

His finish would have made for a stunning drop goal at Twickenham, and given England’s loss in the Calcutta Cup the previous day they could probably do a lot worse than to give him a call-up, but it fell to his teammate Jarrod Bowen to show him what was needed here at the London Stadium less than 60 seconds later.

The Hammers midfielders flooded forward on the left once again, to fill the void where the right side of the Bee’s defence should have been, before providing the perfect cross to the feet of the onrushing Bowen for him to fire past a stranded Mark Flekken with just 5 minutes on the clock.

Less than 2 minutes later Bowen double his and the Hammer’s account for the evening with a second goal as similar to the first as Dolly the Sheep was to Finn (who was the original sheep that Dolly was a cloned from).

As an away fan the most frustrating thing about Bowen’s quickfire brace was how little he had to do get it. The right side of our defence had disintegrated as the hosts tore down that wing at will to the point where, having arrived moments before kick-off, I hadn’t yet realised that it was Zanka and Keane Lewis-Potter on that side rather than our normal first choice pairing of Ethan Pinnock and Mads Roerslev.

Given that Pinnock is one of the last remaining members of the treatment room at Jersey Road this should have dawned on me earlier, but it had not done so for as far as I was concerned that side of the defence had been a mere mirage thus far.

When Brentford pulled one back entirely against the run of play just 4 minutes after the completion of Bowen’s Brace I was beginning to wonder if both defences were mirages.

Neil Maupay pulled one back for the bruised Bees by rifling a pile driver past a statuesque Alphonse Areola after Zanka and Lewis-Potter proved their existence was real with some intricate interplay on the right to break up field from yet another Hammer’s attack.

Having halved the deficit out of nothing, we should have had the chance to equalise from the spot moments later as Kudus shoved Sergio Reguilon over in the box for an absolute stonewall penalty that could be seen from the other end of the stadium.

The only people who apparently didn’t see it were the referee and the VAR lot back at Stockley Park…

These two little nuggets of hope seemed to finally rouse the Bees from their early slumber as we actually defended reasonably well for the rest of the half and despite their complete dominance of possession we managed to restrict their lead to just 2-1 at the break.

As teams headed down the tunnel and I trudged down the stairs to grab a much needed drink I turned to the man next to me and uttered the famous last words “it can only get better” because I know we are a far better team than we had shown so far.

***Gaps In The Home End and Still 10 To Play***

The first 15 minutes of the second half were a huge improvement from the Bees as they managed more than a sprinkling of attacks into the Hammer’s half, then Bowen put this burgeoning comeback back in it’s box by completing his first ever senior hat-trick.

His final goal of his maiden hat-trick came from yet another flowing move down the hosts right that ended with a teasing cross through the corridor of uncertainty for him to nod home from an almost identical position to his first two finishes. Even from my long range viewpoint the unleashing of relief was clear to see in his celebration.

As with his quickfire brace in the first half his goal this half was followed up minutes later with the host’s 4th of the night.

This time Bowen delegated the scoring to Emerson Palmieri who stepped up to the task beautifully with a cultured finish from 30 yards out that flew straight as a javelin into the top left corner of the goal. It was a finish of such beauty that even seeing my team go 4-1 I could not resist a little applause for the brilliance of the shot.

This second quickfire Hammer’s brace, combined with a long overdue triple substitution, fired the visitors back to life again.

We often come alive in the final 15 minutes of a match and we did so again here but, even with the host’s legs falling out from underneath them, this time round we had left ourselves far too big of a mountain to climb.

With 8 minutes remaining and the home fans starting to filter out towards the tube stations two of the visitors substitutes combined to provide the Bee’s with a consolation goal. Mikkel Damsgaard picking the ball up in midfield before feeding Yoane Wissa down the left who advanced to the edge of the box before smashing a low drive under Areola and into the bottom left corner.

The final 8 minutes of normal time and the 7 of injury time were all Brentford as they tried desperately to score the brace they needed to walk away from what had until this point been an unmitigated disaster of a performance.

It was a wonderful dream as the visitors played their best football of the evening but, like climbing Mount Everest in nothing more than a shell-suit, it proved to be an impossible task.

Frank Onyeka and Ivan Toney both came close though with Areola having to pull off incredible claw-out saves from both in the dying minutes to keep the host’s lead intact.

So a game that could easily have ended 7-5 to the hosts if both teams had scored their sitters, as well as the ones they did put away, instead ended just 4-2 to the Hammers as they deservedly returned to wining ways after a rough period.

As for the Bee’s… well there is at least some hope to take out of the final 15 minutes of the match, but the rest of it was rather sobering to witness and with Chelsea up next at home before a trip to the title-hunting Arsenal we could be heading to Burnley for a relegation 6 pointer in 19 days time.

That may be the next Bee’s game I’m able to make and all I can hope for is that we play better than we did last time we went to Turf Moor when I sat through what, to that date, was the worst 45 minutes, from the visitors, that I had ever seen in a football ground.

At least the only way from here is up.

Corporate Franchise Strikes Again

I really should have learnt better by now than to go to matches at the soulless warehouse belonging to the English franchise of the biggest corporate entity in global football.

I have been to countless matches there and only enjoyed one due to a virtuoso performance from their employee of the year, Erling Haaland.

Yep that’s right I was back at the Etihad on Tuesday to see if my beloved Bees could follow up the miracle of Wolverhampton by emerging from City’s lair with all 3 points for the second season running.

That was always going to be a tall order, as the Manchester franchise is by far and away the most successful of the corporation’s 13 international outposts, but with Kevin DeBruyne left on the bench and Haaland suffering a dry spell in front of goal it was still possible right?

***The Corporate Franchise Headquarters***

It seemed eminently possible as the match crawled through the first half with the visitors avoiding being bored to death by the corporation’s patented method of lateral 5 yard passes on the edge of the box.

I have never understand the draw of this drab brand of football and it seems that the locals didn’t either as even 30 minutes into the match there were still a plethora of empty seats in the home stands.

Perhaps part of that could be attributed to the truly atrocious weather that had seen the clouds unloading a torrent of water onto Manchester throughout the day, but then fans of most teams will follow their heroes to the ends of the earth no matter the weather…

Before the half hour mark it would’ve been acceptable to put this down to the breakdown of the local trams causing many people to have to walk from the central stations. That happened half an hour before kick-off though and the walk is 40 minutes tops.

The corporation is well aware of the limited appeal of it’s offering as they have the only stadium I’ve visited where there is Wi-Fi at you seat.

Despite the odd Brentford break to add excitement to proceedings it took less than 25minutes for the corporate franchise to bore me out of my skull and send me to check the scores from the lower leagues and the Champions League matches just to maintain my sanity.

From the growth of the empty seats around the stadium in the early exchanges of the second half it seems that many of the home supporters decided that 45 minutes of torture was quite enough, but they were about to miss the best part of the franchise’s night.

The worst part of City’s goal from an away fan’s perspective is that it came at the end of a 5 minute period where the Bees actually had the ball at their feet and were keeping it up the right end for once. Unfortunately nothing came of that possession and when City broke disaster struck.

The ball was punted forwards and looked to be landing at the feet of Kristoffer Ajer, until he slipped on the sodden ground and let the ball squirm past him. He was the last man and Haaland was rewarded for chasing a lost cause with the simplest chance to get back to scoring ways.

The Norwegian talisman put himself back on track for another colleague of the season award by slipping a simple finish past a marooned Mark Flekken, who had been brilliant on the few occasions he had been called on in the previous 70 minutes.

He was hardly called on in the remaining 19 minutes either as the corporates were happy to just sit on their lead and carry off the profit of the 3 points with their patented 5 yard pass to boredom style.

To be fair to them it worked and Brentford were far too willing to just sit back and let them get on with it.

The way to get after this franchise is to get physical with them, or at the very least close them down to within 10 yards when they have the ball and their visitors did that far too rarely across the 90 minutes.

I can only hope that they play far more on the front foot as I travel to see them take on West Ham United at the London Stadium on Monday, whilst next on the corporate franchise’s hit list is a Saturday afternoon trip to the seaside to take on AFC Bournemouth, on the other end of the football ownership scale.

For all the neutrals they will be hoping the fan’s club destroy the franchise beside the seaside as another City cakewalk to the title would spell doom for the Premier League from an entertainment and fan enjoyment perspective.

Liverpool may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but surely seeing them give Jurgen Klopp a heavy metal send off with a title, and a parade that all the fans can actually attend this time, would be a far better spectacle than seeing a couple of fans punch the air outside the Etihad after yet another City success.

Arsenal are also still in the title race and the outpouring of joy that would fill the streets of North London as Gunner’s fans see the trophy return to their part of the city for the first time since the Invincibles delivered glory 20 years ago would blow the joy of the Olympics across the Channel out of the water.

As a Londoner, Arsenal would be my first choice for the title but after what I had to endure on Tuesday I’ll take anyone but City.

**A Scoreless Draw Would Have Been More Appropriate**

Witnessing A Miracle

It was Saturday 10th February 2024 and in Wolverhampton a miracle was occurring… for the first time in 11 months Brentford won a match outside London!!!!

Our victims back on 10th March 2023 were a Southampton team destined for relegation but this sunny afternoon we beat a comfortably mid-table team that had already beaten us twice this season.

Not only had they come to our patch and thrashed us 4-1 earlier in the season, they had also knocked us out of the FA Cup just 3 and a half weeks before this match.

It’s fair to say my hopes for a positive result were as low as the Dutch would be below sea-level without their delta-works.

Little did I realise I was in for the shock of my life as I witnessed a miracle from the god’s perspective. Yes, the seats really were that high up.

From minute one we were positive in taking the game to the hosts and our first big chance fell to Ivan Toney in the 10th minute as he got ahead of his marker from a corner to nod the ball towards the bottom corner. Unfortunately, Jose Sa was equal to it and sunk into the grass to ponce on the ball.

This positive start was not without it’s dicey moments though as Mark Flekken was called into emergency action just 4 minutes later. Previously this would have spelt disaster for the Bees as Flekken has struggled to fill the shoes of the departed David Raya this season, but I had been told that his performances had improved drastically in recent matches.

Here he proved that was more than just talk as he dove to his left to pull off a point blank save to ensure the hosts didn’t take a lead they didn’t deserve.

Soon afterwards Nathan Collins was in top form to clear up the mess when Christian Norgaard left a pass back way too short and the Wolves looked to pounce.

With Flekken and his defenders holding things steady at the back the rest of the team were free to push the Wolves back deep into their den and Sergio Reguilon was next to go close for the Bees, but once again Sa was equal to the effort.

It took 20 minutes for the hosts to put together a decent spell of possession, but when they finally got it they were able to make it last a full 10 minutes due to the lack of an out-ball for their visitors. Toney was too busy helping out at the back to fulfil his role of terrorising the opposition back line.

Neil Maupay broke this siege with a solo effort where he scythed through the opposition from halfway to find his way into an incredible position, only to dribble his shot towards goal for Sa to scoop up with ease.

This wasted effort was not to matter for long though as with just 10 minutes of the first half to go Brentford took the lead, Christian Norgaard sweeping the ball home from close range after Reguilon smashed the ball through the corridor of uncertainty after bursting down the left wing.

One last brilliant point blank reflex save from Flekken was all it took for Brentford to lead at the break once again in the Premier League this season.

Despite the joy of my team surging down the tunnel with a 1-0 lead in their pockets to show for the best team performance I had seen from the Bees all season there was still part of me that expected the worst.

I even had the script written ‘Brentford throw away yet another lead this season’, but this time there was a plot twist, we held onto the lead and not only that….. we increased it!!!

Wolves came out of the traps fast in the second half with the fresh legs of their half-time substitute Nathan Fraser, who replaced Toti, helping to force them forwards. They even had the ball in the back of the net within 5 minutes of the restart, but Craig Dawson’s finish was chalked out for offside after a torturously long VAR check.

This let off gave the visitors all the motivation they needed to get back on the front foot and with Toney finally released into his natural role, plus the fresh legs of Yehor Yarmoliuk to torment the host’s midfield we were all over the hosts.

When the second goal came it was through our messiah. Toney heading home from 6 yards having ghosted into space to be in the perfect place to provide the finish to Vitaly Janelt’s teasing cross from the right.

At this point I had gone from a doubter to a believer as the visitors swarmed all over their hosts. We were unlucky not to add a third goal in the 13 minutes that remained.

For the first time travelling with the Bees this season there was no point that I felt that familiar foreboding dread in the pit of my stomach that we were gonna throw it away again, we were back to our best.

As the final whistle blew to confirm our 2-0 victory I was shocked into silence as everyone around me drowned in ecstasy.

Having followed my beloved Brentford all over the country all year with not a single success to show for my loyalty it took the whole of the tram ride back to Birmingham New Street before I accepted that I wasn’t dreaming and had witnessed was real.

The miracle happened and now we could head to the Etihad next with hope of another.

This match is just an hour’s walk from my flat and as I walk there tonight I will hope for a second miracle in just 10 days.

It’s Not All Doom And Gloom

Looking at Brentford’s results and performances from orbit, one win a piece every month since November, it certainly looks like we are in an unescapable downwards spiral.

Once you zoom in a little though the signs we may just be turning the corner are there.

The days of collapses where one goal for the opposition causes all our plans to go to pot are done. Wolves and Crystal Palace both took us to the cleaners last month, but when we have conceded in January we have kept ourselves in the match and invariably been able to keep things together enough to score another goal.

Our last 3 games have all ended 3-2 and in each one we have scored after our opponents have hit one past us. This huge improvement in the mental strength of the team is a huge positive for us and if Thomas Frank can keep this change going as crucial players return from injury and international duty then we will be set well for the rest of the season.

The greatest news for us Brentford fans is that this improvement in mental fortitude began before the return of the Prodigal Son, Ivan Toney.

Yes, we lost the last game before his return but even in that match at Molineux we managed to pull ourselves back into the lead after the hosts had pulled themselves level. Okay, so we did lose that one in extra time but we also managed to take it that far and only lost to a controversial, and extremely soft, penalty.

Then Toney returned for the Forest game and things really started looking up.

***The Genius Takes Centre Stage Again***

Leaving aside the idiotic defending to allow Danilo to open Forest’s account, the transformation when Toney took charge of proceedings with his incredible free-kick and the way he drives standards throughout the team was amazing.

With Ivan back and staying with us until at least the end of the season the standards throughout the team will continue to rise and rise, even Mads Roerslev played well against Forest, and results will follow.

Ethan Pinnock, Ben Mee and Kristoffer Ajer have all returned to shore up the defence. With 8 goals conceded in the last 3 games it is clear they have a long way to go but with each game they play together the wall will toughen up. Once their understanding comes back the days of conceding 3 goals a game we will start moving back up the table.

Even better news is that the City game tonight will be our last game without our AFCON and Asian Cup players. The return of Frank Onyeka, Yoane Wissa and Saman Ghoddos from their international duties, hopefully with some trophies in toe, will bring further steel to our attack.

Once they return we will be back to an almost fully fit squad, almost….

With this joyous accomplishment behind us we can push on with the job of turning 6 losses in our last 7 into a much better run and surging further clear of the relegation zone than our current 3 point ‘cushion’

Starting tonight we have 17 matches to turn this season around and as things start going our way again I have complete faith that we will manage to not only secure our top flight status for a 4th season running, but also push into the top half of the table.

We had a mid season spell like this in our first Premier League season and we managed to turn that around and we will do it again!!!

Good Luck Tonight Bees!!!!

The Cost Of Loyalty

Most people doing 60hour weeks with shifts all over the place would have used their first day off in 10 days to rest and recuperate.

Football fans are not most people and so it was that yesterday afternoon I found myself on a train to Wolverhampton to watch my team take on the Wolves at their den.

The sheer stupidity of this decision is hard to overstate. Not only could Brentford not defeat the evening’s opponents with a player advantage for 80 minutes of the original tie, but they had not won a game outside London since March last year and I had a 10 hour shift today starting at 6am.

Oh, and the last train back north was timed so that if the match went to extra time I would have to leave them playing to run for it. Such is my loyalty to my beloved Bees that despite all these factors I still made my way to Molineux.

As expected it was the hosts that were on top from the first minute as they pushed forward in waves, shoving the Bee’s deeper and deeper towards their own penalty area. Then one of those magical moments that every football fan knows well occurred….

After being battered for the first 11 minutes of the match and utterly against the run of play, to the extent I uttered the phrase ‘Where the F*** did that come from?’ in my Audio notes.

Brentford took the lead!!

Quite how we scored I will probably never know as shock overtook me for a good 30seconds after Nathan Collins smuggled it home.

Brentford were leading away from London, but even as ‘How S*** must you be, were winning away’ rung around the stand around me all I could think was ‘How long can we hold onto this?’.

The answer was 14 minutes, that’s how long we could hold out under the onslaught even with both Ben Mee and Kristoffer Ajer returning from injury to bolster the back line.

After numerous let-offs the hosts it was a simple break down the left that gave them the equaliser they thoroughly deserved. When the cross was curled across to the back post Nelson Semedo snaffled it home at the second time of asking, his first shot having rebounded back to him off the sprawling Thomas Strakovsha.

A brilliant display of last ditch-defending got us to half-time with the scores still level, but make no mistake the pack of Wolves had been leagues ahead of their visitors all half.

Only the scoresheet that did not reflect their dominance of proceedings.

Brentford had failed to offer much to the first half proceedings, apart from the goal and they came out for the second half determined to make up for that dour first half display.

It took them just 8 minutes of the half for the visitors to take the lead for the third time across the two ties and as in the first tie it was Neil Maupay who provided the finishing touch to a lovely team move down the left.

The ball was flashed into the centre and as Josh DaSilva failed to bring it under control Maupay pounced to poke it home and, after a torturous VAR wait, Brentford once again lead the match.

This time the lead would stick for longer, but not by much….

It took 23 minutes for the Old Gold to draw level once again and this time their equaliser came through the home-town hero Nathan Fraser, who is just 18years old and had been bought on just minutes before, who equalised with his first touch.

Fraser would have dreamt of a moment like this the night before the match, but watching him rifle home from point blank range was a soul crushing punch in the gut for those away fans who had made the doomed journey to support our heroes. Such is the cost of loyalty when you trust in it against every shred of common sense in your soul.

We were lucky to make it to the final whistle with the scores still even, but they would not stay so in extra time.

I was slipping into a deep sleep on the train back north when Wolves won it from the penalty spot in the 105th minute, but I have since seen the ‘incident’ that led to the penalty on highlights packages.

All I have to say about it is that I’m sure I’ve seen softer penalties, but I can’t remember when…’

Though perhaps it was Karma for how the first tie and the first half of this replay had gone as Wolves were definitely the better team over the 120 minutes I saw.

When you let the lead slip through your fingers three times you don’t really deserve to go though and I hope the home fans enjoy their Black Country Derby at the Hawthorns next Sunday.

The best summing up of Brentford in this Third Round tie came from Thomas Frank himself in the programme for this match.

“When you play 11 against 10 for 80 minutes, you’ve got to win, end of discussion”

As for where Brentford go from here it’s simple. We go back to London and regroup for Saturday as IVAN TONEY RETURNS FROM HIS BAN.

Nottingham Forest will be our opponents for that match and, despite last night’s display, I will be in the home fans cheering on my beloved Bees, mostly to witness the return of the prodigal son

Wombles Kneecapped

Ten days ago, my last day off, I headed south of the Thames to support the ultimate underdogs in their fight against a team from two divisions above them in the FA Cup 3rd round.

In the last 2 rounds AFC Wimbledon had managed a high-five of goals of goals, but before that lulls you into a false sense of Security about how easy this tie would be for them it’s worth noting that Cheltenham Town and Ramsgate were nowhere near the standards of their next opponents.

Ipswich Town have spent the season so far sitting comfortably in the Championship promotion places and looking destined to return to the top domestic table next season. The Wombles have faced many challenges since 2001, but in the Tractor Boys they faced their hardest opposition in years.

The True Dons took to this test brilliantly, giving as good as they got in the early midfield battle, but then they gave away a corner in the 7th minute and things started to go wrong.

A simple ball in was headed away in the centre where it fell to the feet of Nathan Broadhead unmarked on the edge of the D. His shot wasn’t great but as it ricocheted through the forest of legs it’s flight bamboozled Alex Bass in the Dons’ goal opening the scoring for the visitors.

Wimbledon refused to be beaten by this though as they created an opening 3 minutes later, it ultimately led to nothing of note for the hosts, but Ipswich knew they were in for a battle at least.

If that hadn’t tipped them off they certainly couldn’t miss the next indication, the hosts were level 10 minutes after going behind. Jake Reeves, the host’s captain, was the man who fired home the equaliser from the penalty spot, smashing it above the keeper’s dive.

The penalty was a gift for the hosts, as a defender dragged down a Don a the back post as the ball was swung in from a corner. Reeves took full advantage of this gift and with this confidence boost behind them the hosts pushed on in search of a second.

Aron Sasu had the opportunity a minute later when he was released on the right wing, but without any support his one-on-one with Christian Walton was quickly taken from him by some excellent last ditch defending by Freddie Ladapo.

The next five minutes of the match belonged to The Dons’ Harry Pell as he went from failing to finish off a flowing move down the left, to clipping the heels of Sam Morsy as the Tractor Boy’s captain tried to break. From being close to giving his team the lead to collecting a yellow card, it was a minute to forget for the Don’s number 8.

As the game barrelled towards half-time the host’s not only had opposition under control, but had so many chances to take the lead that I couldn’t list them all. The only problem for the Wombles was that they failed to take advantage of any of them.

Then things went wrong in the last 10 of the half.

Alex Pearce had to be withdrawn due to injury and replaced by Paul Kalambayi, who took a little time to warm-up to the speed of the game. Cameron Humphreys was able to give him the run around as he attacked at will down the right for the next 5 minutes and this period of play was capped off by a goal.

Unfortunately for the home fans it went to the visitors as Humphreys took advantage of his new found freedom to whip a ball into the box where Axel Tuanzebe to nod home from point blank range.

Despite suffering this sucker punch just before half-time Wimbledon were far from out of it as they emerged for the second half. To any non-football fan dragged along to the match it would not have been clear which was the higher ranked team.

The first 12 minutes of the half were so difficult for the visitors, with Harry Pell and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans both spurning glorious chances to bring the scores level again, that Kieran McKenna felt it necessary to shuffle his pack.

Bringing on new signing Jeremy Sarmiento for Freddie Ladapo may have worked for the visitors, but the ref decided we didn’t need to find out.

With the game on a knife’s edge Pell was running back to help cover an Ipswich attack and then the linesman’s flag was waved and seconds later he was sent off for a second yellow card.

Even with 10 days distance from the incident I cannot understand what the ref was thinking with this red card, not a single visitor was even appealing for the second ‘foul’, with this single action taking any tension out of the match.

I had never seen a player sent off for two yellow card offences and whilst it wasn’t as glaringly stupid a decision as Calvert-Lewin’s dismissal 2 days earlier it still felt like an insane call.

Going down to 10 effectively robbed the Dons of any chance to so much as force a replay they refused to collapse.

It took Ipswich a full 20 minutes to make use of their man advantage to get the ball in the net, with Luke Woolfenden snuffling it home from close range as a corner got flicked on to him at the back post.

Though this one was struck off for offside the visitors would eventually make it 3-1 but it would take them till the dying seconds of the game to make this happen. The Don’s refused to die in 2001 and despite the ref’s attempt to kneecap them they refused to do so here either.

They fought to the end but when Jack Taylor tapped home a flowing break down the right any final hope was finally extinguished, though no home fan could leave disappointed with the Don’s performance or spirit.

AFC Wimbledon had fought till the end and shown the whole of English football that no-one scares them. If they can continue performances like this in League Two they will join their visitors in achieving promotion.

**The Defeated Warriors Salute Their Fans**

The first 60 minutes of this match were a gargantuan tussle between two evenly matched and motivated teams of warriors.

Then the game was ruined and it will be Ipswich hosting 6th tier Maidstone United, the lowest ranked team left by far, in the 4th round next weekend. With such an easy tie falling into their laps it’s fair to say that Ipswich will be expecting to heading to round 5, just one round from the Quarter-finals.

For Don’s fans that draw makes this result even harder to swallow.

A easily reachable quarter-final berth has been ripped from their grasp by one ridiculous decision. They have faced down ridiculous decision before though and come back stronger, expect them to do so again next season.

**Stuck In The Third Round, Till Next Year**

Following AFC Wimbledon’s FA Cup adventure this season has been a joy and I wish them the best of luck for their promotion push this season.

Fragile Bees: Handle With Care

***This Time Couldn’t be Worse, Right?***

Nine days ago the Wolves were in town and left with all 3 points having inflicted a 4-1 defeat on their hosts. Now they were back for a cup game and hoping for a similar result against a Brentford team that had lost 3-1 away at Crystal Palace in the meantime.

Any hope of a repeat result were extinguished after 8 minutes as the Old Gold’s number 8, Joao Gomes, was shown a straight red for a late tackle on Christian Norgaard as the Dane tried to clear the hosts’ lines.

The away fans made their displeasure at this decision abundantly clear, but when you send a player limping off the pitch supported by two physios because they’re unable to put any weight on their right leg you have to accept some punishment for your actions.

With a player advantage for more than 80 minutes and filled with a fire to get revenge for last week’s humiliation most people would assume that the hosts would turn up the pressure, break through and fill their boots with goals. Most people would be forgetting that this is a Brentford team stuck in a rut of 5 losses in a row and a December to forget.

Since the league humiliation at the hands of today’s visitors they had also lost Frank Onyeka and Yoane Wissa to AFCON and Saman Ghoddos to the Asian Cup. Added to the bulging treatment room and the team selection dilemma for Thomas Frank has almost completely evaporated, it’s simply become ‘the fit one’s start’.

For this match that meant the return of Josh DaSilva but also Zanka, Mads Roerslev, Mikel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter, none of who could be counted as first team regulars with a fully fit squad at our disposal.

The other reason it took till the 41st minute for Brentford to make their advantage count, Neil Maupay stroking home through a forest of legs from 10 yards, was that until then all the hosts build up play had been infuriatingly ponderous.

It felt as though the players were taking the result for granted and just figured all they had to do was wait for the goals to come. When even getting the opener couldn’t force the floodgates open and given Brentford’s incredible ability to throw away leads this season I expected what came next.

Wolves equaliser came in the 63rd minute and whilst the exquisite curler from Tommy Doyle was truly exceptional, the fact that he was able to drift into acres of space on the edge of the box was just plain embarrassing from the home team’s perspective. To say many fans were frustrated to see him given the same space from the next 3 corners would be to dramatically undersell the position.

Having seen the ease with which the equaliser was created and with the results of recent weeks in mind it now seemed just a matter of waiting for the Bee’s natural fragility to shine through as the Midlander’s 10 men tore us them to shreds.

That this didn’t happen was mostly down to a lack of attacking ambition from a visiting team willing to settle for a replay that they had spent most of the game thinking was as unobtainable as a return trip to Jupiter. If they had tried their luck a little more then Doyle could have delivered the victory with his second wonder goal as he continued to be left unmarked in the same location his goal came from.

My joy at seeing my beloved Bees survive till the final whistle with scores level and our name in the hat for the next round was tempered somewhat not only by losing Captain Norgaard to injury but also by seeing Mathias Jensen, our creative metronome, join him in heading to the treatment table.

He had taken the armband from Norgaard and so to see him trudge off, with the physios in close attendance, less than 20 minutes from the end of proceedings was gut wrenching. Having seen him return from injury not so long ago it was hellish to see him limping down the tunnel again. It looked like just a knock for him and with 11 days until the replay I hope he has shaken it off in time to feature again in that one.

Worst case scenario he has to be back for Ivan Toney’s return on the 20th, as without his creation and incisive passes from midfield there may be no chances for our talisman to rifle home. Without either of Aaron Hickey or Rico Henry, both long term members of the training ground hospital team, to put it on a plate with delicious crosses from the wings our chance creation rests squarely on Jensen’s shoulders. If he is not back fit soon then our form will continue to drop off a cliff.

Our in-house hospital drama is such a joke among home fans that a lady in the row in-front of me said “we should just build a hospital at the training ground” and it honestly sounds like a good plan. At times this season it has felt like our players are made of glass and held together with no more than spit and polish.

Such fragility in our team has to be stamped out somehow and I trust Thomas Frank to find the solution. If he can find the special sauce to finally break our play-off hoo-doo then he can certainly get us back to a fully fit squad.

In the meantime though we could do with bringing in an experienced midfield metronome to guide all our green players through difficult periods of games, so that in future they don’t become so fragile when a 10-man team equalises with them through a worldie.

***How Will They Line Up For The Replay?***

If the fragile Bees win the replay it will be an away game at the Baggies in the 4th round.

Rams To The Slaughter

***23 Years Later and Going Stronger than EVER***

In a few days time I will be watching on at Plough Lane as League Two AFC Wimbledon play host to the mighty Ipswich Town, who lie 2nd in the Championship, in the FA Cup 3rd round.

The Dons will be staring that game as massive underdogs, so for now lets go back a month and a round to a match where the Don’s were huge favourites against their 8th tier visitors, Ramsgate Town.

Ramsgate hail from Kent, just 4 miles from rivals Margate, and ply their amateur trade in the Isthmian League South East Division alongside Cray Valley Paper Mills.

The Millers were destroyed by Charlton in a home replay in the 1st round, but they managed a creditable draw in the away tie. Could their league rivals do something similar away to the Dons? They had already beaten 6 opponents on their way to the 2nd round.

Half of their victims were higher league opposition, though none were members of the exclusive 92.

For the Don’s part they had to take on League One opposition to get here, in the shape of struggling Cheltenham Town, which they managed with aplomb scoring 5 on the way to a heartening 5-1 win.

With the allure of a home tie against Ipswich already on the table before kick-off neither team was likely to lack motivation and one team came charging out the traps.

The hosts were wombling into the lead just 8 minutes into the match, but it would have been 30 seconds earlier if Connor Lemonheigh-Evans hadn’t spurned a free-header from 4 yards out as he found space to meet a tantalising freekick swung straight too him.

Perhaps such a glaring miss had the visitors feeling sorry for their hosts as it was from the goal kick that the Rams handed the Dons their opening goal on a silver platter.

Passing it round at the back may work for some teams, but pumping it long may have been wiser against a team 4 divisions above you.

The defenders dithered on the ball, had their pockets picked and seconds later Jake Reeves, the Don’s captain, was stroking it to the left of the keeper to get the scoreboard moving. It was a cultured finish from Reeves, but he really shouldn’t have been handed such a glorious opportunity.

Despite the huge frustration this must have caused Ben Smith, Ramsgate’s manager, he could at least take a crumb of comfort from the fact that this disaster didn’t lead to an immediate deluge of goals for the hosts.

Tom Hadler, the Ram’s keeper, was probably very grateful it’s arrival was not imminent but more goals would come the host’s way soon enough.

Ramsgate continued to hold out against the swaggering hosts for a full 18 minutes after the opener before the Dons doubled their advantage. They even showed some attacking flair, with a lot of joy down the wings, but having failed to truly test Alex Bass, between the Don’s sticks, they were hit with the second punch.

Wimbledon’s second goal was no thing of beauty, but unlike their first it came from their own endeavours at least. Jack Currie carved out space for himself on the wing and then looped in a cross that swerved in the air and looked to be dipping under the bar.

Hadler did a great job of following it’s flight and clawed it out from under his own bar only to see it drop to the head of Ali Al-Hamadi 3 yards out, who needed no second invitation to nod it home.

The hosts now had their tails well and truly up and they peppered the away goal with shots, only Hadler’s excellent display kept them from being 3 or 4 up before half an hour had elapsed. Eventually though the pressure of their concerted attacks told and they were 3-0 up before half time.

The worst part about the host’s third for Ramsgate is that it came mere seconds after they wasted a glorious chance to get one back. Having survived the scare the Dons broke upfield at speed.

The ball was sprayed out to Al-Hamadi, who surged into the penalty area. He faced Hadler at the keeper’s near post but when the save was made the ball dropped to Josh Neufville, who slotted it home through a forest of legs from 8 yards out.

There were no changes to either team’s personnel at half time, so Don’s decided that they would just continue their utter domination of proceedings and it can’t have come as a shock to many within the ground when they were leading 5-0 less than 10 minutes after the restart.

It took less than 120 seconds of the half for Lemonheigh-Evans to atone for his first half miss by providing the Wombles with their 4th goal. A simple through ball reached him in the box, he turned his man and fired low across the keeper’s body. The shot lacked any true power on it but for once Hadler misjudged it’s path as it squirmed under his dive before nestling in the net behind him.

It took less than 5 minutes for the Don’s to reach 5 goals in the game, as Al-Hamadi completed his long-threatened brace. This one was the second that came from a defensive mistake from the visitors. This time an errant pass at the back landed at the feet of a player in blue. From there all it took was one pass to bypass the rest of the defence before Al-Hamadi could slide it home.

Having reached 5 goals against a team that were now clearly out for the count the Wombles were wombling so freely that they decided to spare their visitors any further scoresheet humiliation.

When Johnnie Jackson removed his brace man just after the hour mark it became abundantly clear that he wasn’t going to continue to risk his best player on the park any longer. He has a promotion push in the league to consider after all.

Despite seeing any hopes of their impressive cup run continuing and the tantalising prize of a home tie with Ipswich Town slipping speedily away the 1,400 travelling fans continued their raucous support all the way to the final whistle. They were even cheering all the way through an academic seven minutes of added time at the end of the 90.

Having been Rams to the slaughter in this one it is back to regular 8th-tier football for the part-timers from Kent, whilst the Wombles of Wimbledon Womble freely into the 3rd round.

In that 3rd round match, kicking off at lunchtime today, they will take on the Ramsgate role of massive underdogs.

As I travel on the tube Plough Lane all I’m hoping for is that I’m not heading to see some slaughtered Wombles.

I’ve been to every round of the FA Cup so far this season without witnessing an upset.

Today would be the perfect day to change that.

***Wombling Free***, ***but is it Uncle Bulgaria or Tobermory?***

Hope For The Underdogs

After 6 back to back 10hour work days over new year my days off have landed at exactly the right time, FA Cup 3rd round weekend.

This is the stage that every amateur side has been working towards for months. Where fans dream of getting the chance to cut one of the big boys down to size…. So obviously my first match of the weekend is an all Premier League affair between Bees and Wolves.

Wolverhampton Wanderers will be travelling south hoping for another big score against hosts that they doled out a simple 4-1 battering to just 9 days ago in the league. Brentford will be out to exact revenge for that defeat and with Fulham kicking off just 15 minutes later, against Championship bottom-feeders Rotherham United, it would be indescribably excellent if we could be winning as they slipped to defeat.

Yesterday and today all the games are being played in London and it’s not till Saturday that the 3rd Round goes truly national.

Much of the talk about the day is focused on the Tyne-Wear derby, especially with the spectacular own goal scored by the Sunderland staff in recent days.

Quite how anyone at the club thought that painting your deadly rivals slogans inside the stadium would be a good idea is beyond me. Did they not understand just how offensive their own fans would find this vandalism?

Whilst an upset for the hosts there would hardly be a shock, with how well Sunderland are doing in the league and Newcastle’s well documented injury crisis still in full swing, it would be a truly seismic shock if any of the non-league quarter made it to the 4th Round.

Chesterfield will be back in the 92 next season, but for now they are the best hope for those hoping for a non-league representative in the next round. Not only are they in scintillating form atop the non-league pyramid, but when they arrive at Hertfordshire’s Vicarage Road they will be taking on a Watford team that haven’t won at home since November 28th.

Aldershot Town will come into their Sunday trip to the Midlands riding high off the back of their brilliant away form in this competition so far this season. Starting off by securing an historic 7-4 victory away at Swindon Town in the first round they followed it up with a brilliant replay victory at Stockport Country.

Both of those victims ply their trade in League 2 and the step up to facing a West Bromwich Albion team may be a step too far for them, especially since the Hawthorns is a fortress where the Baggies have lost just once since the start of September. It looks like this will be a step to far for The Shots, but if the National Leaguers can force a replay then all bets are off.

Eastleigh, the lowest ranked of the National League teams, face a far less daunting challenge as they head across the border to Wales. Facing off against a Newport County team that are just 16 places above them in the pyramid certainly seems like a simple assignment for the Hampshire lot. Particularly so as Newport have won just once in the month since overcoming Barnet, also of the National League, in the last round of the cup.

Maidstone Untied are the last representatives of the 6th-tier left and the lowest ranked team to make it to the 3rd round. Their reward for this success is a home tie against third tier Stevenage and whilst this may not be the glamour tie that many of their fans had in mind it is eminently winnable.

As a Barrow team pushing for automatic promotion from League 2 found out, they can be lethal with the partisan backing of the 4,200 strong Gallagher Stadium behind them and if Bivesh Gurung can pull another worldie out of his back pocket then there is every chance that they will be in the hat on Monday.

I will be following all that action with baited breath, but first I’ll be spending my Saturday lunchtime in South London. Having seen the Dons slaughter some 8th-tier Rams in the last round, preventing a huge upset, I will be hoping to see them create an upset of their own as the Tractor Boys come to visit.

Ipswich have been having a wonderful season in the Championship and look likely to be following Leicester City up to the top table next season. However, they have failed to win any of their last 5 matches and combined with an expected raft of changes there is hope for The True Dons to continue an excellent run of form that has seen them lose just once since the start of December.

I will be hoping for all these underdog stories to come true, but whatever team you’re cheering on this weekend I just hope that they’re not on the receiving end of any decisions as insultingly ridiculous as Dominic Calvin-Lewis’ red card at Selhurst Park yesterday.

Even the commentator said “if that’s a red card, the game is gone” and you would be hard pressed to find any fan who genuinely disagrees.