Match Day Thread Brentford v PNE Griffin Park Dawn Sarf 10/2/2018

Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, Greater London, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Brentford FC was founded on 10 October 1889. The club has played its home games at Griffin Park since 1904, after a nomadic existence playing at five previous grounds. Brentford's most successful spell came during the 1930s, when it achieved consecutive top-six finishes in the First Division. Brentford have been FA Cup quarter-finalists on four occasions, and have been runners-up of the Football League Trophy on three occasions.

On the road again this time to West London to take on those buzzing bees, since September 2011 this has been a ground of unremitting gloom for us, last two visits have been 3-1 and 5-0 last seasons capitulation saw the end of two North End legends who both played their last game at Griffin Park for us.
Chris Humphrys came on as substitute and his only meaningful contribution was to score Brentford's third majestically side footing home from a prone position six yards out. Since that fateful moment Chris has played for Hibernian, Bury and was last heard of on loan at Barrow.
The other was Anders Lindegaard although he did play in the narrow 6-0 league cup defence at Newcastle, this was Anders last shot at league lime light with us. There was one thing about Anders he made Chris I can't see Kirkland appear to be as fast as Usain Bolt. Anders is now on the bench at Burnley earning a nice crust by douing sod all.
Brentford are an odd side play really good football tend to go on long winning runs followed by lengthy losing runs, great going forward but think they are a bit suspect at the back although we need to actually attack them on Saturday to confirm my theory. Dangers are Watkins and Vibe but these lads can all pose dangers luckily Canos suspended for the red he received at Direby last week.
As for us Ben's suspended so there will be one change at least, this could be a bit of a high scoring game hopefully we'll get more than them.
Train, tube and train this Saturday match blog Sunday

Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, Greater London, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Brentford FC was founded on 10 October 1889. The club has played its home games at Griffin Park since 1904, after a nomadic existence playing at five previous grounds. Brentford's most successful spell came during the 1930s, when it achieved consecutive top-six finishes in the First Division. Brentford have been FA Cup quarter-finalists on four occasions, and have been runners-up of the Football League Trophy on three occasions.

On the road again this time to West London to take on those buzzing bees, since September 2011 this has been a ground of unremitting gloom for us, last two visits have been 3-1 and 5-0 last seasons capitulation saw the end of two North End legends who both played their last game at Griffin Park for us.
Chris Humphrys came on as substitute and his only meaningful contribution was to score Brentford's third majestically side footing home from a prone position six yards out. Since that fateful moment Chris has played for Hibernian, Bury and was last heard of on loan at Barrow.
The other was Anders Lindegaard although he did play in the narrow 6-0 league cup defence at Newcastle, this was Anders last shot at league lime light with us. There was one thing about Anders he made Chris I can't see Kirkland appear to be as fast as Usain Bolt. Anders is now on the bench at Burnley earning a nice crust by douing sod all.
Brentford are an odd side play really good football tend to go on long winning runs followed by lengthy losing runs, great going forward but think they are a bit suspect at the back although we need to actually attack them on Saturday to confirm my theory. Dangers are Watkins and Vibe but these lads can all pose dangers luckily Canos suspended for the red he received at Direby last week.
As for us Ben's suspended so there will be one change at least, this could be a bit of a high scoring game hopefu;;y we'll get more than them.
Train, tube and train this Saturday match blog Sunday
Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, Greater London, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Brentford FC was founded on 10 October 1889. The club has played its home games at Griffin Park since 1904, after a nomadic existence playing at five previous grounds. Brentford's most successful spell came during the 1930s, when it achieved consecutive top-six finishes in the First Division. Brentford have been FA Cup quarter-finalists on four occasions, and have been runners-up of the Football League Trophy on three occasions.

On the road again this time to West London to take on those buzzing bees, since September 2011 this has been a ground of unremitting gloom for us, last two visits have been 3-1 and 5-0 last seasons capitulation saw the end of two North End legends who both played their last game at Griffin Park for us.
Chris Humphrys came on as substitute and his only meaningful contribution was to score Brentford's third majestically side footing home from a prone position six yards out. Since that fateful moment Chris has played for Hibernian, Bury and was last heard of on loan at Barrow.
The other was Anders Lindegaard although he did play in the narrow 6-0 league cup defence at Newcastle, this was Anders last shot at league lime light with us. There was one thing about Anders he made Chris I can't see Kirkland appear to be as fast as Usain Bolt. Anders is now on the bench at Burnley earning a nice crust by doing sod all.
Brentford are an odd side play really good football tend to go on long winning runs followed by lengthy losing runs, great going forward but think they are a bit suspect at the back although we need to actually attack them on Saturday to confirm my theory. Dangers are Watkins and Vibe but these lads can all pose dangers luckily Canos suspended for the red he received at Direby last week.
As for us Ben's suspended so there will be one change at least, this could be a bit of a high scoring game hopefully we'll get more than them.
Train, tube and train this Saturday match blog Sunday

Stat Attack: Brentford
6 Hours ago

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For those North End fans making the trip south to Griffin Park, be warned – there is no longer a pub on all four corners of the ground!

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As is that news wasn’t bad enough, history indicates Brentford has been one of our least rewarding trips over the years.

In 25 previous league games there, we have only managed four victories although that meagre haul is supplemented by six further draws.

Last season’s 5-0 defeat, which featured three goals conceded in the final six minutes after Marnick Vermijl’s injury reduced us to ten men, was our heaviest ever at the home of the Bees. We also conceded five times on our second visit in 1935 but at least we scored twice ourselves that day.

Our first win came in 1946 at the sixth attempt, thanks to a 3-2 scoreline and our second win came five years later, this time by 4-2.
Sadly we have only recorded two wins in the 17 games since, 2-0 in 1988 and 3-1 in 2011. We are currently on a run of four consecutive defeats that we hope to bring to an end on Saturday.

Paul Hayes, Patrick Agyemang and Alan McCormick are just three former Lilywhites who also turned in out in the red and white stripes of Brentford, but one famous ex-North Ender also has connections with our hosts that might be less well known.

Older fans will remember Alex Dawson as a goalscoring battering ram for North End, following his transfer from Old Trafford where he had been a Busby Babe. Between October 1961 and March 1967, Alex plundered 132 goals from 237 appearances; in the league he scored 114 times in only 199 games. He gave us the lead for the second time in the 1964 FA Cup Final versus West ham United and scored five hat-tricks before leaving for Bury in 1967.

Eighteen months later, he moved to the south coast to join Brighton and whilst there, Alex played ten games on loan at Brentford, scoring six times in all to show he still had his striker’s instincts.


On This Date
Tommy Hamilton, our first choice left back throughout the 1920s, was born in New Cumnock, Scotland on 10th February in 1893. Tommy made 281 appearances in nine seasons after moving down from Kilmarnock in 1920.

This is only our second away game on this date since 1968. In the most recent of these three years ago, we recorded a 2-0 win at the Proact Stadium, Chesterfield thanks to two Joe Garner goals on his return from injyry. This was the first of three consecutive victories over the Spireites in the second half of the season, which included home and away wins in the Play-Offs.

Brian McBride finally broke his duck for North End on his date in 2001 in a 5-0 home win over Queens Park Rangers.
A USA international, Brian joined us on loan from Columbus Crew and made an immediate impression with his intelligent forward play before he suffered a potentially career-ending blood clot in his arm that kept him out of action for several months.

Brian later followed David Moyes to Everton as well as spending a successful spell in the Premier League with Fulham.

Alan Ball Senior’s last game in charge of North End came on this date in 1973, a 5-0 home defeat to Portsmouth bringing an end to his time at Deepdale.

Two seasons previously he had led North End to the third division title after we had fallen into the third tier for the first time ever. We narrowly avoided relegation in our first season back, winning only twice in the second half of the season and a run of only five points in ten games sealed Ball’s fate.

Last Five Games At Griffin Park
Brentford 5 (Hogan, 3; Dean, Humphrey (og)) Preston North End 0, 17th September 2016
Brentford 2 (Vibe, Djuricin) Preston North End 1 (Johnson), 19th September 2015
Brentford 1 (Judge (pen)) Preston North End 0, 18th April 2014
Brentford 1 (Saunders (pen)) Preston North End 0, 16th March 2013
Brentford 1 (McGinn) Preston North End 3 (Mellor, 2; Hume), 17th September 2011

• Ref Watch: Brentford
  
  
  
  
  
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  Taking charge of his second North End game of the season this weekend will be Wiltshire official Simon Hooper.
  
  His first game, was at Deepdale, back in November, for the televised goalless draw with Phil Parkinson’s Bolton Wanderers.
  
  Last season he took charge of PNE three times. Those games were against Fulham on Gentry Day in March, for the League Cup victory over AFC Bournemouth back in September and the league win at Bristol City in December 2016.
  
  The two games the previous season that he took charge of were also long distance games, the 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town and our 3-0 win at Charlton Athletic back in October 2015.
  The match official, who made his first ever trip up to Deepdale from his Wiltshire base for the clash with Walsall in January 2015, is an experienced referee and is now in his tenth season on the EFL list and he has taken charge of PNE in games at Crawley, Southampton and a previous trip to AFC Bournemouth as well.
  
  So far this season he has taken charge of 29 games, issuing 92 cautions and three red cards and this will also be his second Bees game of the season, having refereed their 3-2 defeat at Hull City in December.
  
  The assistants on Saturday afternoon will be Daniel Robathan and Robert Hide, whilst Tim Robinson will be in the fourth official role.
  

 

Brentford 1 Jozefzoon PNE 1 Barkhuizen
Brentford line-up: Bentley, Bjelland, Jozefzoon, Yennaris, Maupay (Marcondes, 74), McEachran (Macleod, 80), Watkins, Egan ©, Sawyers (Judge, 74), Clarke, Dalsgaard. Subs not used: Daniels, Mokotjo, Ogbene, Barbet.

PNE line-up: Rudd, Fisher, Cunningham ©, Johnson, Huntington, Spurr, Bodin (Horgan, 89), Gallagher (Welsh, 66), Robinson (Woods, 76), Browne, Barkhuizen. Subs not used: Maxwell, Harrop, Moult, Earl.

Attendance: 9,194 (1,042 PNE fans)

Referee: Mr S Hooper

A point at Brentford for the first time in seven years, person view think we deserved it for the sheer hard work they put in especially after Cunningham got two yellows in quick time.
As expected we didn't have a lot of the ball as the home side as usual dominated possession, they were nearly one up early on when a quick one two saw Sawyers side foot narrowly past the far post. Watkins was giving Fisher a hard time this lad is a quality player, Fisher was also getting a hard time from the home support for apparent time wasting, as if we would do that!!!!!!
When we did get the ball we looked dangerous creating a couple of half chances. We were denied a goal scoring opportunity when Gallagher robbed a home player, Robinson was through on goal and brought down didn't seem to a covering defender within miles but Mr Hooper only brandished a yellow.
North End had the ball on the net from a Gallagher free kick when Spurr headed home, not given allegedly offside, jury's out on that one. On the stroke of half time Rudd saved us, Mauphey played in had his shot well blocked.
Early in the second half we took the lead a nice move ball ended up with Barkhuizen on the touch line, his cross/shot missed everyone and went into the net, probably against the run of play but we were not complaining. We didn't lead for long a passage of play began with Johnson getting the wrong side of a home player never really cleared the danger and Jozefzoon fired home on Rudd's near post maybe could have done better with that.
Then for the last 15 minutes down to 10, the first booking for Cunningham is soft but was a booking, the second was stupid hacking down a player on the touchline. Backs against the wall from then on in, we rode our luck they had several efforts that went close especially Watkins drive from outside the box, but the closest they came to winning it when Judge's free kick was brilliantly tipped onto the post by Rudd.
Hard earned point in the end which I'll take. Finally Mr Hooper, I think he is a dent referee however yesterday think he had a poor game.
Brentford head coach Dean Smith told BBC Radio London:

"There has been a lot of frustration this season as we have drawn too many games, especially when we have been on top like we were today.

"They had a couple of chances in the first tem minutes but other than that we defended very well. Their goal came out of nothing and our response was good.

"We need to be more clinical as we are certainly creating chances. They are on a really good run of form and it shows are performance levels are good."

Preston boss Alex Neil told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"It was a hard-fought match. My team worked extremely hard. This has never been a good hunting-ground fro Preston.

"In the first half we had the best chances - I wouldn't necessarily say we were the best team - and then, in the second half, the sending off really changed everything.

"We just defended for our lives after that to make sure we got something out of it. I thought both [yellow cards] were soft. I don't think every foul is a booking."

My views are my own except for those which aren't