Match Day Thread Brentford v Preston North End Griffin Park 15/7/2020

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LAST TIME OUT

DERBY COUNTY 1 BRENTFORD 3

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PRESTON NORTH END 1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1

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FORM GUIDE MAX 25 POINTS

BRENTFORD 19 PNE 8

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE

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Taking charge of this Wednesday’s live Sky encounter with Brentford at Griffin Park is match official Darren England.

Darren last refereed PNE in the 2-1 win at Wigan Athletic in February, having also officiated the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough back at the beginning of October; this is also his third Brentford game of the season, having refed their 1-1 home draw with Hull City and their 2-1 loss at Luton in February.

Last season, he officiated two North End games; our win over Queens Park Rangers at Deepdale in August 2018, when Alan Browne was the match winner on the opening day of the season and then the thrilling 3-3 draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park in what proved to be Steve Bruce’s last game in charge of our opponents.

In 2017/18, his first on the Select Group Two list, Darren took charge of three North End games, another draw at Middlesbrough in August, the 2-2 clash with Fulham at Craven Cottage and the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa in February, so the QPR game was his first and only visit to Deepdale thus far.

In total so far this season, he officiated in 32 games, issuing 89 cautions and two red cards, his last game being the 3-1 away victory for Bristol City against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

This Saturday lunchtime he will be assisted by Sam Lewis and Nigel Lugg, whilst the fourth official will be experienced match official Keith Stroud.

THE MATCH

The first of our three game run in against sides beginning with the letter B, almost certainly this is our last game at Griffin Park although a play off semi final between the clubs is a possibility, remote but could take place.
The hosts are in terrific form at the moment despatching allcomers by usually a few goals although did have to work hard to beat Charlton ;ast week 2-1.
Last time out they beat Wayne Rooney FC 3-1 with two of the three main front men scoring Watkins and Benrahma who seems to be scoring for fun at the moment. Personal view will settle for a point in this however injuries may have struck at a bad time, Davies definitely out, Pearson, Browne and Johnson doubtful this could be a very different North End side from what we are used too.

MACS GRIFFIN PARK MEMORIES

Never won at the ground with four pubs(yep done them all) match that stands out for all the wrong reasons, can be summed up when my mate went to the bogs with us 3-0 and came back with us 5-0 down almost missed the pleasure of this man scoring for the last time in a North End shirt unfortunately in his own net. Step forward Chris Humphrey

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Many expecting a pasting at Griffin Park. did beat them in early season at D'dale 2-0. It has bee a roller coaster of a season with periods of winning and then spells off losing to teams NE should have beaten considering their lofty position. the Bs have a gem in Benrahma. If they do not get promotion, he will be snapped up elsewhere. Injuries again dog NE. Missing Browne, DJ, Pearson and Davis is almost the backbone of the team gone. Storey, Ledson, Harrop could use this chance to impress. Bayliss should be part of the squad too. A win would be a terrific boost.

 

Cardiff beat Derby. Looks as though they will take 6th place.

 

Yea both goals were gifts the second an error by Rooney

 

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Brentford 1 Watkins Preston North End 0

Our play off hopes drift further into the sunset however apart from a dodgy first four minutes when Watkins scored this was a decent performance by the Greens who worked hard to get something from the game.
Five changes having seen the line up was thinking the lines of Hull at Wigan annd when Watkins got in front of Storey to fire past Rudd after three minutes feared the worst.

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Took us a while to get going but we started to look decent although massive clearances to Maguire up front was probably not going to work, but we had a useful outlet in Barkhuizen's pace. He got in on goal after a good Maguire pass elected to shoot however personally should have looked to get clattrered by the keeper.
Fisher was denied by a good save Raya from a free kick which was destined for glory. Benrahma also brought out a great save from Rudd which was also remarkable for Fisher's ability to fall over in his own area when the opposition was attacking.
Second half mainly us although never really got to see the whites of Raya's eyes, a couple of half hearted shots closet we got when Watkins cleared just as Browne was in on goal.
As the game wore on in truth they looked the more likely as Benrahma had shots galore missed with them all, give them a bit of credit well organised at the back.
Two to go and thanks to Rooney's inability to tackle last night in Cardiff leaves us with an uphill task only disappointment we were not on our game straight after the break, the drop points in the first three games back will be crucial.

 

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank: "Sometimes you forget to enjoy the moment and just move on to the next one.

"We have won eight on the bounce playing some top football and it is eight well-deserved wins.

"In a league which we call the most even league in the world, that is remarkable.

"We are in the play-offs, so why not give it a go for direct promotion? We are on a high but I am not thinking at all about the game after Saturday and seeing if we can win nine in a row."

Preston manager Alex Neil: "I don't think we played poorly. We're playing against a team which is fighting for promotion.

"The way we went about it I thought was very good. I've seen Brentford a lot and they rip teams apart.

"It's just frustrating because I thought we had some good performances tonight, and in the second half we penned them in for the first 20 minutes."

 

Time to think about those in the squad who have improved and to try to keep them as a working unit.