Brentford 0-0 Bournemouth

The Match

For most people around the world, New Year's day is probably spent either nursing a hangover from the night before or a day to spend with family. But some crazy people choose to battle the cold of January and watch a game of League One Football. In all seriousness, the two form teams in League One met each other in a very important match for both sides. Brentford, sitting on 45 points, had gone 11 unbeaten, while their opposition Bournemouth had 41 points but were on the back of a 15 match unbeaten run. Having drawn the return fixture at Bournemouth earlier in the year, both teams likely fancied their chances of taking all three points today.

A large Bournemouth contingent made the relatively short journey to Griffin Park, with approximately 1400 fans packing the terrace and seating in the away end. Eddie Howe made one change to the side that beat Crawley 3-0, opting to start the defensively stronger Wes Fogden in place of Josh McQuoid on the right wing. The first half was a timid affair with both teams (understandably) cautious to take too many chances, though that did not mean there was a lack of determination amongst the players. Adam Forshaw came close early on, as he hit a half-volley after a corner but saw his shot flash just wide of David James' left post. Each team worked hard and put their opponents under pressure, though The Cherries probably had the better of the early exchanges. However, Brentford soon came more into the game, Harry Forrester provided trouble for Simon Francis, and Clayton Donaldson provided an outlet for many long range passes. The Bees started to push a bit more, and when Steve Cook afforded Marcelo Trotta too much space David James made a quality reaction save to deny Brentford the opening goal. Both teams have garnered reputations for prefering to play passing football, but neither team gave each other enough time to do so, resulting in a tough battle to maintain possession or build up any kind of move. Bournemouth tried to find space down the wings, with a few crosses being whipped in that were eventually dealt with by a resolute Brentford defence. Truthfully, there was not much to the first half and both teams were probably happy to go in level.

The Bournemouth fans today

It was Brentford who started out the second half looking more inspired, The Bees had a succession of corners that were defended against well by Bournemouth but the visitors seemed to keep giving the ball away cheaply. Uwe Rosler then decided to use the skills he had learned from footballing genius Paul Groves and made a substitution that played right into Bournemouth's hands; Lee Hodson came on in a straight swap for Shaleum Logan, who I thought had Marc Pugh in his pocket. As a result of this Bournemouth began to take control of the match, with Pugh now finding success down the left hand side, but the killer final ball seemed to be lacking. Bournemouth had the chance to break the deadlock, a cross went all the way across the six yard box and found its way to Wes Fogden, who hesitated before knocking it to substitute Josh McQuoid who had his shot saved by Simon Moore. From the resulting corner Bournemouth once more almost took the lead, as a header went into the ground before hitting the underside of the bar, bouncing on the line and then being duly cleared by a relieved Brentford defence. Howe threw Matt Tubbs in place of Lewis Grabban in an attempt to freshen up the Bournemouth attack, but the change did not provide the spark The Cherries needed. Despite controlling the ball and playing at a high tempo, Bournemouth just couldn't manage to unlock a strong Brentford defence, led by a fantastic performance from centre back Harlee Dean. As the match drew to a close a draw seemed almost inevitable, although the spotlight was stolen by an argument between Uwe Rosler and Eddie Howe (though it was hard to tell what happened).


My Thoughts

Before the game I would have been very happy with a point away at a team fourth in the league and currently on an 11 match unbeaten run, but I can't help feeling a little frustrated. I think we could have (and should have) won the game in the second half, as a couple of our players missed some very easy chances to score. Had we been a little more attacking, or pushed on more I believe we would have scored, but it's understandable that Eddie did not want to risk losing. Regardless, it was still a very good point away to a strong team, and if you win at home and draw away you will gain promotion.

The players understandably seemed a little tired from having 3 games in 6 days, I thought Pugh was off his game and O'Kane kept giving the ball away at the end, though I cannot fault the effort of both players. Even if the quality was lacking at times, there is a motivation to succeed within this squad that is evident every time they step on the pitch. Our defence was rock solid once more, making it 4 clean sheets in a row, a very impressive achievement. Despite being outnumbered our midfield was tireless, with my pick of the four, Harry Arter, winning tackles everywhere. Unfortunately we lacked in our forward play today, Grabban ran himself into the ground once more but did not shine, and Pitman never really got the chance to even have a shot.  That said, on another day we would have buried those chances and be celebrating another win, but it the end it was a well earned point.

As we head into January, Howe will have the chance to fine tune his squad, selling those surplus to requirements and bringing in an extra dose of quality into the lineup. On October 6th when we sat 21st in League One, and now on New Year's Day we are on equal points with fifth place. There will be tough tests, and it will be difficult, but there is no reason why this team cannot win promotion.

Will Marvin Bartley return in January?