The Bees made no changes to the side that had ended the away day voodoo at Bristol City just 3 days earlier whilst Swindon were also coming off the back of a victory the previous Saturday.
The first half was a pretty tedious affair with both sides struggling to make any kind of impression as both midfield's did a very good job of cancelling each other out.In fact the main "highlight" was the overtheartrical acting by a few of the Swindon players which made no impression on the ref and did much to liven up the Griffin Park faithful.It seemed as though the half was going to be totally devoid of action and it would end 0-0 when just two minutes before half time Brentford won a free kick on the right.Paul Evans looped in the free kick and it seemed as though it would be easy pickings for the Swindon keeper Bart Griemink.However he misjudged the ball and instead of catching it easily he dropped it straight to the feet of Lloyd Owusu who said thank you very much and poked the ball home from close range.A couple of minutes later the ref blew up for half time and Brentford fans all over the ground were feeling considerably happier about proceedings.
Swindon changed things around for the start of the second half with Young coming on and they managed to put on some pressure on the Brentford goal,as their midfield started to take the game by the scruff of the neck.The contingent of Swindon fans who had made the 60 mile trip to Griffin Park now started to have some belief that they could take something from this encounter and encouraged their heroes on fervently.They should have levelled up proceedings twice in a 5 minute spell midway through the half when from deep corners Invincible and Willis both had headers cleared off the line by Steve Sidwell.It was to prove very costly indeed for the Robins as the Bees killed off their hopes on 69 minutes.Ben Burgess sent a delightful flick straight into the path of Lloyd Owusu who raced clear of the Swindon defence.He then went around the oncoming Griemink and fired the ball into the empty net.
From there on in it was over as a contest. Brentford were unlucky not to score a
third late on when the Dutch keeper made a superb save from an Ingimarsson header but that would have been slightly harsh on the Robins and in the end Brentford were happy to play out time and claim the 3 points.
Another vital win for the Bees at a critical time of the season. It was a solid more than spectacular performance from Brentford and one which keeps them in the hunt for automatic promotion whilst cementing their play off position. Hopefully they can keep up the good work.
MATCH RATINGS
Paul Smith 7
Michael Dobson 7
Ijah Anderson 7
Ivar Ingimarsson 7
Darren Powell 7
Paul Evans (c) 7
Steve Sidwell 7
Martin Rowlands 7
Stephen Hunt 7
Lloyd Owusu 8*
Ben Burgess 7
Subs
Mark Williams(for Rowlands 75 mins) 6
Paul Gibbs (for Hunt 87 mins) 6
Alan Julian n/a
Danny Boxall n/a
Kevin O'Connor n/a
Paul Fitzsimons
The first half was a pretty tedious affair with both sides struggling to make any kind of impression as both midfield's did a very good job of cancelling each other out.In fact the main "highlight" was the overtheartrical acting by a few of the Swindon players which made no impression on the ref and did much to liven up the Griffin Park faithful.It seemed as though the half was going to be totally devoid of action and it would end 0-0 when just two minutes before half time Brentford won a free kick on the right.Paul Evans looped in the free kick and it seemed as though it would be easy pickings for the Swindon keeper Bart Griemink.However he misjudged the ball and instead of catching it easily he dropped it straight to the feet of Lloyd Owusu who said thank you very much and poked the ball home from close range.A couple of minutes later the ref blew up for half time and Brentford fans all over the ground were feeling considerably happier about proceedings.
Swindon changed things around for the start of the second half with Young coming on and they managed to put on some pressure on the Brentford goal,as their midfield started to take the game by the scruff of the neck.The contingent of Swindon fans who had made the 60 mile trip to Griffin Park now started to have some belief that they could take something from this encounter and encouraged their heroes on fervently.They should have levelled up proceedings twice in a 5 minute spell midway through the half when from deep corners Invincible and Willis both had headers cleared off the line by Steve Sidwell.It was to prove very costly indeed for the Robins as the Bees killed off their hopes on 69 minutes.Ben Burgess sent a delightful flick straight into the path of Lloyd Owusu who raced clear of the Swindon defence.He then went around the oncoming Griemink and fired the ball into the empty net.
From there on in it was over as a contest. Brentford were unlucky not to score a
third late on when the Dutch keeper made a superb save from an Ingimarsson header but that would have been slightly harsh on the Robins and in the end Brentford were happy to play out time and claim the 3 points.
Another vital win for the Bees at a critical time of the season. It was a solid more than spectacular performance from Brentford and one which keeps them in the hunt for automatic promotion whilst cementing their play off position. Hopefully they can keep up the good work.
MATCH RATINGS
Paul Smith 7
Michael Dobson 7
Ijah Anderson 7
Ivar Ingimarsson 7
Darren Powell 7
Paul Evans (c) 7
Steve Sidwell 7
Martin Rowlands 7
Stephen Hunt 7
Lloyd Owusu 8*
Ben Burgess 7
Subs
Mark Williams(for Rowlands 75 mins) 6
Paul Gibbs (for Hunt 87 mins) 6
Alan Julian n/a
Danny Boxall n/a
Kevin O'Connor n/a
Paul Fitzsimons