Brentford 2-2 Town - Match Report Saturday, 8th Aug 2015 17:12 Injury-time goals from Andre Gray and James Tarkowski saw Brentford grab a shock 2-2 opening day draw with the Blues at Griffin Park. Town had seemed well on their way to claiming all three points via goals from Kevin Bru and debutant Ryan Fraser either side of the break, but the Bees struck twice in time added on to claim a hugely unlikely point. Josh Emmanuel, 17, was handed his senior debut at right-back, while summer additions Jonas Knudsen, Fraser and Ainsley Maitland-Niles - on loan from Bournemouth and Arsenal respectively - all made their Town bows. Dane Knudsen lined up at left-back with skipper Luke Chambers joining Tommy Smith in the centre of the defence with Christophe Berra banned for one game for his play-off red card at the end of last season. Jonny Parr missed out with a thigh injury and Luke Hyam is likely to remain sidelined for around three months having undergone knee surgery, while Teddy Bishop has also picked up a knock and wasn’t involved. Fraser started on the left of midfield and Maitland-Niles on the right with Bru joining Cole Skuse in the centre. Freddie Sears started up front alongside Daryl Murphy with David McGoldrick and Brett Pitman on the bench. Brentford started strongly and won a third-minute corner on the right from which Harlee Dean headed over. Town began to get more into the game with debutants Emmanuel and Fraser, twice, sending over crosses which the Bees’ backline just about defended. On seven one-time Blues target Alan Judge shot wide from distance. Sears came close to giving Town the lead in the ninth minute when he ran onto a Knudsen throw down the left, holding off a defender as he cut in and hit a shot which deflected across the face of goal and just wide. Jota struck an effort which deflected wide in the 13th minute, then on 17 Dean failed to deal with Knudsen’s ball over the top and Murphy - who scored twice in the Blues’ 4-2 win in this fixture last season - shot high and wide from a tight angle. Two minutes later, Maitland-Niles inadvertently diverted a Brentford freekick across his own area, Smith putting the ball behind. From the resultant corner, Philipp Hofmann headed over. On 23 Sears profited from some poor Brentford passing midway inside their half - something perhaps due to the dreadful surface which cut up from the off - and fed Maitland-Niles to his right. The Arsenal youngster crossed and the ball deflected off Toumani Diagouraga straight to keeper David Button when it could well have flown either side of him. A minute later, Andy Gogia hit a 25-yard effort which Bartosz Bialkowski saved. However, Emmanuel had fouled the Georgian as he shot and Judge curled the freekick wide. Just before the half hour, Smith made an important challenge as Jota looked to break into the area after good work from Kerschbaumer. At the other end, Sears flicked the ball past Dean but Button was off his line quickly to claim ahead of the Town striker, then Skuse combined with Fraser but the central midfielder couldn’t find a team-mate with his cutback from the left. The Blues were starting to threaten more and in the 34th minute Fraser cleverly played in Bru on the left of the area but the Mauritian international’s low shot from a tight angle was saved by Button. A minute later only a superb reaction save from Bialkowski prevented the Bees from taking the lead. Judge crossed from the left and Jota seemed certain to head home but somehow the Blues’ Polish keeper managed to claw it away, Emmanuel clearing the loose ball. The chances were coming at both ends and within seconds Sears had got to the byline on the right and stood up a cross to Fraser, whose header was claimed by Button. Jota smashed over from distance, then Maitland-Niles did much the same at the other end. As what had been a frenetic first half moved into its final five minutes, Maitland-Niles curled a freekick into Button’s arms having been fouled by Diagouraga. Moments later, Murphy latched onto another long Knudsen throw down the left and cut the ball back to Sears, whose first touch let him down. Town again went close in the 43rd minute when Fraser dribbled the ball in from the left and cut the ball across the edge of the six-yard area. Murphy was prevented from getting a shot in, but the ball fell loose to Sears, whose effort was well saved by Button, reacting every bit as quickly as Bialkowski had at the other end. The Blues were finishing the half the stronger and in the 44th minute they went in front. Fraser hit a low 25-yard strike which hit the inside of Button’s right post before cannoning across the area to the right flank to Emmanuel, whose cross was acrobatically turned home by Kevin Bru from eight yards out. The half-time whistle followed soon after the Town celebrations, Emmanuel getting plenty of praise from his team-mates for his role in the goal as well as the goalscorer. Overall, it had been an evenly-contested, intense return to Championship football. Both sides had had chances prior to the goal - Town’s best falling to Sears, while Jota will feel he was unlucky for the Bees - but the Blues had looked increasingly threatening in the minutes before the break and the goal didn’t come as a surprise. While Emmanuel will have been delighted with his half having helped create the goal, fellow debutants Maitland-Niles and Fraser in particular had caused the Brentford defence plenty of problems, while Knudsen’s throws had created a number of openings. There was an early scare for the home side shortly after the break as Diagouraga completely missed a Knudsen throw and was fortunate that Maitland-Niles was unable to get to the loose ball a matter of yards from goal. But the half was only five minutes old when the Blues increased their lead. After Bialkowski had claimed a corner and rolled the ball out quickly, Bru’s clever pass sent Sears away behind the Brentford backline in acres of space on the right. The former Colchester man brought the ball into the area and drew Button, before cutting it back to Fraser, who turned a debut goal into the net to make it 2-0. The Bees looked to hit back, Jota just failing to get on the end of Judge’s 53rd minute cross before Hull City target Andre Gray replaced Kerschbaumer. Four minutes later, Bru went looking for his second of the game, but Button claimed his 20-yard strike comfortably. Town continued to look the more threatening side, Sears making another powerful run but his shot was blocked. The loose ball fell to Fraser, who brought it inside but his effort was also cut out. There was a slight scare for the Blues on 65 when Gray chased a ball down the left and Bialkowski initially came for it before retreating. However, the former Luton striker’s looping effort on goal landed well back in the Regal Stand. But Town continued to look the more likely scorers. On 67 Button pushed away Bru’s powerful 25-yard effort. Fraser got onto the loose ball and cut in but his strike was blocked. Bru was replaced by a fifth Town debutant Giles Coke soon after his shot, the Mauritian international having twice required treatment for what looked to be cramp, much the annoyance of the home crowd and keeper Button, who was spoken to by referee David Coote for remonstrating with the midfielder, who made his feelings known as he left the field. The Blues had been much the better side in the second half and a third goal seemed on the cards whenever they went forward. On 71 Fraser just over-hit a low cross aimed at Sears. Bialkowski claimed Gogia’s low cross from the left in the 76th minute, then following a corner Bees sub Lasse Vibe shot well over. There was warm applause from both sets of supporters two minutes later as former Bee Jonathan Douglas became the Blues’ sixth debutant of the day when he replaced Fraser, Sears moving to the left of a five-man midfield. Town might have had a third as the game moved into its final 10 minutes but Maitland-Niles’s ball across the box failed to find Sears. On 82 David McGoldrick replaced Maitland-Niles, who also looked to have cramp, then seconds later Jota was booked for a foul on Sears. Brentford should have pulled a goal back in the 85th minute when Gray was sent away on the right of the area and found Vibe but the Dane was unable to direct the ball past the advancing Bialkowski, who again made an important save when required. Soon after, Judge shot well over from the edge of the box. With two minutes of scheduled time remaining Gray headed a Judge corner on the left straight at Bialkowski with Town by now happy to sit on their two-goal lead. The game seemed destined to end 2-0 until the 92nd minute when Gray got behind Smith after James Tarkowski had played a long ball over the top and beat Bialkowski to make it 2-1. The goal signalled a frantic last couple of minutes with the Town goal under almost constant pressure and in the sixth minute of injury time the Bees equalised. With keeper Button having gone upfield, Gogia sent over a corner from the left, Bialkowski missed it, it hit Smith’s head and stuck the inside of the post before Tarkowski nodded in off the line to send Griffin Park wild. The referee’s whistle blew soon afterwards to confirm a 2-2 scoreline which had seemed impossible at the 90-minute mark. Having established their two-goal lead Town had been very much on top for most of the second half and might well have added to their lead. The Gray goal came out of the blue with the game seeming destined to end 2-0 and gave the home side and crowd a lift and they profited from Bialkowski failing to claim the cross and the deflection off Smith. The draw will feel like a defeat to the 1,662 travelling fans and manager Mick McCarthy with the Blues having done more than enough to claim all three points from their first away game of the season before the injury time turnaround. Brentford: Button, McCormack (Vibe 71), Dean, Tarkowkski, Bidwell, Diagouraga, Kerschbaumer (Gray 55), Gogia, Jota, Judge, Hofmann. Unused: Bonham, Bjelland, O'Connell, Yennaris, Barbet. Town: Bialkowski, Emmanuel, Chambers (c), Smith, Knudsen, Skuse, Bru (Coke 68), Fraser (Douglas 78), Maitland-Niles (McGoldrick 83), Sears, Murphy. Unused: Gerken, Yorwerth, Touré, Pitman. Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire). Att: 10,789 (Town: 1,662).
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