New Wembley, Same Old Brentford

Brentford 0 - Carlisle 1

Brentford failed to do themselves justice as cup hoodoo continues..

Carlisle started the game by far the better team and put together a decent spell of pressure - Moore palming away Zoko's goalbound header. It was only a brief reprieve for the Bees as Carlisle stalwart Peter Murphy crashed home the game's only goal in the 12th minute.

Brentford chased shadows for much of the first half and when they did get into decent positions the final ball was repeatedly poor. Sam Saunders came closest to a goal with a free kick which flashed narrowly wide.

At half time Marcus Bean was introduced for the ineffective Adam Reed (whose main contribution to the game was a booking which saw Ben Marshall stretchered from the pitch) and Brentford started to dominate the midfield exchanges. Bean was frankly unfortunate not to start the match after excelling in recent weeks - one feels that Nicky Forster might regret this decision with the benefit of hindsight.

Brentford's best chance of the match came in the second half when the otherwise well-marshalled Schlupp skipped clear of the Carlisle defence and fired past Adam Collin but was denied by the post. Karleigh Osborne also had a good headed chance but struggled to get any meaningful connection with the ball.

Lewis Grabban was introducted to the fray in the 78th minute but had little chance to impress as the Bees were reduced to ten men when Diagouraga was sent off for a second bookable offence. Dave became the first man to see red in a JPT final - although a woeful ball from team-mate Legge did him little favours for his second yellow. To be fair to Leon he was one of our best players on the day.

Bees club captain Kevin O'Connor came on in the 88th minute for Craig Woodman but had little chance to get involved before the final whistle saw the Cumbrians celebrating.

Few Bees players can be particularly proud of their performances today with the likes of Woodman, Weston and Neilson particularly wasteful in possession. Sam Saunders provided the odd flash of midfield inspiration but his set pieces left a lot to be desired.

It was frustrating that the team didn't seem to play with increasing urgency as the game wore on - and one feels that Brentford have again failed to capture the imagination of 25,000 potential supporters.

Bees - Moore, Woodman (Kev), Legge, Osborne, Neilson, Saunders, Dave, Reed (Bean), Weston (Grabban), Alexander, Schlupp

Unused Subs - Carson, Byrne

With thanks to beesotted for their match report

April 7, 2011