Yet another 2 points slipped through the Cherries fingers in front of their own crowd. The Cherries started the brighter with very little tedious passing back and forth at the back, and it was somewhat against the run of play when the Bees took the lead in the 10th minute. A free-kick swung in from the left caused confusion between Simon Francis and Shwan Jalal and the ball nestled in the far corner of the net. Poor communication and not the only time that Jalal would advance injudiciously into no-man's-land.
Parity was restored 7 minutes later when Matt Tubbs converted an excellent cross from Francis with a pin-point header. With the Cherries now well in the ascendency, the comeback was complete when the lively Lewis Grabban was up-ended, allowing Charlie Daniels to put the Cherries ahead from the penalty spot in the 25th minute. This was after an unseemly squabble over who the penalty taker should be, with Addison appearing to seek clarification from the bench. Bit of a shambles, really.
The game could have been out of Brentford's reach if only Grabban hadn't missed two gilt-edged chances. Nevertheless, the mood was positive as half-time approached with the hosts playing with a lot more tempo and conviction than of late.
HT: 2-1
The second half saw more of the same, at least initially, but the Bees gradually began to gain the upper hand, with the speedy Donaldson looking a real handful for our increasingly ponderous-looking defence. The visitors then introduced Forrester who played wide on the left and was never adequately marked. We could see this in the East Stand, but sadly the manager apparently failed to notice. Unsurprisingly in the 68th minute the Bees' winger was allowed to advance unchallenged before unleashing a superb curling shot that gave Jalal no chance.
As the game drew to a close, further Cherries chances came and went – Tubbs should have converted a one-on-one and Partington was unlucky to see his shot come back off the inside of the post.
Sections of the crowd gave vent to their disappointment as the hosts again failed to win on home turf and now languishing in 17th place. The game ended with a chorus of boos and "We want Grovesie out!"
Jalal: 5 A couples of "rushes of blood", kicking sound
Francis: 6 Good going forward, but sometimes caught out of position
Addison: 6 Reasonably solid
Elphick 6: Good in the air, but looked a bit slow
Daniels: 6: Combined well with Pugh
Partington 6: Worked consistently hard,
Pugh 7: MOM Regularly skinned their right-back, but faded (injured?)
Arter 5: Never got going, looked out of sorts
O'Kane 6: Some nice touches, faded in 2nd half
Grabban 6: Lively, but missed chances
Tubbs 6: Took his goal well, but missed other chances
McQuoid/Fogden: Neither sub looked like changing the game
AFCB: Jalal, Francis, Addison, Elphick, Daniels, Partington, Pugh, Arter, O'Kane, Grabban, Tubbs
Subs: Collins, Cook, Zubar, McDermott, Thomas, Fogden (on for Arter, 70 mins), McQuoid (on for Grabban, 75 mins)
Ellis Griffin, Chertsey