ODUOR LATE HIT SAVES TYKES AS BEES FLOP

THE TINY scoreboard in the far corner of Griffin Park glinted under the West London sky. It read Brentford 1-1 Barnsley. Green lights confirmed 90 minutes were up. As this rollercoaster night turned on its head once more, even the stadium controller couldn’t bring himself to confirm Brentford’s nightmare: the visitors had stolen it at the death. A few metres below, a pile of bodies. Players, coaches and the Barnsley manager Gerhard Struber piled on Clarke Oduor. At the final whistle, Barnsley celebrated wildly. As it stands, they are safe after Wigan’s 12-point deduction. But with the Latics sure to appeal the decision, both sides remain in purgatory for now. So do Brentford. Now, after 116 years in this corner of West London and nearly seven decades outside the top flight, their long goodbye to Griffin Park stretches into the play-offs. Oduor (below) was Barnsley’s hero when he turned the ball into an empty net at the far post. Earlier Josh Dasilva had cancelled out Callum Styles’ opener to give Brentford renewed home and seemingly condemn Barnsley to the third tier. The stage was set for a winner. No one expected it to come at that end. Saturday’s defeat by Stoke meant Brentford always needed a favour. Ryan Manning’s goal for QPR last night briefly put them back in the driving seat, only for their side of the bargain to prove beyond them. Knowing only victory could keep them up, Barnsley pressed ahead. They would not be deterred and shortly before the break, they cried handball after a loose ball in the box hit Ethan Pinnock’s arm. The officials said no, only for the visitors to strike moments later. A cross from the right reached Styles, who drilled home his first senior goal and breathed life into this unlikely survival push. Brentford thought they were level almost instantly but Walton kept out Bryan Mbeumo’s strike. Barnsley came closest to the second goal early in the second half. Luke Thomas led a counterattack before feeding Jacob Brown, whose shot was brilliantly blocked by Pinnock. With results going their way at that point, you felt it could prove costly. So did referee Robert Jones’ decision not to penalise Brentford when Marcel Ritzmaier fell under a challenge from Pinnock inside the area. And so it proved when Dasilva collected the ball on the edge of the box and curled home brilliantly. That was until Oduor struck. Now Barnsley live to fight another day.