Mart gets A in Bees test
MARTIN O’NEILL finally stopped the Bees buzzing all over Nottingham Forest.
Forest’s awful record against Brentford and it looked like continuing when Lewis Grabban (below) missed a second-half penalty.
Instead of taking charge at 2-0 up, it got sticky again for Forest until Molla
Wague came on and scored on his debut.
Another substitute, Sergi Canos, poked home for Brentford a minute from time, but the Bees couldn’t stop O’neill from getting his second win as Forest boss.
He said: “Someone told me on Thursday about Forest’s poor record against Brentford.
“I also knew that
Grabban had missed a penalty recently, but not that he has now missed four out of seven.
“If I’d known that I’d have run on myself and taken it.
“Overall, though, I thought Grabban played really well for us.”
Forest had lost six out of their last seven league games to Brentford, including three successive defeats at the City Ground.
So there was a jinx to deal with, never mind O’neill getting his side back in the promotion race.
Brentford were on such a hot run, unbeaten in 10, that it was a relief to Forest when Grabban put them in front after 16 minutes.
It was his 16th goal of the season, but his first since December.
His shot was blocked by a combination of goalkeeper Daniel Bentley and Julian Jeanvier, but determination got Grabban a second chance and he tapped in.
That was as good as Forest got in the first half because, apart from a Leo Bonatini miss, Brentford dominated.
They had 11 shots as the hosts surrendered territory.
Whether it was ‘bad cop’ O’neill or ‘worse cop’ Roy Keane who got into the players is unclear – but the second-half improvement was immediate.
“We had to say s something,” said O’neill. “It couldn’t go on like that from our point of view.”
The impressive Joe Lolley set up sub Diogo Goncalves in the 52nd minute but Henrik Dalsgaard cleared off the line and within 30 seconds Grabban was free only to shoot wide.
And when Jeanvier fouled Grabban in the 66th minute, Bentley not only saved the penalty but also Ben Watson’s headed follow-up.
“That was a big moment,” said Brentford boss Thomas Frank. “We ought to have been able to capitalise on those good saves.”
But Bentley flapped at a 79th-minute Lolley corner and Wague headed in.
“I will look at that on the TV on the coach home,” said Frank.
“We encourage our goalkeepers to come out and get the ball, but that was a mistake.”