BRYAN BLESSED RISE TO SUMMIT
Cottagers in the big time with Joe’s extra-time heroics
JOE BRYAN broke Brentford hearts with a cheeky piece of magic to fire Fulham back into the Premier League.
Just four miles separate the London clubs and for 104 minutes there was nothing between them here, although Fulham had enjoyed the better moments.
Then red-faced Brentford keeper David Raya strayed too far off his line and full-back Bryan beat him with a perfectly disguised 35-yard free-kick.
Just to make sure, the unlikely hero added a second 12 minutes later in a dramatic finale to the richest game in football.
Bryan, a £6million signing from Bristol City in August 2018, had only scored once all season. But his surprise double clinched a £170m windfall for Scott Parker’s side, who return to the top flight at the first time of asking.
And for poor Brentford, who have not played top-flight football since 1947, it meant the tag of play-off chokers.
The Bees did score in stoppage time through Henrik Dalsgaard but have now failed in nine play-off campaigns – more than any other club.
Bryan said: “I’m not the hero, every single one of them, fans and people around us who has been with us all season
PAUL BROWN AT WEMBLEY are. We’ve been written off five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 times.
“I think I read somewhere we were supposed to be scared of them. But we took it to them.”
On his free-kick for Fulham’s first goal, he added: “Scott told me to whip it near post.
“That was for my dad. He used to give me the eyes when he made me go in goal.”
The sight of Golden Boot winner Aleksandar Mitrovic on the bench for Fulham at the start of the game would have given Brentford a big lift.
But the Cottagers had experience and history on their side. They played like it too, Josh Onomah twice forcing Raya into saves and Brentford showing signs of nerves inside their penalty area.
Neeskens Kebano went close with a dipping free kick into the side-netting at the start of the second half for Fulham.
Brentford wanted a penalty for a Michael Hector handball but the defender’s arm was across his chest when the ball struck him.
Then it was Fulham’s Scots skipper Tom Cairney’s turn to ride his luck, receiving a yellow card for a lunge at Said Benrahma that could easily have been red.
Bees dangerman Ollie Watkins tested Marek Rodak with a scorcher from 20 yards before Mitrovic finally got into the action in stoppage time.
But the breakthrough came in extra-time as Bryan spotted Raya way off his line and beat him with a free-kick.
He snatched another on the break and, though Dalsgaard pulled one back, it was too little too late for Brentford.
Cairney said: “We got written off. No one talked about us, they talked about Brentford and Leeds. It shows the spirit in the dressing room. Not many teams bounce back up.”