KING LOUIS DENTS BEES TITLE HOPES
LOUIS Thompson smashed his second winner in successive home games for Swindon to dent ten-man title-chasing Brentford in a spicy encounter at the County Ground – but you won’t hear Bees boss Mark Warburton complaining.
It was a miserable return for exSwindon skippers Alan McCormack and Jonathan Douglas who both had days to forget. McCormack bundled over Alex Pritchard to concede a firsthalf penalty although his embarrassment was eased when David Button pulled off a fine save to deny Michael Smith.
But Douglas gifted possession for Thompson on half-time with the pacy winger racing through on goal to snatch the winner. Adam Forshaw was later dismissed for a second yellow in quick succession, first on Nathan Byrne, then Raphael Rossi Branco, to double Brentford’s misery.
Brentford boss Warburton didn’t protest the decision but insists the Bees bossed the second half and deserved at least a point as Wolves march ever closer to the League One title with promotion now secured.
“It was a rash tackle and he was tempting fate so soon after his booking,” he said. “We have to be more aware, yellow cards early on will cost us and that is what happened.
“In the last half an hour we were very good and had control of the game. We were not clinical enough. There were loads of positives, and no lack of desire and we were very strong all over the park.
“I am very pleased, despite losing. Had we lost and not shown the right application, it would have been a different story.”
Douglas went closest to firing the Bees into a first-half lead. His header from Jake Bidwell’s 25-yard kick rattled the cross bar. In demand Town keeper Wes Foderingham again showed his worth, pulling off a wonder save from George Saville’s pile driver on the hour.
Brentford could see the embers of their title ambitions beginning to fade, and piled forward searching for the win. Bidwell went close again from Clayton Donaldson’s cut back, but his shot from eight yards drifted agonisingly past the post.
And with games running out for promotion pushing Town, boss Mark Cooper is now demanding a strong finish. He said:“It was a proper game, you could see what was at stake for Brentford and you can see why they are near the top. They can overpower teams.
“We have no right to beat these sides, but gave away too much possession in the second half. That put us under pressure against ten men.
“Brentford threw everything at us. They had some opportunities but we stood up to it. Our system tried to catch them on the break and we tried to set a trap for them. It worked with Louis, he is getting prolific. I’ve said for a month now we want a
strong finish.”