BEES END 61-YEAR IPSWICH VOODOO
Bad run at home finally ended
BRENTFORD boss Dean Smith insists that there is still a lot for his side to improve on despite beating Ipswich to earn a first home victory over the Tractor Boys in 61 years.
Defender John Egan’s double earned the Bees a first win of the season after a dominant second-half display at Griffin Park.
Egan nodded the home side in front two minutes into the second period, meeting Lewis Macleod’s out-swinging corner, before grabbing a second after Bartosz Bialkowski had spilled Nico Yennaris’ powerful strike from the edge of the box.
Smith revealed he was delighted with the application shown by his side, but admitted the Bees were second best for the opening 25 minutes.
“I thought for the first 25 minutes we didn’t have great belief and we weren’t brave enough on the ball,” Smith said.
“We gave away the ball too cheaply which allowed Ipswich to start the way they did.”
Ipswich rallied midway through the second period, carving out numerous opportunities to reduce Brentford’s advantage.
However Smith, unconcerned by the lack of Championship experience in his squad, insisted he had full belief that the Bees would be able to see the game out.
“We’ve got a lot of players who have never played in the Championship before. They were apprehensive about how it was going to go but they’ve got great belief in themselves,” Smith added.
“Getting that first win is big for them. I’ve just said to the players afterwards that I believe they are a really good Championship team. But what they have to do is to have belief in themselves.”
Despite the manner of the victory and the dominant second-half showing, Smith wouldn’t get carried away – insisting there is still a lot for his side to improve upon.
“We had some good passages of play just before the break,” Smith revealed.
“Lewis (Macleod) had a good chance and then the goal gave us a lot of confidence.
“After that I thought we showed glimpses of what we can do, but there is still a lot to work on and improve on.”
Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy bemoaned his side’s ill-discipline defensively after slipping to defeat at Griffin Park.
“We didn’t mark properly for the first goal,” McCarthy said.
“What’s disappointing is that we seemed to unravel after that and we looked like conceding another one, which is unlike us and of course we did.”
Former Brentford midfielder Jonathan Douglas came on and spurned a good chance to reduce Ipswich’s arrears, poking his effort straight at Daniel Bentley in the Bees goal.
That, along with Teddy Bishop’s flashing drive which evaded everyone inside the sixyard box, was as good as it got for the Tractor Boys, leaving McCarthy dismayed by his side’s second-half performance.
“We had a really good first half, everyone in the ground knew that. To concede like we did certainly gave them a lift,” McCarthy added.
“Of course we’re worried about it, we don’t like conceding goals. They can be avoided and we’ve got to try and make sure that we do avoid it.
“We will look at it. It’s not like we just forget about it. Everyone has their jobs and if we do them correctly then goals don’t end up in the back of our net.”