The Better Team Won

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Brentford 1 - 3 Preston North End

Brentford were beaten by the better team when they hosted an experienced and strong Preston side at Griffin Park on Saturday.

Brentford's 4-3-3 formation got another run out but a side with Carlisle, Alexander, Mellor and Hume provided Preston with a lot of Premiership and Championship pedigree and proved too much for the ees.

Whereas the same set up completely overran Colchester on Tuesday night, Donaldson was much more isolated against Preston and all our good work came from Weston and McGinn. It was those two who combined to fashion our goal with Weston beating his man with a lovely burst of pace and putting a nice cross in to McGinn who blasted the ball high into the net.

That was the equaliser to Preston's goal scored by Mellor who out-muscled Karleigh in the build up and slotted past Lee.

Before half time Preston had reasserted their lead when the ball broke to Hume on their right and he burst forward and struck a mighty shot just under the bar. Lee was right in front of it and may have been surprised by Hume taking it quite early - there was no one else around and he could have taken it further into the box - but it was so powerful I wouldn't blame Lee for it.

Donaldson had one good chance in the first half but seemed to place it and it was easy for their keeper to keep a hold of it.

The defence, and even Lee, had looked nervous throughout the game with Thompson miss-passing several times. Reeves, Bean and Douglas in the middle and Donaldson up front were trying hard but it was only McGinn and Weston that had any joy.

The second half didn't bring much joy either. A free kick, Carlisle header and a Mellor volley saw Preston's third knock any stuffing out of us.

It wasn't a terrible performance by any stretch of the imagination - although the back line did have an off day - Donaldson's isolation upfront was due to the formation. 4-3-3 at home almost shows fear, although it did work against Colchester you can't help thinking that if Alexander was fit he would have played up top with Donaldson. Maybe that will be Clarkson's role when he's ready to play.

We must remember that we have a lot of injuries still, that we are relying on an 18 year old who is still learning for our creativity and that we played a top team in good form.

Let's go stuff Oldham next week shall we.

Lee; Thompson, Osborne, Llera, Woodman (sub Forrester 79 mins); Bean, Reeves (sub Grella 59 mins), Douglas; Weston, Donaldson, McGinn

Subs (not used): Moore, Eger, O'Connor

With thanks to beesotted for their match report

September 19, 2011