BRENTFORD 0-0 COVENTRY

 

A quick dash at 12.35 from Cov saw us arrive at Brentford 95 minutes later and gave us time for a quick beer before heading into Griffin Park,paying £8 to stand on a open terrace that used to be for home fans. 

 

For those who haven't been to the enclave of West London that is Brentford, it is a plane spotters paradise (Mark counted 112 planes flying into nearby Heathrow during the match) and is surrounded by pubs, many of which were tested out by a good number of the 300+ City followers.

 

With Julian Joachim still not recovered from his knock against Dublin City, Strachan started the game with Hartson and Zuniga up front and gave Youseff Chippo his first outing of the season. New signing Phil Massinga watched the game from the stand. 

 

Right from the start this was a drab affair probably due to the heat. John Hartson did not look bothered in the opening period, but that was probably due to the reports that he has signed for Celtic in a £5m deal but will not be released for the couple of weeks until City get a replacement, something I had confirmed by a source after the game and was commented on by Radio 5 and the Scottish media.

 

Whilst City were lacklustre up front, Chris Kirkland had to be alert to pull off two fine saves in quick succession in the 24th minute. This was the best chance of the opening period apart from a shot from the ever impressive and hard-working Ivan Guerrero that was well saved.

 

The half-time entertainment was provided by City's Internet football team who drew 3-3 in a penalty shoot-out with a team of Brentford fans. It gave the home team's supporters some cheer after they had been soundly beaten 7-2 in the morning.

 

Half-time also meant time for changes and Strachan must have listened to the drunken idiot who demanded that "he sort it out" when he introduced Magnus Hedman, David Thompson and surprisingly Gary McSheffrey who was expected to play for the reserves at Rugby United and had netted three times in two games.

 

With Thompson and Chippo trying to make inroads in to the Bees attack, City tried to repay the efforts of the City fans who had spent time and money getting to the game by creating chances. Gary McSheffrey could have given City the lead in the 57th minute after a David Thompson cross but his shot went wide.

 

In the 66th minute, Strachan made a treble substitution and Mark Edworthy,Gavin Strachan and Jay Bothroyd replaced Nilsson,Carsley and Hartson. City's third new partnership up front of the match looked promising as Bothroyd and McSheffrey created three chances for Bothroyd but the former Arsenal youngster twice fired just wide and once over the bar. The understanding the two youngsters have probably comes about as they are good friends of the pitch.   

 

Mo Konjic who played his first full 90 minutes for a while shot wide with nine minutes left but that was as close as it got to a goal for City whilst Brentford could only offer their supporters who again protested about a move to Woking, a flap from Hedman and a bad miss late on.

 

So what did we learn from this trip to London? Well, City have looked better in pre-season when Hartson hasn't played, Guerrero must be in the starting eleven for Stockport and David Thompson needs to work on his crosses. Plus there was the fact that against our strongest opponents so far this season, we didn't lose.

 

TEAM

1 Kirkland (13 Hedman 45),2 Nilsson (Edworthy 66), 3 Hall,4 Williams (12 Shaw 45),5 Konjic,6 Quinn,7 Chippo,

8 Carseley (16 Strachan 66),9 Hartson (17 Bothroyd, 66),10 Zuniga (18 McSheffrey 45),11 Guerrero (15 Thompson 45).

 

Monks Man Of The Match - Youseff Chippo 

 

 

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