Brentford produced a magnificent second half performance to come from behind to beat Plymouth Argyle at Parker Avenue, Portrush. Ian Carlo Poveda took home the match-ball with a stunning hat-trick, the Plymouth goal coming from Aaron Goulty.
Brentford looked assured in possession from the first whistle, stroking the ball about with confidence. But it was Plymouth who opened the scoring, completely against the run of play. The ball was played through for Luke Jephcott to run onto but his shot came back off the post. Luckily Goulty was there and he had the simple task of tapping home. Unfortunately, Brentford defender Sam Coles was forced off with an injury he picked up when he collided with the post while trying to clear the ball off the line.
The Bees responded well to going behind – their intricate play around the Plymouth penalty area was causing their opponents serious problems. They dominated the rest of the half and had a few decent chances to level the scoreline. Danilson Gomes Tavares shot over after long ball from Rachid Balde and Jesus Cruz played a one-two with substitute George Hunt before putting it wide. The closest Plymouth came to doubling their lead was when Jephcott’s half volley was palmed behind by Marco Tavares.
Brentford brought on Showkat Tahir at halftime and the change paid dividends. A few minutes in, he slipped in Carlo Poveda, who equalised with an excellent finish. Brentford were now in full swing – Tahir and Carlo Poveda’s link-up play was exceptional and Balde was running the show from the centre of midfield. There was an air of inevitability when Brentford took the lead. Again it was the impact substitute Tahir who went down in the penalty area after being tripped, and again it was Carlo Poveda who scored, stepping up to slot the ball into the bottom left hand corner.
Brentford continued to up the tempo and it was evident that Plymouth were struggling. David Titov made a surging run from left-back which eventually came to nothing and Carlo Poveda had a penalty appeal (albeit a weak one) turned down. But he didn’t have to wait long to get the hat-trick he thoroughly deserved. Tahir saw his shot blocked after he dallied on it for too long but it found its way to the deadly Carlo Poveda, who was never going to miss from such close range.
Brentford’s terrible two continued to taunt the Plymouth defence as the half wore on. Tahir curled wide after an outstanding long range pass from Carlo Poveda and the Plymouth keeper Max Childs could only watch as Tahir’s next tantalising effort came back off the crossbar. The onslaught was neverending, with Brentford looking to increase their goal difference significantly. Harry Francis fired over from the edge of the box after a driving run from deep and Carlo Poveda nearly nabbed a fourth with a sensational free-kick that forced a top-drawer save from Childs. In fact, without his heroics in goal, the difference in score could have been more.
Match Report by Craig Latimer