Brentford v Strikers FC – Junior Section Match Report

Jul 28, 2015 | Junior Section | 0 comments

Roe Mill in Limavady played host to Brentford and Strikers from the USA in the second day of the Milk Cup Junior Section. It was the Bees who needed to respond after they fell to a 4-0 defeat to County Down yesterday .

Strikers had the first chance as Lance Barker played in Ceser Hernandez whose shot was parried by Marco Tavares in the Brentford goal. Brentford immediately broke and had the ball in the net only for the goal to be chalked off for offside as Zeno Rossi tucked away a George Maxwell cross. However on nine minutes the Bees had the perfect chance to take the lead. Rossi was hacked down in the box and a penalty was awarded – up stepped Ian Poveda but his effort was wonderfully saved by Strikers keeper David Calva. It nearly got worse for the Bees moments later as Strikers were a whisker away from taking the lead, but Tavares made a superb one handed save to deny Hernandez.

The game was extremely open and Brentford had the next opportunity as Showkat Tahir whistled his shot wide from just outside the six yard box . The side from Griffin Park started to up the tempo, creating another good opening on twenty five minutes when a slick piece of footwork by David Titov saw him pull the ball back to Tahir but he fired over the top. On the stroke of halftime there were chances for both sides, with Brentford’s impressive winger Taymar Fleary seeing his curling shot sail just wide of the target and Strikers’ Christian Djurasevic’s stinging shot superbly kept out by the flying Tavares.

Both sides started the second half like a house on fire playing quality possession football only to be let down in the final third. Strikers had the first clear chance of the second period as Barker’s corner helped by the wind found Alejandro Espinoza, but he got under the ball and it flew over the bar. Brentford lost their shape in the second half after they brought off Fleary who was causing the American side all sorts of problems down the right. Strikers were reduced to ten men as Arturo Chavez was shown a straight red for a reckless tackle from behind on Emmanuel Sonton. This seemed to spur the Bees on who had the man advantage and with five minutes to go went ahead through Sam Coles who thumped in a strike after a goalmouth scramble .

Strikers could have stolen a point with only seconds remaining to go as Djurasevic hit an inswinging free-kick to the back post only for a fantastic piece of goalkeeping by Tavares to punch out of the danger zone. This was not the last chance as Strikers nearly spoilt the Bees party when Hernandez flicked on a Akira Suzuki cross – the ball looked set for the top corner only for yet another world class save by Tavares, a real contender for Man of the match. Brentford held on for a perfect response after yesterday’s defeat and their first victory of the tournament.

Match Report by Josh Bunting