Brentford 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 0

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Greville Waterman reports on the season's first home league game

15th August 2009 - No goals for the second home game running this week but Brentford competed well to win a hard earned point in a 0-0 draw against Brighton in front of a decent crowd of 6,950 this afternoon at Griffin Park.

The Bees started well and Wood's early shot was well saved by Kuipers but chances were at a premium with Weston and Cort shooting weakly when well placed. The best effort before the break came from Bennett but his well struck volley was straight at the keeper.

Brighton were solid, well organised and hard to break down and even had the ball in the net but Price had been fouled before McLeod scored - that would never have done, an ex-QPR player scoring at Griffin Park.

Chances were few and far between after the break with Brighton helped by two uncharacteristic slips from Alan Bennett but were unable to profit - and as for Brentford it was not until debutant Cleveland Taylor replaced Saunders after the hour that chances began to trickle their way.

Virgo almost obliged with an own goal from a low Taylor cross but Kuipers fell on the ball, and the best opportunity came in injury time when Bean almost got on the end of an incisive Taylor through ball that split the defence, but it was not to be.

If you can't win a game then you must ensure that you come away with a draw and Brentford looked solid and hard to break down.

The defence looked solid and Price handled well but still looked shaky when dealing with crosses.

Cort lasted the full 90 minutes and held the ball up well but faded after the break and Weston never threatened.

Hunt and O'Connor were also unable to get a foothold in midfield but Bean looked lively when he came on near the end.

Fans must not expect a triumphant surge through this division after the glories of last season and today was a salutary lesson for the Bees. Teams in this division are more skillful and better organised than those we came across last season and it is crucial to keep the ball, something Brighton did for long periods today.

It is a learning curve whilst we come to terms with this division and also bed in half a team of newcomers and if we can keep picking up points whilst we learn then we will do just fine as the season progresses.

Thanks to Greville Waterman and BIAS for the match report

August 17, 2009