Only the most biased supporters would deny that this result was a fair one, accurately reflecting a gruelling afternoon for both sides at Griffin Park. Oh, except blinkered supporters and one dissatisfied coach, that is. Sulky Hull manager Grant McCann perceived Brentford’s equaliser as offside and rated his team’s efforts as ‘a complete performance’, a bit mystifying considering they spent much of the later stages hanging on for a draw. Had he been in charge last February, when a Said Benrahma hat-trick helped the Bees thrash the Tigers 5-1, Mr McCann would doubtless have thought the visitors’ efforts then slightly incomplete. As for a victory, how about complete-plus?
Thomas Frank, a wise fellow, resisted similarly complimenting the Bees’ response to going a goal down – a rocket from the irritatingly dangerous Jarrod Bowen. He was, said the head coach, disappointed in conceding the goal, but expressed the view that the team would ‘get better and better, and better throughout the season’. Do three betters beat one complete, Mr McCann?
It was the introduction of Benrahma into the fray after some seventy minutes that emphasised both his class – no wonder close-season gossip about a possible transfer filled fans with dismay – and his ability to pep up the side just by being there.
The home defence had appeared momentarily to nod off when Bowen – voted Hull’s player of the season for the past two terms – found space to unleash his shot, while midfield cohesion stuttered like an old coked-up car despite the energy of Mathias Jensen and Christian Norgaard. Up front, Ollie Watkins and Bryan Mbeumo found the visiting back four and sometimes five hard to penetrate and Sergi Canos saw his effort to help out saved capably by keeper George Long.
Hull looked the side most likely to score and in the fifty-second minute did so, no doubt prompting the decision to bring on Benrahma, hopefully now injury-free, and Josh Dasilva for Luka Racic and Christian Norgaard. It was like turning the gas up high and soon Benrahma was instrumental in starting a move that saw Canos feed a galloping Watkins, who ended up on the floor with Long as the momentum of his shot sent it rolling into a gaping net.
Canos then saw his curling effort deflected wide, Watkins drew an outstanding save from Long and Benrahma popped up in the penalty area before being dispossessed. The tiger stripes on the visitors’ shirts began to droop as the defence faced a non-stop barrage of Brentford attempts on goal – Julian Jeanvier bungling the best chance when close enough to the keeper to see the whites of his eyes.
Oh, how the home crowd loved it, taunting visiting pony-tailed striker Tom Eaves with one of its wittier chants: ‘You’re just a sh*t Andy Carroll.’
Frank’s team is still very much a work in progress, but with Marcus Forss, a late substitute for Mbeumo, improving with every appearance and such talent as Dominic Thompson, Ethan Pinnock and Kamohelo Mokotjo waiting in the wings, the coach’s optimism is well-founded.
And after just three difficult games, the good news for the Griffin Park faithful is that Brentford are joint tenth (with Hull and Bristol City) in the Championship table. Leaders Leeds to come next and then second-placed Charlton, both challenges where completeness will be required to come away with any reward.
As for the Irish East Riding émigré McCann’s claim of grandiose status for his side, it cut little ice with the Griffin Park aficionados.
‘What a Yorkshire pudding!’ said my mate Charlie.
Brentford: Raya, Jeanvier, Jansson, Racic (sub Benrahma), Dalsgaard, Norgaard (Dasilva), Jensen, Henry, Canos, Watkins, Mbeumo (Forss).
Hull City: Long, Lichaj (Da Silva Lopez), Burke, de Wijs, Kingsley, Stewart, Bowen, Honeyman (Batty), Irvine, Grosicki, Eaves (Magennis).