BRENTFORD 1, WYCOMBE WANDERERS 1
(Brentford won 4-2 on pens)
Manchesterfootball.info has an away day in London for the first competitive match at the Brentford Community Stadium which is part of a £71 million development.
What ought to have been a joyous, landmark occasion turned out to be low key as Brentford kicked off a new chapter in the club’s history with a win but without any fans at their new stadium.
The depleted Bees scraped past newly promoted Wycombe Wanderers in an all Championship Carabao Cup clash.
It was as much about the day as the game as Thomas Frank’s side took up residence in the state-of-the art Brentford Community Stadium, with its 17,500 capacity, a far cry from ramshackle Griffin Park, their home for 116 years and which is a 20-minute walk away.
And the ground, which will also be home to London Irish rugby club, has a quirky design on the 7.5 acres site on which it is shoehorned between two railway lines and only yards away from Kew Bridge station.
It was unfortunate the stadium, which took just over two years to complete, was not hosting Premier League football after the Bees lost in the Championship play-off final against Fulham 33 days earlier.
They made a winning bow and it was a great win for the Bees who had eight players absent on international duty.
On top of that Said Benrahme and Ollie Watkins, two members of the formidable BMW strikeforce, were also absent with the pair likely to leave in big-money transfers.
Bees had Ivan Toney, a big money signing from Peterborough and a replacement for one of the front men, making his debut.
But it was giant central defender Ethan Pinnock who had the honour of scoring the first goal for the Bees at their new home in a competitive match – they had drawn 2-2 in midweek in a friendly.
Pinnock, a £3million bargain buy from Barnsley 12 months ago, rose at the par post to head home a free kick from Mathias Jensen in the 32nd minute.
It looked as though the dynamics of the game had changed when the Chairboys, with former Oldham Athletic pair Joe Jacobsen and Josh Parker in their side, had Dominic Gape sent off for a reckless challenge less than three minutes after the restart.
Though Toney missed a great chance and Sergio Canos struck the upright, the sending off galvanised the 10 men who equalised with 14 minutes left.
Pinnock, trying to play the ball out of defence, carelessly gave away possession as Alex Samuel released substitute Daryl Horgan who rifled a shot high into the roof of the net.
And it could conceivably have got worse for the Bees late on when Horgan released fellow replacement Fred Onyedinma who brought a terrific save from Ryan Allison.
Then in the last minute, substitute Scott Kashket claimed a penalty after he went down when Allison dived at his feet.
There was excitement in the shootout as three were missed – Nick Freeman and Kashket for Wycombe and Jensen for Brentford leaving substitute Marcus Forss to convert the decisive kick.