NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1-1 BRENTFORD

Well the start of the season loomed, f@@k me it was hot. I, like a good few others sampled the various delights of the Rover and the Sixfields Tavern, combining beer and the tropical heat means that my memory of the game is a little hazy, so please bear with me if I go somewhat astray.

I think many of us were expecting a capacity crowd, I was a little disappointed to see a fair few empty seats in the West Stand, come on everybody, make an effort. The Brentford fans put on a fairly respectable show, filling ( I think) the South Stand, some of them even had a lovely banner in Claret, why they wrote, and thus spoiled it, Brentford on it is beyond me. They had also brought the Village idiot with them. This particular fool kept taking his shirt off ( why ) and twirling it round his head, jumping up and down and generally gibbering away to all and sundry . He did not escape the attentions of the West Stand chorus, unfortunately he refused to respond and we'll have to wait a little longer to watch the first expulsion of an away fan.......Damn!

The game was fairly entertaining, Brentford seem to favour the old Atkins tactics we grew to love (not) so much. Employ a giant Striker, LLoyd Owusu on this occasion, and hoof the ball to him, he looked like a younger and faster John Gayle. The Cobbs however seemed determined, where ever possible, to play football there were the occasional long balls which Mr Forrester managed to get on the end of. Gabbiadini played well and seems to be bringing better football out of those around him, there were some neat interchanges between players. It bodes well for the season ahead. The Ref bottled a clear penalty, a Brentford player handled in the box, we got diddly squat, will we see another season without a penalty being awarded at Sixfields?

Mr James Forrester scored the goal of the Season, there is a god and he plays in Claret and White, we salute you. Brentford scored an Excellent goal from a free kick just to take a bit of the gloss off the day. Evans took some fantastic free kicks and will pose a threat to most defences in this division. It was also good to see the new 10 yard rule being used and even better that it went our way for a change.

After the game I staggered to the Rover where I met Lee, another contributer to the board, good on you matey..............see you for the Reading match. Le tells me that Brentford fans were allowed into "home" pubs before the game, this won,t work for some of the more "high profile" matches we have coming up. Can you imagine what would happen if this occurred with our country cousins from across the border? I don't condone violence but there would be a blood bath. Send them out of Town or nominate one of the Sixfields pubs for away fans, it'll reduce tensions.

Ta Ta M,ducks............15K