Brentford ended a 52-year wait for a victory at Queens Park Rangers, defeating their rivals 2-0 on Friday night.
It was on a Friday in October, back in 1964, when the Bees last came away from Loftus Road with maximum points, but they looked in control from the very start against their West London foes.The game got under way following an impeccably observed two-minute’s silence in honour of our fallen War heroes, and Dean Smith’s side threatened early with the enterprise of Josh McEachran, Romaine Sawyers and Josh Clarke causing problems. The latter forced a fine first-half save from Alex Smithies, with Scott Hogan unable to pounce on the rebound.
The usually prolific Hogan failed to make the R’s pay, spurning several opportunities, but the breakthrough came just before half-time via Man of the Match Clarke, when he fired beyond Smithies from a tight angle.
After the break, the hosts came out looking much stronger but failed to create a clear-cut opportunity. They were eventually punished, when Sawyers struck a stunning effort into the top corner with quarter of an hour remaining — his first goal for the club since his summer move from Walsall.
QPR nearly replied immediately, but the outstanding John Egan cleared Idrissa Sylla’s header off the line with Dan Bentley beaten. The Bees continued to break and could have grabbed a third late on, but two was enough, with the only low point a potentially serious injury for Lewis Macleod.
The win took Brentford three points clear of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s men, sending them up to eighth in the Sky Bet Championship table ahead of Saturday's action.
Table: Click here to see the Sky Bet Championship table