Resilient Blues Sting Back at the Gtech

Brentford 1 - 1 Everton

After the drama and debate over the rights and wrongs of the VAR decision against Manchester United, it was back to business. 

I headed into Marylebone and jumped the tube to London Waterloo, connecting to a train for Brentford station. Pretty smooth… and I found the pre-arranged meeting place, the Globe pub easily. A nice place and quite a few Brentford supporters in there. In fact, I was the only Everton supporter as I waited for Mark and to find his lad and girlfriend. We left it a bit late, following the crowd to the Gtech, timing it just about right to take our seats.

Everton had sold out the away allocation weeks ago, but there is always a way and I joined as a Bees member to get a couple of home tickets, with Mark the Great Murph of Merseyside joining me. Keep quiet and do not attract the attention of the stewards with over-excitement on entry and when we score was the plan. There was no need, as the stewards waved us in and the Brentford supporters were pretty passive.  

I've been there a few times and still find it to be a strange stadium but good views of the pitch. We got in without arousing suspicion and our decided cover story of keeping quiet didn't really last long. We were that close to the away section, we were almost amongst the Evertonian cohort and gave them a few fist pumps to identify ourselves. Have Brentford reduced the away allocation? We were both convinced that the section where we were sat, extending closer to the goal, was previously part of the away end? 

It soon became apparent that we were not alone. Other Blue infiltrators were around us, so we started to let our guard down. The travelling Blues were in good voice, going through the Everton hymn book. By the end, I counted 10 – 3 in favour of "Marching" over "Davey Moyes" — just for Mark! On the latter, we need to change the words slightly. Grey or Silver hair, to better reflect Moyes's new distinguished look. He's not ginger anymore and we should not use 'red' anyway. It's the colour of Lucifer. 

I don't think I need to do a full-blown match report. That's been done by Michael, and Anjishnu rated the players, but I'll give a rundown on performances from my view. 

Pickford: Mostly had a quiet night, even when Brentford pushed. Unlucky with their goal after saving the first effort, only to have it wasted as it came back off the bar and the Brentford goal scorer was the only one to follow up for one of the easiest goals he will score from about 1 yard out. Jordan did make a good save in the second half, punching or parrying a decent shot away to his left. 

O'Brien: One or two wobbles, but that's to be expected. Jake continues to impress as a makeshift right-back and scored a tremendous headed goal that he stooped low for to meet the cross from our left-back; not quite Calvert-Lewin's salmon-like leap against Palace, not quite Andy Gray's grass cutting header against Notts County… somewhere in-between. It flew in at the far post, and I could see it coming towards me to bury itself in the far corner. This sent the Blue corner into raptures. And us obviously, even if it was slightly restrained. O'Brien went the other way with some teammates, whereas Alcaraz opted to race to the Evertonians and jump up and down in front of them!! 

Mykolenko: Not everyone's favourite. He was steady and honest, putting in the delivery to the far post for O'Brien to send it home without having to use his 6ft-6in frame. 

Tarkowski: Or should I say General Tarkowski? He had one of his back-to-himself games. Solid, if not spectacular, but leading and organising as he does. 

Branthwaite: Oozes class and calmness for his age, considering he is still young for a centre-back. Do not let him go. In a few seasons, the prospect of him and O'Brien as a centre-back pairing is almost mouth-watering. 

Lindstrøm: Had a quiet game, but I wouldn't knock his effort. I think he is a bit lost being played wide. We would get more out of him if he played central, but who makes way? A good option to have, in my opinion, should we decide to keep him. 

Harrison: I thought he had a really good game, particularly in the second half. Most of our play was coming down the left, and was integral to our attacking intent, and ultimately the equaliser. 

Gana: Give him another year and then just clone him. Immense as always. He sort of holds the team together, allowing the more glamorous players to do their thing. He does the dirty work, but is calm on the ball as well. A precious commodity. 

Garner: He was everywhere and was enjoying it. A very strong performance and pulling strings in midfield. Outstanding from the Birkenhead lad. 

Alcaraz: He continues to generate excitement when the ball lands at his feet. You just feel something could happen. Unlucky with his shot, which I was almost celebrating, convinced it was going in. A player went down in the Brentford box in the first half. Both sets of players were instantly calling on the medical team. It didn't look good and I assumed it was a Brentford player, but couldn't see as it was down the opposite end. After a lengthy delay, up stands Alcaraz and trots off the pitch as if there was nothing wrong. Whatever the criteria is, sign him permanently in the summer. 

Beto: Okay, he missed three one-on-ones, but he got in a position to potentially score. If he keeps going like that, he will keep scoring. For the first, he gets clipped as the Brentford defender slipped, which threw him off balance. That made him have to find his feet, adjust, take a touch or two too many and by then, the keeper was out. The second chance, I think the keeper deserves credit for standing and making himself big. The third, that's just a good save and it was right in front of me. Again, I thought it was destined for the net, more than the other two. Great effort again, running himself into the ground. 

MotM: I was torn between Gueye and Harrison. O'Brien was in the mix. Alcaraz was up there. But controversially I'm going for the much berated Jack. It's nice to have choices. It wasn't just his work rate; at one point he was on his knees, exhausted. He played really well and made an impact on the game. I appreciate many will disagree.

Five minutes of added time went up. Groans from the corner. It's not good for me. I think most of it was due to something a groundsman was doing to the turf as there wasn't much else. Alcaraz and a Brentford defender were watching proceedings with curiosity. 

The final whistle went and the players came over along with Moyes to take their deserved plaudits and show appreciation to the supporters, who gave the same back. It was a good reception and made me think back to the difference on the same ground after that Benitez match, when the players bore the brunt of the supporters' frustration, even poor Seamus, who stood there looking at us and took it.  

They were all there, but there was a nice touch from Pickford who walked over and handed his gloves to a young kid with his goalkeeper shirt on back-to-front with Jordan's name on the back. His dad (presumably) lifted him up like an FA Cup trophy. Hopefully that young lad gets to see the real one lifted soon. Mykolenko, as he always does, came over to the loud and proud Blue hordes. 

Back to the Globe for a pit stop before heading back. But not before Mark had an altercation with a driver. As he walked in front of this person's car, the individual started edging forward to get closer to the one in front and block our Mark's passage, even though the lights were on red, so he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Well, cue an exchange of colourful expletives between the two. Window down, a bit of verbal fisticuffs as we carried on. 

Once inside, we were almost immediately interviewed by Billy the Bee, who I think does Brentford podcasts or writes blogs. We mingled with a few Brentford supporters, who turned out to be a father and son. I chatted to the son, who was asking a lot about our new stadium. He grew up in Brentford and has supported them from the days of League One, when most of his school mates were "supporting" Manchester United. He said they never really got to give Griffin Park a proper send-off, as it all happened during Covid. I asked him about the seats. Why all those random colours? The explanation was that it caused a lot of complaints at the time, but is designed to visually make the stadium look full, even when it's not. 

Mark ended up chatting to the dad, who originated from Garston and had lived in Speke before "emigrating" south. It turned out he was a Kopite, so the short straw was drawn. The guy even went as far as reminding us that the first person to score a goal at the Everton stadium was a Liverpudlian, and even went as far to do the "6" sign with his fingers. Well, that was Mark's opinion formed: Gobshite!! 

Swift walk to Brentford station to make train connections, hampered by a red signal delay. What is it with the colour red? We eventually got back, Mark to Clapham Junction, me staying on to Waterloo. When I got there, once again, I remembered that I hadn't eaten and saw that the Marks & Spencer's food shop was still open. Reduced pre-packed cheese and onion sandwiches. Bonus. You can take the boy out of Liverpool, but you can't take Liverpool out of the boy! I gave one to a rough sleeper, so was still hungry, but as always recently, still buzzing off the match, even though we hadn't won. 

In summary, an enjoyable game of football, with both sides contributing. Even at 1-0 down, it always felt like we could come back into it. They edged the first half, we the second half. I was satisfied with that performance and the point. We again were resilient under pressure and took the game to Brentford to get back in it and could easily have won it. But over the course of a very entertaining match, I would say a fair result for both teams. 

Even though I can't say it until it is mathematically proven, it is now increasingly unlikely bar a bizarre turn of results that we won't be playing top-flight football at the new Everton Stadium next season. We will be. 

Woves up next. I'm up in the West Midlands for the weekend with family, so will hopefully get to attend. Win and I'll call it job done 2nd cousin Moyes. I'm travelling home the weekend of the West Ham match, so will be around and hope to catch a few of you. 

There are some ridiculous and outrageous activities happening on various internet websites and social media pages. People being promised tickets, paying for them and not receiving them. Travel companies snapping them up in 4s. It's wrong, it's touting at some eyebrow-raising prices and the club should do something about it. They can't be that oblivious. Personally, if I can't go through the club, it's family and trusted friends. 

As always, the final say goes to the supporters, many making long trips for a 7:30 pm kick-off and probably not home until the early hours. 

Marching. Spirit. Believe, because We Shall Not Be Moved… and our Everton Is Coming Back…

Reader Comments (9)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()

How to get rid of these ads and support TW