Feeling a bit better about it

Everton 1 - 0 Brentford

I was fortunate enough to be invited into the Dixie Dean Suite for this one and, while my better half spent most of the morning whizzing through the house chores, I was excitedly moving around the house being rather useless, quite frankly.

We arrived at Goodison Park a little before midday and, after nipping into the club shop to get a few gifts for others, we were into the lounge and at the table… later joined by my friend who invited us along, and a couple of really good-natured Brentford supporters. It was great company throughout as the beer flowed. And we were in the slightly surreal situation of wanting Liverpool to win a game against our relegation rivals Bournemouth. Which of course they lost. It’s as if they did it on purpose.

Our seats were fabulous, really top drawer and as good a view of a game as you’ll get. Peter Reid was sat not too far in front of us with presumably his brother, Gareth Southgate also. It was awesome to hear the sirens before Z-Cars, I’d actually forgotten that existed! And there was a real buzz around Goodison Park as we zoned in on kick-off...

And we were up on our feet in no time at all, within 35 seconds in fact. Alex Iwobi played a cute little ball in to Abdoulaye Doucoure who at first mis-controlled, but still had the presence of mind to make something of it and played a good ball out to Dwight McNeil, who drove forward aggressively before hitting accurately into the corner. I remember looking at Katja as we celebrated, and then looked to my right where the two Brentford supporters were sat. I won’t forget in a hurry the glare one of them gave me as our eyes met.

The first half was excellent, for Everton at least. Very entertaining. Behind us sat three fellas who were chatting away enthusiastically throughout the game. But we couldn’t for the life of us make out the language. They would speak in this obscure language and then every so often would throw in some English words. “Yada yada yada …that’s a goal kick” sort of stuff.

I know the Dutch and the Germans for example will often throw in a bit of English into conversations so I thought they were perhaps Danish or Norwegian maybe, as the Scandinavians typically speak very good English. Curiosity got the better of Katja in the end so she asked what language they were speaking. “Welsh” was the reply. I obviously didn’t pick up too much of it when watching Sgorio on S4C back in the day.

It was great to see Everton get forward and press with aggression and create opportunities, and we certainly should have headed into the break more than the solitary goal ahead. We created several openings in the half and another one should have gone in at some point. Amadou Onana skied perhaps the most presentable one.

Alhough we did have the ball in the net again before half-time and had long since finished celebrating Gana's goal before it was chalked off for offside. Was it handball? Well having slowed it down and scrutinised from several angles, it looks like it might have maybe hit his hand but you can’t be certain. A clear and obvious error? Really?

It was very cold out there and so a nice pint of Guinness at half-time was welcome as we warmed up back at the table.

At half-time, I was saying how nervous I was given that we’d passed up some great chances in the first half. And with the way the second half went, my trepidation was vindicated as Everton basically set up to defend throughout. Brentford were always going to improve as they were poor in the first half and are a good side. Credit to the team, particularly the defenders who ground out a crucial win.

James Tarowski and Michael Keane were incredible at the back. Jordan Pickford made a very good save early doors. Dwight McNeil cleared one off the line, it was a real team effort while the Evertonians howled them on.

I known Sean Dyche prefers to stick with the XI which take the field as much as possible and never has made a lot of substitutions as a manger, though despite this, I was surprised he waited until the 80th minute to make a change in this game. The pitch was very, very heavy, the lads had put a heck of a shift in and some freshness was required sooner in my view. Still, they got over the line, and Goodison Park breathed one big, collective sigh of relief when Brentford goalkeeper David Raya put his free header wide deep into injury time.

A word on Brentford – I've got to say I'm a big fan. They are getting a lot of plaudits for the way they are operating as a club, of course, and I do admire that. I like their manager, they have good supporters and they are an efficient team. But what impressed me most watching them yesterday is that they are fair game. You don't get much of this play-acting and players trying to get other players in trouble. They help opposing players to their feet and have respect. I've got a lot of time for what Thomas Frank is doing there.

Back in the DIxie Dean Suite, after the match, Neil Pointon, looking very dapper, made a guest appearance and spoke very glowingly about his time at Everton and was complimentary about the shift the lads had just put into this game, referencing Ben Godfrey for particular praise. He’d been sitting at a table catching up with Kevin Sheedy.

Once we’d had a few more celebratory drinks and a little more food, we were on our way and saying our farewells. Katja and I went across the road to The Winslow for a pint before heading home and in walked Kevin Sheedy to a lovely welcome from surprised Evertonians. I was able to quickly ask “Do you think we’ll stay up, Kevin?”

“Well put it this way, I feel a lot better about it after today” was about as committal as he could offer.

A great day. A great team effort. And great company.

My Man of the Match: Michael Keane

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