Wilf Rostron grabbed the only goal at Craven Cottage as Brentford avenged their derby defeat at the hands of Fulham last week to push their local rivals closer to relegation from the Third Division.
The home side – who had won at Griffin Park so dramatically through Phil Stant’s late winner seven days ago – will rue a succession of missed chances as they dominated this highly charged encounter but ended up on the losing side. Alan Dicks’ men began the contest at a blistering pace, pushing Brentford back with Gary Brazil and Justin Skinner producing several penetrating passes with Stant looking sharp up top.
Brentford struggled to make much of an impression in the opening exchanges with their hopeful forward balls easily dealt with by a disciplined Fulham defence. Stant had the first chance when he surged through the Brentford back line to reach a superb defence-slipping pass from Skinner, but his touch let him on as he looked to beat Graham Benstead, allowing the Bees goalkeeper to claim the loose ball. Martin Pike found himself in great positions on the left flank on three occasions in the first half an hour but poor decision-making in the final third meant his ability to whip in a dangerous ball was wasted.
The visitors had barely threatened Jim Stannard’s goal in the first half before they took the lead against the run of play nine minutes before half time. Fulham left Dean Holdsworth unmarked at the far post and the striker reached a deep cross from Keith Millen, before firing a fierce drive that was well saved by Stannard. The Fulham goalkeeper also kept out a header from Jason Radcliffe but was powerless to prevent Rostron from scoring his second goal against the Whites in the space of seven days.
Brentford grew in confidence after gaining the lead and looked much more dangerous after the interval with Marcus Gayle and Holdsworth much more threatening up front. Stannard had to be at his best to thwart Gayle from close range as the striker looked set to make it 2-0 and he somehow managed to claw a Tony Evans header off the line when all appeared lost.
Dicks sent on Jeff Eckhardt and Steve Milton in an attempt to fashion a late leveller but Brentford survived a late home rally to take all three points and keep their hopes of making the play-offs alive. The Fulham manager admitted afterwards that his side will need to win two of their last three fixtures but beating promotion-chasing Bury at Gigg Lane on Saturday seems a tall order.
FULHAM: Stannard; North, G. Thomas, Pike, Marshall, Morgan, Onwere (Eckhardt 75), Skinner, Brazil, Haag (Milton 82), Stant.
BRENTFORD: Benstead; Millen, Ratcliffe, Bates, Evans, Rostron, Goodyear, Jones, Peters, M. Gayle (Godfrey 75), Holdsworth.
BOOKED: Godfrey.
GOAL: Rostron (36).
ATTENDANCE: 6,765.
