Brentford 2 Burton Albion 1
Super Scoty Hogan bagged a brace as Brentford nervosuly squeezed to a first win in five against Burton Albion this afternoon.
But more importantly, it brought to an end a worrying four-game losing streak which has threatened to derail all the goos work the Bees done at the start of the campaign.
The Bees took the lead on 12 minutes when Romaine Sawyers played a lovely ball in to Hogan, who finished in the clinical style Bees fans have become accustomed to.
And when Burton equalised soon after it was yet another sloppy goal conceded, Lucas Akins rounding Andreas Bjelland near the byline before pulling back for Jamie Ward, who had all the time and space in the world to pick his spot.
The hosts responded with two very near misses, Burton keeper Jon McLaughlin making a brilliant point blank save from John Egan's bullet header before the combination for the first goal almost came up trumps again, Sawyers setting up Hogan for a delicious lob which beat McLaughlin all ends up but ended up coming back off the near post.
It was Burton who started the second half the brighter, but that man Hogan did it again barely 10 minutes into the second 45 with an equally clinical finish after Josh McEachran's failed through ball was deflected into his path by a visiting defender.
Soon after, Hogan had the ball in the back of the net again after he outmuscled a Burton defender to reach a long clearance first anf slot past McLaughlin, but his hat-trick celebrations were stopped short by a harsh flag for a push.
As the half wore on, Brentford went flat and frustratingly sat back, inviting the pressure on and almost beckoning the inevitable, but it was sub Tom Field who went closest in injury time, with a far post header cleared off the line.
Fellow sub Lasse Vibe missed another good chance on the break in injury time, but it mattered little as the full time whistle went second later and Brentford were back to winning ways.
