FC Brentford have vowed to bounce back from their Middlesex County Sunday League Division Three Cup final defeat – and have two chances to do so.
The Bees went down 2-1 to title winners AFC Bedfont on March 26, with Bedfont league and cup double winners as a result, to add to the disappointment of last year’s Division Four Cup final defeat to Adam & Eve.
But just as FC Brentford ensured a happy ending by winning promotion from Division Four last year, they are in the driving seat to do the same in Division Three this term and join Bedfont in Division Two.
They also have another chance to land cup silverware when they take on promotion rivals Heathrow Club in the Vice President’s Cup final on Wednesday, April 22, at Uxbridge FC’s Honeycroft Stadium.
Skipper Jak Linsell said: “A year ago, after our cup final defeat to Adam & Eve, I said that as a team we had been naive and were overcome by the occasion. This year, whilst obviously disappointed to put another runners-up medal in the cabinet, I am still upbeat.
"AFC Bedfont are now the league and cup double winners and deservedly so. They are a great bunch of lads and have been the best team this year. But we ran them close, and they will not have had a tougher game this season.
“Had their ’keeper not pulled off a remarkable reflex save to deny Dyann Lewis’s header, and Dan Stead’s first half finish not been disallowed; the outcome may have been different. But we came off the pitch having given all we could, and I cannot ask for more than that.
"We now have to pick ourselves up, jump back onto our bike and pedal even faster as there is still so much to play for. With five games left, we need seven points from a possible 12 to ensure we are promoted in second place, plus another cup final.”
Goals from Rob Howard and John Gregory won the cup for Bedfont, and while top scorer Chris Johnson pulled one back from the spot with five minutes to go for Brentford but it was too little, too late.
