After all the postponements and rearrangements, Brentford finally bowed out of the FA Cup at the hands of Doncaster Rovers at Griffin park.

In truth we should have claimed a replay as, although Doncaster and in particular Billy Sharp had more than a few goalscoring opportunities, neither side really dominated the match, but in the end the away side’s Championship class perhaps gave them the edge.

Before the match, Andy Scott’s main headache was trying to sort out who was and who wasn’t available.  Negotiations with Tottenham regarding John Bostock’s loan spell were still ongoing, so the two clubs agreed to extend the loan by a week so he could play on both Tuesday and this coming Saturday while they worked out whether he’d stay any longer after that.  There’d not been any further news on extending Wojciech Szczesny’s loan deal, and in any case Arsenal didn’t want him cup tied so Lewis Price came in between the sticks.  Tommy Smith wasn’t given permission to play in the cup by parent club Ipswich, so Alan Bennett slotted in alongside Leon Legge in defence, and Carl Cort was rendered ineligible due to not having signed his contract extension quite soon enough, so Charlie MacDonald and Ben Strevens continued up front.  The only surprise selection was that of Sam Wood on the right Hand Side instead of Bostock, presumably because Wood would offer a bit more defensively than the young Spurs man.

However, no-one really offered much defensive protection early on as Doncaster cut through us seemingly at will, and if they had not wasted some decent chances they could have easily won the match within ten minutes.  Billy Sharp had two good chances early on, instead blazing shots wide, and the same player rounded Price later in the half but again shot wide.

Aside from this lack of shooting ability, Doncaster Looked a good side.  Their players looked good on the ball, and their passing was quick, their movement was good and they played nice football.  As such we had our work cut out but didn’t let them continue their good start.  Myles Weston, fresh from his brace against Carlisle on Saturday, was again a threat down the left hand side, his pace worrying the Doncaster defence, and Ryan Dickson gave the usual top quality support to the winger, embarking on some trademark runs of his own. On the other side Wood did well, despite his lack of a right foot, and Danny Foster looked good defensively and got forward a bit more than usual.

Good performances would mean little if they didn’t actually do anything of note though, and sadly a lack of a cutting edge up front cost us. Weston got a few decent crosses in but no-one managed to get a strong enough header on one to genuinely worry Neil Sullivan, MacDonald heading one at the far post early on and Strevens putting a header over. Wood did well on occasions when cutting in off the right hand side but almost exclusively picked the wrong option when it really mattered, one decision to shoot weakly when a pass to either striker or Weston out on the left would have been a much better idea.

Doncaster’s class started to show in the second half as we started sitting back more, tiring perhaps from constantly chasing the ball and closing the opposition down. The away side’s clever corner routines, which were usually played short or lofted towards players just in and around the box and not the usual cross into the heart of the area, often created decent chances and it wasn’t really a shock when one such set play created their goal. A corner from their right hand side was played into Brian Stock on the edge of the area and, although he scuffed his effort, it fell to James O’Connor and he headed past Price from close range.

Up until this point we hadn’t made any substitutions, perhaps somewhat surprisingly given our lack of any attacking threat in the second half, but the chances came at the end of normal time in the shape of David Hunt and Sam Saunders. Why Bostock didn’t come on is a bit of a mystery to me, but it looked like being an inspired decision when a cross was drilled into the box, finding Saunders unmarked six yards out. Unfortunately for Saunders he barely made any contact with the ball and the chance, and indeed the match, was gone.

Plenty of positives can be taken from the match – we were by no means overawed by a midtable Championship team, and a particularly good footballing team at that, but did we do enough to say we should have won? No. Would we have won the replay? Doubtful. Did we show enough to suggest that we have enough in the bank, particularly with a side weakened in ineligibilities, to stay in League One and cement a mid-table place? Definitely. Perhaps, in the grand scheme of things, that’s what’s most important.