Although Brentford B deserved their London Senior Cup semi-final victory, Erith Town certainly played their part in an entertaining tie in the last ever senior game at Brentford’s Griffin Park after 106 years of them playing there.

After the match, Dockers’ manager Adam Woodward gave his feelings about the game. “It was hard going to go one-nil down after three minutes after we worked on stuff in training.” he said.

“But I thought that we adjusted well in the second half and I thought that for long periods of the game we did OK but their fitness and their quality shone through in the end.

“There was a comment in the changing room about we’ve been at work today and they’re just worried about getting here at half six. I think that showed a lot today. I can’t take anything away from them. They did deserve to win the game and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say ‘we lost to a better team’ and we did tonight.”

Despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives to take from the game. “I think that we learned a lot tonight.” Woodward continued.

“It was the best pre-season fixture they will have to get minutes in their legs. We are still trying to get fit for the start of the season. We’ve got another game on Saturday against Faversham but let’s just enjoy tonight.

“It’s nice to play at Griffin Park. It’s nice for Steadman Callender to score the last ever goal here. It’s a good occasion and we’ll learn from that and we go again. The boys enjoyed the moment. We’ve done everything correctly. The club were really good and supportive tonight.”

After the visit to Faversham on Saturday, the competitive games start for the Dockers. “We’ve got the F.A. Cup on Tuesday night away to Tunbridge Wells. We’ll do our homework on them. We’ll have a look at them over the next couple of days but tonight’s about enjoying the occasion.

“It’s nice for the boys. They’ve come here and played at a Championship stadium and I thought that our front two were really, really good tonight. Danny Gannon was absolutely exceptional and Steadman got the goal.

“It was nice to get the young boys on. Alfie (Eldridge) came on. He has been our top-scorer in pre-season and it was unfortunate that he had to come off again with an injury.

“We won’t often play on a pitch like that. It was hard work but they took what we told them on board and it was moments of quality that beat us tonight. You won’t get goals like that at our level and especially their movement off the ball. They’re a really, really good side.”

Images courtesy of Dave Budden