Cardiff 3-2 Brentford: Russell Slade and Dean Smith reaction
Wednesday 16 December 2015 10:15, UK
Russell Slade hopes Cardiff's 3-2 victory over Brentford can prove a defining moment in their season after they belatedly found a way to win after surrendering a two-goal lead for the third successive home match.
The Bluebirds had picked up a pair of draws after taking handy leads against Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday in their previous two games in the Welsh capital, and history looked to be repeating itself against the Bees.
On-loan striker Tony Watt had put the home side ahead in the 20th minute, and had teed up trike partner Kenwyne Jones for the second 11 minutes before the break. But Jake Bidwell's 67th-minute header pulled a goal back and Jon Swift's close-range effort with four minutes remaining levelled matters.
Boos rang out from the home crowd of just 12,729 - the lowest for a league game at Cardiff City Stadium - but the Welsh club's blushes were spared when Jones slid home a stoppage-time winner.
Slade admitted his side's nerves had been clear to see once the visitors got a goal back, but hopes finally managing to get over the line in such a situation will help launch a play-off bid.
"We have been in that position a couple of times recently and again we should have got a third goal and erased any fears of Brentford getting back into the game," he said.
"We had chances to do that, it did not happen and once we conceded you saw the nerves in the side and the potential for them to get back in.
"But to come through it, when you have been through it twice and it looks like it is happening again, was excellent.
"We showed great unity to get the winner. We kept going got the winner and that is going to make a huge difference for us in terms of confidence moving forward."
While Slade was delighted and relieved in equal measure, there was only disappointment for Bees boss Dean Smith as his side's brave comeback fell short.
"I thought that was very harsh on us because it was a game we did not deserve to lose," he said.
"We started slowly but I felt we were just starting to turn the game when they scored the opener, and then we gave the ball away for their second.
"We started the second half well with plenty of ball but we only really started to make inroads once we made a couple of changes and they began to make an impact.
"We got the one goal back and then we had our chances even before Jon equalised.
"Ultimately we got done by a loss in concentration and a bit of tiredness, which was harsh on us because, as I say, we did not deserve to lose."
