City hurting after Bees' late sting in the tail

The timing of the winning goal – not to mention the “Dick Turpin” style of the result – made sure of a horrible journey home.

But there was still one face that could raise a smile on the team coach.

As he watched a hurried re-run of the game, Stuart McCall was happy with what he saw.

Obviously the result hurt big time; it was a massive kick in the teeth for a man who had demanded beforehand that City made sure they open their away count against genuine promotion rivals.

That plan went out of the window thanks to Nathan Elder’s head in the last of the four added minutes.

But McCall was determined to look at the bigger picture and a hugely encouraging performance in treacherous conditions.

He said: “In a perverse way, I’m happier now than I was last week after we had drawn with Dagenham. That day we didn’t play particularly well and got a point but I can take more out of the defeat on Saturday.

“We were always dangerous and played good stuff on a very heavy pitch. We haven’t been second best and if we play like that for the rest of the season, I will be well pleased.

“There were a lot of good individual performances and we can only take confidence from that.”

The Negative Neds, as Mark Lawn calls them, will point to a fifth away defeat against another side in the top ten. That is a statistic that must be sorted out if City are to stay in the thick of a promotion race likely to go right to the wire.

But this was ten times the display at Shrewsbury or Darlington and there was plenty more positive invention than the last loss on the road at Wycombe.

The concern will be the way that good chances went begging for the second week running, though McCall will maintain that is only a blip from his usually free-scoring side.

Nothing can be levelled at Michael Boulding, who made it four games in a row on the scoresheet with an instinctive finish after a mishit effort from Steve Jones had squirted into his path via the swishes of Nicky Law and Barry Conlon.

The last few weeks will surely silence any doubters who wondered if Boulding’s reputation had been built too high after his prolific term last season with Mansfield.

He has answered those queries emphatically – and his run into a rich vein of form is timely considering the way Peter Thorne has tailed off.

The chances that Thorne would bang away with his eyes shut a couple of months ago are no longer going in. He missed another good one when picked out early on by a well-placed pass from Paul Arnison, chesting the ball down only to fire high into the home fans behind the goal.

Thorne’s problems increased when he damaged his shoulder falling in a pile midway through the second half. Having cleared up his back trouble, the last thing City need is to see their leading striker sidelined again even if he has temporarily gone off the boil.

The main source of scoring opportunities was once again Jones, whose speed from a standing start would make for a cracking 100m head-to-head with Omar Daley.

Jones gave Brentford left back Brett Johnson nightmares as he tore past him time and again. Unfortunately, he couldn’t provide the finish to cap off those bursts.

Having gone close three times against Dagenham, the on-loan Burnley flyer had another hat-trick of chances.

The best of the bunch saw him thrash a drive at keeper Mikkel Andersen when a more assured side-foot would surely have given the debutant Dane no chance.

Andersen was certainly Brentford’s hero for ensuring they picked up one point; let alone all three.

The 6ft 5in giant shouldn’t have even been there. Signed on an emergency loan from Reading, the Championship high-flyers then wanted him straight back after Marcus Hahnemann got crocked but the league said no.

So instead he emerged the reluctant hero, shaking off the ironic cheers of the City fans massed behind his goal. After a couple of iffy clearances, he grew in stature and proved a one-man wall of defiance. Having earlier denied the fit-again Daley, Andersen saved the best until last with a spectacular tip-over to keep out a Boulding nod that was arrowing for the top corner.

With five minutes to go, a goal then would have been fitting reward for City’s bright afternoon in weather that would have made Noah think twice.

Referee Gavin Ward gave the game the okay at 1.15pm but there were still doubts whether we would see a full 90 minutes. He had previous after abandoning Luton and Bournemouth in October for snow just a quarter of an hour in.

But with both sides working to get the ball down and play neat football, Ward was happy to let this one go. If only he’d felt the same about the two contentious incidents deep in stoppage time.

City were always looking the most likely side to find a breakthrough. With Paul McLaren outstanding in central midfield, they generally had a grip on proceedings and limited the home side to only a couple of Elder headers wide.

But when Nicky Law drilled against the post from a free-kick given inside the box for a deliberate backpass, you sensed it was not going to happen for City.

That fear was reinforced moments after Andersen had athletically thwarted Boulding.

Ryan Dickson, Brentford’s left back playing on the right, drifted inside dangerously for a shot that was smothered by Matt Clarke and the loose ball ran invitingly to Marcus Bean to place past Rhys Evans.

But no sooner had the Mr Bean headlines been written, City were carving through a still-celebrating home defence for Boulding to hook home.

At least City had got something for their toils even if they had warranted more. But there was more drama about to unfold.

Boulding had possession deep in stoppage time near the Brentford corner flag. Two red and white shirts were around him and one sent the striker tumbling.

Referee Ward blew for the foul – against Boulding. City were staggered as the Bees pumped it to the halfway line where Elder was jostling with Clarke.

There looked little in the challenge as the centre forward backed in while Clarke tried to wrestle the ball away. But the official again saw it as a foul from the visitors.

Cue a perfectly-delivered free-kick from Dickson and City momentarily froze for Elder to bundle in from six yards. Football can be the cruellest of games.

But the manager was determined to smile his way back up the M1. Even if it was a fixed grin.