Toumani Diagouraga said he did not expect his low shot from a half cleared corner to result in Brentford’s first goal in their 2-1 win over Notts County.
Brentford had the upper hand in the game, which was 21 minutes old, when Sam Saunders delivered a corner in to the box that County failed to deal with, Jonathan Douglas laid it back to Toumani and the midfield man fired in a shot that should never have beaten County goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.
However, the goalkeeper failed to get his body behind the ball; it slipped through his hands and rolled over the line to give Toumani his first goal of the season.
The goal was the least Brentford deserved for their start; they had hit the post and spent most of the first 20 minutes in the County half without breaking through.
“I didn’t expect it to go in,” said Toumani, speaking to Bees Player after the match.
“I didn’t think I had connected properly.
“I was happy when it went it.
“When I saw it go in I thought it was the luck I needed.
“Sometimes you need the odd mistake like that to get reward for the work you have put it.”
Toumani said Brentford wanted to press the visitors back and try to win the ball as they played it around in defence.
He said they did it well from the start.
The Bees scored a second goal with 20 minutes remaining through Bradley Wright-Phillips and survived a late spell of pressure to win.
It was their third straight win after victories over Swindon Town and Preston North End, both of which were secured with late goals.
“The game plan was to get at them from the start and we were thankful to get a goal to show for it,” said Toumani.
“We wanted to press and go full out from the get go, that is what we did.
“We did our analysis, we knew how they would try and play, passing it in defence,
“Against Preston we faced the same thing; we struggled to get the goal.
“To get an early one was a good thing.
“You can’t sit back, you need to go for the second and third.
“If you defend you run the risk of conceding.”
County’s goal came within minutes of Brentford taking a 2-0 lead.
Alan Judge had minimal contact with Jake Bidwell and went down; referee Andy D’Urso pointed to the spot after his assistant signalled a foul had been committed.
Simon Moore saved the low penalty from Jamal Campbell-Ryce but Judge scored the rebound.
Toumani admitted Brentford sat a little deep after the goal but was pleased they kept County at bay.
“I was shocked the referee gave the penalty,” said the midfield man.
“It was good that we held on.
“It gave them belief and we were a bit cautious, we dropped a little bit.”
Brentford climbed to third in npower League One with the win.
They are level on points with AFC Bournemouth in second, having played two games fewer, and two points behind leaders Doncaster Rovers with a game in hand.
Doncaster were beaten by Coventry City yesterday while Swindon Town, who started the day in second, drew at home with Oldham Athletic.
Toumani said Brentford were only concentrating on themselves, starting with a trip to Milton Keynes Dons on Easter Monday.
The Notts County game was the first of eight games in 29 days to end the season and Toumani said the squad would cope.
The midfield man only started two games – FA Cup with Budweiser games against Chelsea – between the defeat against Tranmere Rovers on January 19 and the trip to Carlisle on March 9.
He said that rest has helped him.
“We have to stay in our own lane, make sure we get the results we want,” said Toumani.
“If we then see other teams have dropped points, it’s great.
“The run we have will test the squad.
“We have rotated all season, we will be OK.
“The rest I had helped me.
“I need to be ready to give 100 per cent when the team wants me.
“It’s always a big game when you go away to Milton Keynes.
“We will go there and try to win the game.”
Bees Player subscribers can see a full post-match video interview with Toumani Diagouraga here.