James Tarkowski said that Brentford’s 6,151 travelling fans really played their part as The Bees recorded their joint biggest ever away win against Fulham on Good Friday.
Three second-half goals, after Stuart Dallas had given Brentford a first-half lead, ensured that it was Brentford who secured West London bragging rights after yesterday’s meeting.
James admitted he had never played in front of such a large away following and said that their support really drove the team on.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match James said he hoped that the fans had gone home happy after the win.
The defender added that seeing 6,000 Brentford fans in the away end gave them a taste of what next season could be like, should they achieve their aim of gaining promotion to the Premier League.
“It has been a good day for us,” said James.
“It was a reasonably good performance on the pitch.
“There were times where we didn’t play as well as we wanted to but they were four very good goals.
“It was a great day for the fans in a local derby like this and I thought the fans were unbelievable.
“There are parts of the game that we aren’t too pleased with but in the main we are very happy with winning 4-1 away from home.
“It is never easy coming away from home, especially to a big club like Fulham, but the fans’ were excellent and they really pushed us on.
“I have never played in front of anything like that in my life before.
“I hope the fans were pleased with our performance and the result.
“The comment in the changing room after the game was to think about playing in front of that every week.
“If we get up into the Premier League I am sure that is what it will be like next season.
“That is the challenge for us.
“We have got six games left and we need to go and get as many points as we can to try and make the top two places.”
Fulham, who themselves need points to ensure that they are not dragged back into a relegation battled, started the game well.
Kit Symons’ side saw a lot of the ball in the opening stages but aside from an early Alexander Kačaniklič effort saved by David Button The Bees’ goal was not unduly tested.
James felt that once Brentford weathered that early onslaught they were able to impose themselves on the game and play how they wanted to play.
“It was a fast tempo,” said James.
“It was a derby game with a great atmosphere and we knew that they were going to start off quick.
“They had to come at us and they had a bit of the ball but I didn’t think they caused us too many problems.
“Once we settled down and started to move the ball well we cut them open and then we got our chances and the goals.
“We had to stay compact in the first 15 minutes.
“They had quite a lot of the ball and were playing a narrow formation.
“Their full-backs were pushing on but the way we like to play is to counter on that and, with Jota and Stuart Dallas up the pitch, when we win the ball back we can counter and get the goals from there.”
The Bees took the lead midway through the first-half as Stuart Dallas was given time on the edge of the box to steady himself and fire home.
Dallas grabbed Brentford’s second as he found the top corner from 25 yards with an unstoppable effort and the great goals didn’t stop there.
Alan Judge’s 25 yard free-kick made it 3-1 late on and the cherry was added when Jota’s sublimely half-volleyed home Brentford’s fourth in injury time.
Aside from a little spell after Fulham pulled one back from the spot through Ross McCormack James thought The Bees were in total control, especially when Fulham pressed forward late on leaving space for Brentford to play on the counter.
“There were some very good goals today,” said James.
“Stuart Dallas had a great strike in the first-half which set us off and then I’ve never seen three goals like the ones we scored in the second-half scored in the same match before.
“At 2-0 we felt comfortable.
“We gained confidence as the game went on and we started to move the ball well.
“The penalty was a set-back and then their fans got going a bit but when Alan Judge’s free-kick went in it was pretty much game over.
“If you go to ground in the box then you give the referee a reason to give a penalty. Whether it was a penalty or not, I am not too sure but the referee has given it.
“I have played with Matt Smith before and he is a right handful in the air.
“He is good at that and they went a bit longer.
“With him winning the first ball you just have to start picking up the seconds which we try to do most of the time anyway.
“I thought we dealt with him reasonably well: he won one or two headers but they didn’t create many chances from it.
“They had to throw bodies forward and once we got the ball back we had space out wide with Alan Judge and people like that getting on the ball.
“Once you get the third goal it was game over.”
The result moved Brentford back up into the Play-Off places with six matches of the season remaining.
Mark Warburton’s side are currently fifth, six points off top but only a point above eighth placed Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Bees are back in action on Monday when Dougie Freedman’s Nottingham Forest visit Griffin Park.
James said the aim of the squad is still to make the top two and he is looking for another positive result against Nottingham Forest on Monday.
“We are in with a great shout,” said James.
“It is very tight at the top and the top two places aren’t guaranteed yet.
“We are still going for those top two spaces.
“We have some tough games coming up but if we can win them we will really go up the table.
“It will be a good game on Monday and we are looking forward to it.
“Everybody will be looking forward to Monday.
“Teams that have got beaten will be saying that they have a game in two days’ time to turn things round.
“Everybody will be looking to get a positive result on Monday.”