John Egan said it was fantastic to send the travelling fans home happy as his 88th minute goal secured a point for The Bees at Villa Park on Wednesday night. The home side took the lead in the 20th minute when Jonathan Kodija curled home expertly from the edge of the box. Despite plenty of Brentford pressure in the second-half it looked like that would be the winning goal until John popped up in the dying minutes to slam home a leveller.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match, John said: “I can’t really describe the feeling when the ball went in. I was just buzzing. When the ball hit the back of the net I just turned to the fans immediately because I could see how buzzing they were. I would probably have got in the mix with the fans but there were a few bouncers who wouldn’t let me through. It was fantastic for them because they made the trip up here and they have something to go home and celebrate about. It was a sense of relief for the team because it looked like it was slipping away from us. The team is the most important thing and we are all buzzing to get a point back at the end.”
Dean Smith’s side created far more than their hosts in the second-half as Villa looked to hang on for only their second win of the season. Even though the goal arrived late John was in no doubt that it was deserved, especially given The Bees dominant second-half showing.
“We fell behind to a fantastic finish by them in the first-half and they had a bit of a threat with their pace,” said John. “I felt that we grew into the game after the goal and become a threat as the game went on. Second-half we put them on the back foot, thoroughly deserved a point and could have nicked all three. We had to get to grips with their wingers coming off the line into midfield. You could see in the first-half that we were half getting in on goal with some tidy play and passing but it was about doing that and doing it better. We had a lot of the ball in their half, looked after the ball well and created enough chances to deserve the goal.”
Wednesday’s draw made it four points from tough away trips to Brighton and Hove Albion and Aston Villa this week ahead of Saturday’s home match against Preston North End. John is looking forward to getting back to Griffin Park and is targeting a win on Saturday to complete an excellent week for the team.
“We have had two tough away games at two tough places,” said John. “Tonight is a good point and if we can capitalise on this point against Preston North End on Saturday then it will be an even better point. You are not going to go to many tougher places that Brighton and Villa and to come away with a win and a draw is decent. We fully believe that we can go anywhere and beat teams. We will take the point. The fans will be very important on Saturday and they need to keep on top of us now and keep egging us on. The home atmosphere has been brilliant so far and hopefully Saturday will be no different. Hopefully we can put in a good performance against a good Preston side and get the win.”