The Bees returned to winning ways after the international break on an afternoon of high-drama at Griffin Park against Nottingham Forest. All the action came in the final half-hour as Sergi Canos netted his first goal for the club to put The Bees in front. Harlee Dean then saw red for an off-the-ball altercation with Johnny Williams moments before Henri Lansbury’s leveller for Forest. However, deep into injury time, a deflected Philipp Hofmann effort somehow evaded two Forest defenders and the goalkeeper to creep over the line and secure a remarkable three points. Toumani Diagouraga became only the second non-British born Brentford player, after Danis Salman, to reach 200 appearances for the club when he started for The Bees against Nottingham Forest.
The month ended with a trip to The Macron Stadium to take on Bolton Wanderers live on Sky Sports. However, the real news came before the match as it was confirmed that former Walsall boss Dean Smith would be taking over from Lee Carsley as Head Coach after the game. Dean watched on from the stands as John Swift curled Brentford into a first-half lead only for Neil Danns to rescue a point for The Trotters in the second-half.
It appeared that the club’s lengthy injury list was beginning to ease as Jota marked his first Brentford appearance in more than three months with a goal in a behind closed doors friendly against Tottenham Hotspur. Sergi Canos scored the first two with Philipp Hofmann grabbing a third as The Bees ran out 4-1 winners over Spurs in a match which saw a number of Bees players continue their comeback from injury. Josh McEachran and Maxime Colin also stepped up their recoveries from injury by featuring for the Development Squad in a 2-1 defeat at home to Charlton Athletic at Jersey Road. Colin played 70 minutes, and got himself on the scoresheet, while Josh came through the 90 minutes unscathed.
Josh Bohui was on target again for the Under-18s, this time against Crystal Palace, as his penalty earned Jon De Souza’s side a point after Andre Coker had given The Eagles a first-half lead. Kevin O’Connor’s Development Squad suffered a disappointing away defeat against Colchester United as they went down 3-1 to The Us in Essex. Reece Cole’s fine free-kick had levelled the game at 1-1 early on but two quick-fire goals after the break ensured the points stayed in Essex. Three goals in the final ten minutes for Ipswich Town saw them come from 2-0 down to defeat The Bees Under-18s at Jersey Road. Chris Mepham and Danny Parish looked to have put Jon De Souza’s side in control but The Tractor Boys struck late on to take the points.
Three members of the Development Squad signed new one-year contract extensions after impressing with Kevin O’Connor’s Under-21s. Left-back Tom Field and central midfielders James Ferry and Zain Westbrooke all put pen to paper on deals to keep them with The Bees until the summer of 2017.
There was a special day for a young fan as Ted Starkey got to meet his heroes at Brentford’s Training Ground as less than a week after being stuck by a car following The Bees win over Forest. The incident was seen by defender Harlee Dean who rushed to get Club Doctor Matt Stride to administer first aid until the ambulance arrived.
The club was saddened to hear of the death of former defender Ian Dargie, aged 84. Ian made 263 league appearances for The Bees throughout the 1950s and 1960s and was a key figure at the heart of Brentford’s defence for much of his time in West London.