Brentford 0 Stevenage 1
Brentford’s worrying home form continued as they slumped to their fourth defeat at Griffin Park this season.
Chris Beardsley’s 73rd-minute goal – a cool right-footed finish from 10 yards – left them without a victory in six home matches and gave Stevenage an undeserved three points.
The Bees were boosted by the return of fit-again right-back Shaleum Logan, who made his first appearance since August.
But as one defender returned from injury they lost another, with Karleigh Osborne hobbling off midway through a dour first half after taking a heavy knock.
His replacement, Marcel Eger, missed one of the few chances they were able to create in the second period.
The German blazed wastefully over after Myles Weston’s left-wing corner had been headed down by Miguel Llera.
That opening came shortly after a moment of rare quality in which Niall McGinn exchanged passes with Toumani Diagouraga before cutting in from the left and firing over the Stevenage bar.
Brentford looked the team more likely to break the deadlock but found themselves a goal down when they failed to clear their lines and the ball ran to Beardsley, who shot into the far corner of the net.
Jonathan Douglas drove a 25-yard free-kick wide as Uwe Rosler’s men tried in vain to find an equaliser.
And Llera missed a great chance three minutes from the end, heading McGinn’s corner straight at former QPR goalkeeper Chris Day.
Home or away, Brentford are without a win in five matches and their season seems to have stalled since a hugely promising start to Rosler’s reign as manager.
They were booed off by their frustrated fans and Rosler will want a positive response when struggling Chesterfield visit on Saturday.
This post was last modified on 27/10/2011