Brentford’s Top Eighty Goals – 1/1/16

Firstly I would like to wish everybody a very happy and healthy New Year and today I am going to set you all a poser as you gaze weary and bleary eyed at the computer screen and do your best to recover from an evening of excess and a lack of sleep.

We were graced with two goals of pure brilliance from Ryan Woods and Sergi Canos at Reading on Monday afternoon and I am therefore going to ask you all to nominate the best goals you have ever seen Brentford score.

The one ground rule to remember is that we are only talking about quality here and not the importance of the occasion so, for example, a certain Gary Blissett strike at Peterborough in 1992 might not necessarily qualify despite what the goal actually meant for the club.

Given my rapidly failing memory I have only gone back to 1970 so apologies to my older readers although I am happy to consider any nominations for goals scored before that date.

Please can you all provide me with your own favourites and I will put the names of everybody who replies into a draw for a signed copy of my Brentford book, Ahead Of The Game.

So here we go and the goals are all in date order rather than being ranked in terms of actual quality as that would be a mammoth task which perhaps we can all share in the very near future.

1. John O’Mara’s second goal v Darlington in 1971/72 when he finished off a wonderful flowing move by smashing home a long range effort from a cross from Paul Bence.
2. Paul Bence’s thirty yard screamer at home to Rotherham in September 1974
3. An acrobatic overhead kick by Mickey French against Barnsley on his debut in February 1975
4. Bob Booker curling the ball into the Gillingham net from twenty yards in April 1980
5. Paul Walker scoring from a well-worked short corner routine at Walsall in August 1980
6. David Crown’s second goal against Oxford United in November 1980 when he beat three defenders before scoring
7. Chris Kamara’s looping twenty yard header at Swindon in November 1981
8. An unstoppable curling free kick by Stan Bowles against Wimbledon in April 1982
9. Gary Roberts’s thunderous goal against Swansea in the Milk Cup n October 1983
10. Robbie Cooke’s turn and shot at Bournemouth in the Freight Rover trophy in April 1985
11. Andy Sinton’s winner against Port Vale in October 1987 when he beat two men, cut in from the left and buried the ball into the top corner
12. Roger Stanislaus running from the halfway line and scoring from thirty yards (not fifty as popular legend has it) at Fulham in the Littlewoods Cup in August 1988
13. Roger Stanislaus against Northampton in January 1989 when he combined brilliantly with Andy Sinton and Kevin Godfrey before scoring emphatically
14. Dean Holdsworth turning on the edge of the box and rifling home an unstoppable drive into the roof of the Walsall net in January 1990
15. Neil Smillie’s solo goal against Shrewsbury in March 1990 when he ran from inside his own half, jinked past a defender and hit a thirty-yarder into the roof of the net
16. Dean Holdsworth finishing off a slick four man move with a fantastic volley against Bolton Wanderers in September 1990
17. Marcus Gayle’s first senior goal with a turn and long range thunderbolt into the roof of the Reading net in October 1990
18. Marcus Gayle almost breaking the Bradford City net in March 1991 with a thirty yard Exocet after a powerful run
19. Lee Luscombe’s debut goal against Barnet in the Autoglass Trophy in December 1991 after a slick move which went from one end of the pitch to the other
20. Lee Luscombe’s solo run and finish at Leyton Orient in December 1991
21. Lee Luscombe’s outrageous swerving volley from way out on the left wing against Charlton Athletic in November 1992
22. Gary Blissett’s curler at Derby County in the Anglo-Italian Cup in February 1993
23. Denny Mundee’s hat trick goal against Bristol Rovers in January 1994 when he hammered home from an acute angle after a mazy run
24. Robert Taylor’s long range lob against Cambridge United in January 1995
25. Paul Abrahams running from the halfway line and lobbing the Gillingham keeper from twenty yards in August 1996
26. Carl Asaba’s winner at Gillingham in March 1997 when he picked the ball up on the left touchline, knocked it over a defender’s head and allowed it to bounce before unleashing a rocket from a tight angle into the roof of the net
27. Tony Folan’s solo goal at Peterborough in October 1998 when he went on a mazy run, cut in from the wing, left several defenders with twisted blood as he dribbled past them before floating a perfect chip over the keeper
28. Tony Folan from the halfway line in December 1998 after he picked the ball up on the edge of his own penalty area before lobbing the Cambridge United keeper from fully forty-five yards
29. A Paul Evans thirty yard angled screamer against Swansea City in May 1999
30. Martin Rowlands’s solo goal at Bury in August 1999 when he ran forty yards and beat several defenders before scoring emphatically
31. Paul Evans from behind the halfway line, scoring from sixty-two yards, inside the Brentford half in September 1999 straight from our kickoff against Preston North End with the ball travelling like a shell and still rising as it hit the net
32. Paul Evans scoring two games later in October 1999 at Burnley from a mere forty yards, taking his effort on the run
33. Martin Rowlands scoring against Bristol City in December 1999 when he ran thirty yards, beat three players before curling home an exquisite shot
34. Gavin Mahon’s thirty yard rocket at Bristol City in December 2000
35. Paul Evans’s chipped Panenka-like penalty kick against Oldham Athletic in September 2001 – pure class
36. The Ben Burgess swivel and volley from the edge of the area against Brighton in January 2002
37. Lloyd Owusus’s spectacular volley at Blackpool in March 2002
38. Steve Sidwell’s perfectly placed lob from thirty-five yards against Stoke City in March 2002
39. Stephen Hunt’s weaving run and curler against Northampton Town in March 2003
40. Jay Tabb’s fifty yard solo run at Barnsley in April 2004
41. The Alex Rhodes solo effort against Bournemouth in May 2004
42. A searing volley from Kevin O’Connor against Wrexham in August 2004
43. Deon Burton’s flick over a defender and wonderful finish against Luton Town in December 2004
44. Deon Burton’s cool finish at Sheffield Wednesday in December 2004 after Alex Rhodes’s solo run
45. Isaiah Rankin’s thunderous twenty yard volley at Bournemouth in January 2005
46. Deon Burton’s thirty yard volley against Sheffield Wednesday in February 2005
47. Michael Turner’s spectacular long range effort against Tranmere Rovers in April 2005
48. Jay Tabb’s solo run and shot against Hull City in May 2005
49. Isaiah Rankin’s curling effort at Chesterfield in August 2005
50. Sam Sodje’s defence slitting pass to Kevin O’Connor who scored against Chesterfield in December 2005
51. DJ Campbell’s superlative flick up and volley at Southend United in January 2006
52. Paul Brooker’s outrageous solo goal at Swindon in April 2006 when he ran seventy yards before scoring
53. Jo Kuffour’s scissor kick against Bradford City in September 2006
54. Glenn Poole’s swerving volley at Rochdale in October 2007
55. Glenn Poole’s fantastic volley from a Ryan Dickson corner against Wycombe Wanderers in December 2007
56. A three man breakaway against Macclesfield in October 2008 which led to a Charlie MacDonald goal
57. Ryan Dickson’s trickery on the ball before scoring against Accrington Stanley in April 2009
58. Cleveland Taylor’s headed goal at Southampton in August 2009 after a beautiful dribble and cross by Ryan Dickson
59. Charlie MacDonald’s midair volley at Oldham Athletic in March 2009
60. Clayton Donaldson’s goal against Colchester United in September 2011 when he was set free by Myles Weston and scored clinically
61. Clayton Donaldson’s thirty yard volley at Notts County in October 2011
62. Saido Berahino’s unstoppable curling effort against Carlisle United in February 2012
63. Clayton Donaldson’s solo effort against MK Dons in March 2012
64. Clayton Donaldson’s left foot volley at Swindon from Paul Hayes’s flick on in November 2012
65. Harry Forrester’s solo run and long ranger against Sheffield United in November 2012
66. Bradley Wright-Phillips’s header at Crewe Alexandra in April 2013 after a lovely flowing four man move
67. Shaleum Logan’s cut inside and long range left footed curler at Port Vale in August 2013
68. The Sam Saunders falling over free kick routine against Swindon Town in December 2013
69. Adam Forshaw’s instant thirty-five yarder at Crewe Alexandra in February 2014
70. Moses Odubajo’s goal against Brighton in September 2014 after a perfect Alan Judge through pass
71. Andre Gray’s powerful run and clinical finish against Wolverhampton Wanderers in November 2014
72. Jota’s unstoppable angled effort at Cardiff City in December 2014
73. Jota’s breakaway goal at Norwich City in January 2015
74. Jota’s pitch length run at Blackburn Rovers in March 2015
75. Stuart Dallas’s thirty yarder at Fulham in April 2015
76. Alex Pritchard’s clinical finish at Derby County after a wonderful breakaway move in April 2015
77. David Button’s perfect assist for Alan Judge to score with an angled shot against Sheffield Wednesday in September 2015
78. Alan Judge’s breakaway goal at Charlton Athletic in October 2015
79. Ryan Woods’s long range screamer at Reading in December 2015
80. Sergi Canos’s trickery and sheer brilliance at Reading in December 2015