Brentford 4 Raging Fever 4

Fever started (and finished) their preparations for the annual WorldNET tournament in Leeds with an entertaining draw against Brentford. The game was contested on a pitch situated between Harlequins' Stoop ground and Twickenham, the home of English rugby. Despite the majority of players possessing all the athleticism of a prop forward after the summer break, the game was closely contested from start to finish.

The scandalous clash with Oxford United's Open Day and the alternative uses for the warm weather meant that Fever were reduced to a bare eleven.

Fever started the game well with Rob Muskett trying to make the most of his opportunity to play 90 minutes up front by shooting whenever possible. Unfortunately, the Brentford 'keeper remained untested as Muskett, Russell McSweeney and John Matthews sent the ball into the bushes behind the goal.

The home side made Fever pay for their wayward finishing by taking the lead against the run of play. Minutes after Joel Harrison had prevented the opener with an outstretched leg, Brentford counter-attacked quickly. Despite being driven wide by Fever's defence, the home side's striker still managed to hook the ball inside the near post with Harrison out of position.

Fever's response, however, wasn't long in coming. John Matthews was adjudged to have sprung the offside trap and he calmly slotted the ball low to the goalkeeper's right to level the scores.

The leveller lifted Fever and they were soon in the lead. The men in yellow passed the ball out from defence, eventually finding McSweeney in the middle of the field. The midfielder's forward pass was either dummied or missed by Matthews, allowing the ball to run into the path of Muskett. The striker justified his ambitious warm-up efforts by bending the ball high past the advancing goalkeeper to give Fever the advantage.

Having done the hard work, Fever would have been keen to go into the half-time break in the ascendancy. However, miscommunication in defence allowed Brentford to draw level moments before the referee's whistle. A corner was floated into the Fever six yard box and indecision between goalkeeper and defence allowed Brentford's target man to power a header in, despite the best efforts of James Longshaw on the line.

The half-time break provided a much needed breather in the warm conditions and Fever were quickly out of the blocks in the second half. D