There was heartbreak for Erith and Belvedere in front of their biggest gate since moving to Park View Road when they hosted Brentford B in the London Senior Cup second round.
They were leading with just two minutes remaining but conceded a leveller before the cup holders claimed the winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Despite all the hullabaloo caused by Romeo Beckham, son of former England captain David, being on the bench for his first appearance on loan from Inter Miami, the Deres acquitted themselves well.
Beckham wasn’t the only Bs player with a former professional father. Also on the bench was Paul Dickov’s son, Max, and one of Kevin Lisbie’s boys, Kyreece.
Things could hardly have started better for the hosts. They may have thought that their chance had gone when the Brentford trialist goalkeeper made a stunning save from Lewis Chambers after the defence struggled to clear a throw.
However, from Bradley Ryan’s near post corner, Chambers rose to head inside the near post.
Looking for a quick response Alex Gilbert delivered a corner that found Lucias Vine in a great position, but he didn’t get a clean header on it, and it went down and up again into Adam Molloy’s arms.
Val Adedokun then played Gilbert in, but Molloy got down well to make an excellent save as the Brentford striker tried to slot it beyond him.
No further clear-cut chances were created at either end until just over ten minutes of the first half remained when Brentford equalised. Gilbert put Vine in behind and he was deemed to have timed his run perfectly before he slid it inside the far post.
The Brentford wing-backs combined to create another opportunity but Adedokun dragged his shot wide after receiving Isaac Holland’s pass.
Just before half time, the visitors created one last opportunity when Michael Olakigbe had a run on goal but Molloy made another excellent save to keep the scores level.
If Erith started the first half quickly, it was nothing compared to how they commenced the second period. There was less than a minute on the clock when a low cross found its way to Ryan at the far post, and he fired home despite taking a kick on the shin.
Beckham was brought on for his first appearance in a Brentford shirt, along with Lisbie, and the visitors almost created another opening. Daniel Oyegoke tricked his way through, but Olakigbe couldn’t control it to finish.
Beckham crossed just beyond Lisbie before the two substitutes both had headers tipped onto the bar by Molloy in a massive scramble before the assistant referee flagged both offside.
Danny Lear came on as a substitute for Erith and had a shot blocked on the line before J’Neil Bennett shot wide for the visitors. Lisbie was unable to locate Beckham before the former Cray Valley (PM) youngster showed great composure to finish with two minutes remaining.
Penalties were looming when Brentford scored the winner. It broke for Olakigbe who shot from twenty yards. A cruel deflection sent Molloy the wrong way and he could only watch as it rolled into the corner of the net.
Although it was a disappointing way to lose, the tournament is not the Deres’ prime objective, and it is one less distraction as they march on towards the Southern Counties East Football League title.
Erith and Belvedere: Molloy, Walker, Wilson (R. Palmer 74), Wade (Tijani 83), Johnson, Strachan, Richardson-Brown, Chambers (Owen 74), Cornwell (Lear 63), N. Palmer, Ryan (Lugboso 83).
Unused subs:
Goal scorers: Chambers (4), Ryan (46)
Yellow cards: Ryan, Wilson, Wade
Brentford B: Trialist, Holland (Lisbie 55), Adedokun, Oyegoke, Crama (Bennett 46), Jones, Olakigbe, Waruih, Vine (Beckham 55), Gilbert (Dickov 64), Yogane (Wilson 87).
Sub not used:
Goal scorers: Vine (34), Lisbie (88), Olakigbe (90+4)
Yellow cards: Jones
Referee: James Keane
Assistants: Jide Ogunba and Ericsson Temu
Attendance: 554
Pictures supplied by Dave Budden.