Finishing touch takes Stoke up

For Stoke, the First Division place their status, stadium and support deserved. For homespun Brentford, a disappointing end to a season in which they had exceeded all expectations by going so far.

Territorially, Brentford had just as much as - if not more than - their opponents. But when it came to taking their chances and having a touch of good fortune in front of goal, they were very much second best.

Against the run of play Deon Burton gave Stoke the advantage and a deflected own goal by Ben Burgess on the stroke of half-time left his team chasing the game.

It was a bad afternoon all round for Burgess, who wasted the opportunity to give Brentford an early lead and was substituted with 20 minutes remaining. Burgess and Lloyd Owusu were largely responsible for taking Brentford to the final with a regular stream of goals. This time they did not quite hit it off, with Stoke often proving the more dangerous when the ball was played to their front men.

In the end, it was difficult to argue against the merits of their victory to spare a thought for Brentford, who at the start of the season could only have dreamt of reaching The Millennium Stadium.

Taking a leaf out of David Beckham's book of distinctive hairstyles, Stephen Hunt was the first to make an impression on the afternoon with a two-tone Mohican-type cut. The left-sided Brentford midfield man also showed he could play a bit with two darting runs along the flank in the opening minute. The second carried him past two defenders and resulted in an inviting cutback which presented Burgess with the first chance - and a good one at that. Burgess admittedly had two defenders in close attention as he turned for the shot, but he still registered his disappointment as the ball flew over the crossbar.

Brentford certainly had the better of the opening quarter, but it was Stoke who took the lead after a corner from Arnar Gunnlaugsson. It was flicked on by Chris Iwelumo and turned in with the aid of a slight deflection by Burton.

Brentford's response was a waist-high volley from the edge of the penalty box by Steve Sidwell that was no more than a foot too high. Gunnlaugsson, who was sent off when these teams met in the League, then shook off a challenge by the Brentford captain Paul Evans to cut inside and fire in a cracking shot just over the angle of bar and post. The Londoners lost leading scorer Lloyd Owusu for a spell with what looked like a cut head sustained in an aerial challenge with Wayne Thomas. Owusu's return coincided with lengthy treatment for Stoke's James O'Connor, who took a blow in the face when he and Evans contested possession.

On the stroke of half-time Brentford conceded a cruel second goal. A low free-kick by the manager's son, Bjarni Gudjonsson, from the left was deflected by Burgess past his goalkeeper, Paul Smith. On the balance of play there had been little between the sides, but Stoke had certainly made the most of their openings.

With Brentford having to force the pace and gaps starting to open up, Stoke twice in quick succession posed problems on the break. But each time the danger was cleared by smart defending from Ijah Anderson. First, he prevented Iwelumo from getting in a shot from close range after the Stoke forward had eluded Darren Powell, then Gunnlaugsson indulged in one more touch than was necessary from a similar position and Anderson stuck his foot in to direct the ball to safety.

Neil Cutler dealt capably with a stream of crosses Brentford delivered from both wings, although the goalkeeper could do little about Anderson's deep cross which was knocked back from the far post by Hunt and scrambled away for a corner.

Brentford could have been excused for cursing their luck once again when Owusu's header from a later Hunt corner could have gone anywhere. Instead it fell favourably for Peter Handyside, who was able to clear. There was a chance for Evans from Owusu's centre and although the captain was some distance out, he had a free header and should have done better than steer it over the crossbar. Owusu failed to convert another chance after good work by Sidwell, and in the last minute of normal time an Evans cross found its way through to Cutler when again the ball could have gone anywhere. It epitomised the match for Brentford.