Narratives undone by one special shot as Joe Bryan fires Fulham past Brentford and into Premier League

There was a lot to admire about Joe Bryan’s divine strike in the play-off final, but part of its beauty was that it also illustrated one of the remaining beauties of football – to a point.

We can lyricise about all sorts of club models, come up with the most sophisticated tactics and talk about the dominant approaches of the modern game, but the reality is that any one match – no matter the context, no matter the scale – can be decided by one speculative shot.

Fulham, in that regard, might feel a little more pride this morning.

There is no escaping the fact that Brentford had been the dominant story in the build-up to Tuesday’s play-off final. It had even been put to Scott Parker in his pre-match conference. Brentford’s narrative was just much more compelling. Had they gone up, they would have been the smallest club to ever get promoted to the Premier League. They had gotten to the brink of the big time thanks to a brilliantly intelligent approach, from recruitment to the way they play. There just looked to be more about them than Fulham.

And yet all that intelligence and long-term planning was undone by a piece of instinctive, quick thinking by Bryan. One game, one shot, and the loss of a promotion that would have meant so much for Brentford.

That’s football – but, again, only to a point.

It’s also football in another way. The idea of teams being undone by one piece of magic is usually said in reference to the biggest clubs, and how the game still has the capacity to unexpectedly topple the mightiest of structures. Brentford were manifestly not that.

Fulham usually aren’t that, but they were here. They were the much bigger club, the much wealthier club, with much more Premier League experience – and much more quality. Their squad was multiple times more expensive than Brentford’s.

That’s another way of looking at Bryan’s goal. It wasn’t just one shot, but the greater quality that comes from just having more money. That’s the difference.

That might feel a little churlish towards Fulham, but it’s a reality that’s increasingly impossible to escape.

Everyone might have waxed about Brentford’s intelligence, only for that to be beaten, but it was that very intelligence that ensured they were greatly overachieving by even being in the top half – let alone the play-off final – in the first place. They have over-performed. Fulham feel they’re just back where they belong.

Amid so much maths, the human element shouldn’t be discounted either. Parker, who has faced some criticism this season, did come up with a tactical plan to stifle Brentford. That was especially true in midfield.

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His admirable stoicism amid scenes of raucous celebration also betrayed his own pride. This was special to him.

It’s just, when you add everything up, it would have been so much more special to Brentford.

Thomas Frank was naturally philosophical after the game, putting things into an appropriate perspective.

“The sun will rise again tomorrow. It’s not the end of the world. I’ll be sad tonight, disappointed, but in football – like life – you need to be strong. You need to show resilience and bounce back. We’re coming back even stronger next season.”

The best Fulham can do is actually take the lesson of their rivals, especially in recruitment. They shouldn’t make the same mistakes in overspending as the last time they came up. They shouldn’t make it such a punt.

Leave that to Bryan’s free-kicks.