THAT traditional first-day-of-the-season optimism doesn’t always last too long.

On Saturday we could all once again thank our lucky stars that we’re not Sheffield United supporters as the Blades opened their League One campaign with a 4-0 defeat at Gillingham.

That journey from Kent to South Yorkshire must have seemed even longer than usual for those Blades who made the trip, their keenness for the long season ahead somewhat blunted.

Town fans ought to have been making their return from Brentford in a much happier mood with the Blues having done more than enough to secure an excellent first-day three points away against the Bees.

Actually, there probably were Town supporters who left the ground early believing their side had won comfortably and equally Brentford fans who departed prematurely and were cheering themselves up with a post-match pint before they discovered the news of their late, late comeback.

The game really should have been over before the Bees notched their goals in the 92nd and 96th minutes to grab a draw which had looked highly unlikely even as the fourth official held his additional time board aloft.

Town had been excellent in the second half and were well worth the 2-0 lead that goals either side of the break from Kevin Bru and debutant Ryan Fraser had given them, and a third Blues goal looked more likely than the Bees beating Bartosz Bialkowski.

As is usually the case, a combination of factors conspired to allow Brentford back into the game.

The influential Bru went off injured, Fraser – who had provided a constant threat on the left – was also subbed and then Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who impressed on the other flank, was forced off with cramp.

The three subs – Giles Coke, Jonathan Douglas and David McGoldrick – found it hard to get into the game and, with the Blues by now largely looking to hold on to rather than increase their lead, for the first time they found themselves under pressure.

A collective defensive lapse allowed Bees sub Andre Gray to chase a hopeful ball over the top to pull one back and suddenly the mood both on and off the field changed, the momentum was with the Bees. It seemed inevitable that their corner deep, deep into injury time would result in a goal, and a pretty farcical one it was.

Bialkowski missed the ball, it hit Tommy Smith, struck the post and James Tarkowski nodded over the line.

It was one of those draws which felt very much like a defeat and hardly the first time Town have let a late lead slip in recent times. Amongst others, they managed to concede twice in the closing minutes of the recent friendly at Colchester.

But once the dust from the awful Brentford pitch had settled and the initial disappointment had dissipated, most fans reflected positively what was a very good performance against decent opposition.

I think the majority of supporters – and probably manager Mick McCarthy – would have been happy with a point had it been offered prior to the game.

There was further positive news on Tuesday with the Blues recording a rare cup victory – their first since McCarthy took over – to progress to the second round of the Capital One Cup via a 2-1 home win against Stevenage.

It wasn’t all plain sailing with Town looking every bit the much-changed team that they were – only skipper Luke Chambers started both games – in a first half in which they went behind via Christophe Berra’s own goal.

But after Fraser – the star of the first week of the season – had come off the bench at half-time, the Blues dominated and debutant defender Josh Yorwerth and Jay Tabb were on target.

David McGoldrick looked back to his best, while Brett Pitman and 18-year-old debutant left-back Myles Kenlock also impressed.

Stevenage boss Teddy Sheringham may have complained about the withdrawn late penalty award but ultimately Stanford-le-Hope-based referee Fred Graham and his linesman got the decision right even if it took them a while.

The Blues now face two home games in four days against Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley.

Neither are easy matches but it’s the sort of home fixture pairing from which sides with promotion or play-off aspirations ought to be claiming at least four points.

If Town do that, the early season optimism will be maintained for another few weeks at least.