Our Under-21s' final outing of the campaign ended in a 6-1 defeat to Brentford B in the Robert Rowan Invitational on Monday night.
Andre Grey’s early strike put the Bees - who hosted the game at Gtech Community Stadium - ahead in the contest before Caelan Avenell and a solo goal from Aaron Hickey put them firmly in control at the break.
Ellis Lehane pulled a goal back a minute into the second half with a stunning finish, but three goals in the final 11 minutes from the hosts – scored by Emeka Peters, Nedved Owusu and Michel Boni – saw them claim the silverware handed out at the final whistle, which commemorates their late Technical Director whom the match is named after.
Wayne Barnett named seven Under-18s in his matchday squad, who all entered the pitch at some point in the encounter, in what was a valuable experience for our young side at the west London club's Premier League home.
Lehane, who netted 15 goals for the Under-18s in all competitions this term, was at the forefront of our early opportunities with his strong hold-up play providing a nuisance for the home side and he had a good chance after just four minutes, starting the move by taking down Aaron Maguire’s long ball forward but was unable to provide the finishing touch from Max Robson’s pull-back, with the young forward guiding his effort wide from just inside the box.
Despite the promising start, it was the hosts who broke the deadlock on seven minutes as Maguire’s pass to Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny was intercepted by Grey on the edge of the box and he calmly slotted home. We continued to carve out opportunities and should have had an equaliser on 22 minutes when Robson teed up Tyrese Hall on the left of the six-yard box but his effort glanced wide of the far post. The home side then squandered an even bigger chance at the other end when Grey, who was in in acres of space centrally in the box, was unable to convert Michael Olakigbe’s low cross, dragging his effort wide of the post.
However, Brentford doubled their advantage just after the half-hour mark when Gustavo Nunes’ in-swinging cross from the left was headed home by Chanse Headman after he got in front of the on-rushing Maguire. Akhamrich was denied by a scrambling Matthew Cox on his goal-line after Avenell's wayward pass across his box presented a golden opportunity for our forward from the edge of the box, before Brentford added a third in the closing stages of the first half as Hickey drove into the box before drilling across Maguire and into the bottom right corner.
We looked for a response after the break and we got that 60 seconds into the restart as Lehane curled home a spectacular effort from the edge of the box. That goal spurred on our young side as we went inches away from grabbing a second, but this time Oli Irow was denied by Cox from the edge of the box, pushing his shot around the post. Hall saw his right-footed curling effort saved by Cox before Irow blazed an effort from just outside the six-yard box over the bar as we continued to push for a way back into the contest.
A number of changes from both sides midway through the second period hindered the flow of the game, but Brentford once again picked up their rhythm in the closing stages. Peters raced on to Ollie Shield’s pass before finishing well past the on-rushing substitute goalkeeper Carey Bloedorn to reinstate their three-goal advantage on 79 minutes and, eight minutes later, Freddie Taylor’s low cross from the right area of the box was swept home by Owusu to further extend their lead.
Brentford rounded off the scoring in the final minute of normal time as Boni fired home at the near post from a tight angle, ensuring an emphatic win for his side as they win the Robert Rowan Invitational for a third consecutive year.