Brentford Under-18s were beaten 3-0 by Southampton Under-18s in their final U18 Premier League Cup Group D fixture at Staplewood Training Ground on Saturday morning.
With the young Bees already out of the competition, the result brings their group-stage campaign to a close, and they’ll now turn their attention back to league action.
The young Bees thought they had made the perfect start on three minutes when Jai Bansoodeb’s delivery was turned in by Amaru Goppy, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.
Instead, it was the hosts who went ahead. A Southampton winger was tripped in the box by Nathaniel Ogungbemi and the referee pointed to the spot. Kai Agyei produced a fine save to keep out Luke Hawe’s penalty, but the rebound fell kindly for the striker, who made no mistake at the second attempt.
Brentford responded well and Bansoodeb was unlucky not to level with a strike from distance that looked set to beat the rooted Xander Grieves, only for a deflection to send it trickling wide.
Southampton doubled their lead when loose play as Brentford tried to build from the back handed possession to Marley Parry, and the winger composed himself before firing past Agyei.
Ogungbemi went close to pulling one back with a wicked delivery that was heading in until Grieves pushed it away, but the home side added a third on 43 minutes as Yunus Linton jinked his way into the box and found the top corner with a neat finish.
Brentford almost hit back just before the break when Jovan Kasujja held off two defenders inside the box, turned and struck a firm shot towards goal, but Grieves was well positioned to deny him.
The Bees began the second half brightly, and a fine team move was nearly rewarded when Rafael Roca found Bansoodeb on the edge of the area, only for his sweeping shot to be parried away by Grieves.
Gary McDermott’s side should have had a goal to show for their efforts when a well-worked free-kick found its way to Kasujja, but the striker rushed his shot when he had more time and saw it strike the post.
That proved to be the final chance of note, and despite a spirited display, it was a tough defeat to end the young Bees’ Premier League Cup campaign.
McDermott's side are next in action on Saturday 21 November when they travel away to take on Norwich.
Southampton: Grieves, Wells, Bowden, Vallance, Robinson, Lovatt, Linton, Fletcher, Hawe, Kuzanga, Parry
Unused Subs: Lemon, Moloney, Ramlal-Henry, Duffy, Afzal, Bariami, Lawson
Brentford: Agyei, Zetter-Plummer (Biggs 72), Ogungbemi, Danso, Goppy, Stewart (Cohalan 72), Fanoiki (Balogun 46), Redknapp (Noni 46), Kasujja, Bansoodeb, Roca (Foster-Jones 62)
Unused Subs: Lyon, Theobald
Booked: Danso 54, Foster-Jones 72, Ogungbemi 83