Brentford U18s were beaten 4-1 by AFC Wimbledon in the South East Youth Alliance League on Saturday.

Three Wimbledon goals inside the opening 30 minutes set Brentford a tough test to get back into the game, but a strike from Omaru King just before the break gave the young Bees hope. Despite a positive start to the second half, Wimbledon found the net on the hour mark with the hosts able to see out the win.

Lydia Bedford made six changes to the side which started against Gillingham last week with Connor Wolfheimer, Remy Bennison, Kerron Samuels, Trae Payet, Mikel Francis and Freddie Taylor all introduced to the starting line-up against.

Wimbledon got themselves ahead inside the opening five minutes when a quick corner allowed the hosts to get an initial shot off, with Wolfheimer saving the strike into the path of Riley Horan who had an empty net to pass the ball into.

Brentford saw most of their attacking joy come down the left flank with Omaru King proving to be a threat for the Bees.

The young winger saw his flash shot from outside the box go just wide of the post as the visitors looked for an equaliser.

Wimbledon doubled their lead on 18 minutes after a Brentford clearance looped in the air before Hugo Few hit a stunning overhead kick which flew into the top corner.

By the half hour mark, the home team made it 3-0 with Wimbledon benefiting from another quick corner.

Following a short corner, Ed Leach received the ball in the Brentford box before making some space for himself and unleashing a powerful shot into the roof of the net.

Brentford continued to press high up the pitch and managed to pull a goal back after forcing Wimbledon's keeper into making a mistake.

King latched onto a loose pass from Ethan McGrath with the winger taking a touch into the box before finding the bottom corner with a neat finish.

The young Bees looked to have gained confidence following their goal and nearly made it 3-2 just before the break when Emeka Peters was played in behind the Wimbledon defence.

The forward saw his strike from the left side of the box take a deflection before going just wide of the far post.

The away side began the second half in positive fashion and came close to pulling another one back eight minutes after the interval.

An out-swinging corner from King was met by Andre Grey who got good connection on his header but his effort flashed wide.

On the hour mark, Wimbledon scored a fourth and it was Leach who got his second of the game.

After Brentford failed to clear their lines, Leach received the ball out on the right flank before cutting inside and curling his shot into the far corner with his left foot.

Despite enjoying large spells of possession for the majority of the second half, Bedford’s side were unable to find a route back into the game as the home team cruised to a 4-1 win claiming all three points.

Brentford U18: Wolfheimer, Taylor, Bennison (Ivanov, 71), Samuels, Francis, Djoro, Grey, Peters, Payet, King, Agyei (Asemokhai, 68’)

AFC Wimbledon U18: McGrath, Tepe, Soukon, Sidwell, Horan, Young, Leach, Jennings, Wilson, Few, Nkeng

Subs: Cotton, Sankanu, Harris, Lawrence, Vargbo

Jo-Paul Pittman reflects on a tough defeat

Brentford Under-18 assistant head coach Jon-Paul Pittman was left disappointed with the loss to AFC Wimbledon but feels his side showed positive signs and had good moments during the match.

He said: “There were some really good pieces of play, I saw things that we have worked on in training come out in the game so that was nice. I thought we worked the ball wide and got in our crosses much quicker today which impressed me.

“If I had to be critical, I would say our first contact on the ball wasn’t great, a big part of defending is being able to get the ball away from your goal and give your team an opportunity to get up the pitch.”

Jon-Paul Pittman & Lydia Bedford

In a game which saw Brentford create some good chances, the side proved to be less ruthless than their opposition in front of goal as Wimbledon found the net on three occasions in the opening half, giving the Bees a tough challenge to pull the game around.

Pittman continued: “Similar to our narrow defeat to Portsmouth two weeks ago, we had chances but didn’t take the majority of them. Wimbledon were clinical in front of goal, but I think when we are not taking our chances then often the score line doesn’t reflect on some of the good work we have done.”

The young Bees will now return to training on Monday as they prepare for next weekend’s league clash against Milton Keynes Dons.