Brentford were narrowly defeated 2-1 by Lommel Under-21s at the Soeverein Stadion in what was a good performance from the young Bees.

Two first-half goals from the hosts cancelled out a late Brentford strike as the U18’s faced a Lommel side which fielded six first-team players in their starting XI.

Lydia Bedford’s team were able to take a break from their South East Youth Alliance League schedule as the side tested themselves on foreign soil for the first time this season.

Brentford found themselves a goal down early on when Kjente De Bruyn struck for the hosts, but the Bees grew into the match and began to threaten the Lommel goal.

Ollie Shield and Emeka Peters lead the line for the away team with the attackers continuously running the channels in an attempt to stretch the Lommel back line.

It was Shield’s clever run which offered Brentford their first opportunity of the game, the youngster picked up the ball on the right flank and drifted inside before being fouled on the edge of the box.

Freddie Taylor stood over the free-kick but his powerful effort went just wide of the opposition's far post.

The young Bees were playing with confidence and were denied an equaliser on the half-hour mark when Taylor took a quick corner, passing to Omaru King whose cross found Peters at the far post.

The forward tucked the ball into the back of the net but was left disappointed as the linesman raised his flag for offside.

Moments before half-time, Lommel doubled their lead following another finish from outside the box, this time from Lars Neyens.

Brentford continued to play some good football in the second half with Bedford making five substitutions during the half in an attempt to give valuable minutes to her full squad.

The Bees pulled one back five minutes from time after Peters used his power to shrug off a Lommel defender before cutting the ball back to a trialist who confidently tucked his shot into the back of the net.

The U18s will now travel back home and turn their attention to Saturday’s league fixture against Leyton Orient.

Lommel SK U21: Di Bartolo, Letsosa, Kujovic, De Bruyn, Neyens, Weckmann, Lama, Mijovic, Santos, Gordic, Banguera

Subs: Ivezic, Vanhoof, Reumers, Franssen, Tassoute

Brentford U18: Tavaziva, Taylor (Payet, 75’), King (Ivanov, 75’), Grey (Trialist, 75’), Asemokhai, Samuels, Agyei (Francis, 85’), Peters, Halil (Trialist, 75’), Shield, Trialist

Subs not used: Wolfhemier

Lydia Bedford confident ahead of Leyton Orient

In a game where Lydia Bedford looked to utilise her full squad, the Brentford head coach was left proud of her team’s efforts against a more senior Lommel side.

She said: “We knew coming to Belgium we were going to be playing a strong side, so we set up to be compact. I thought the lads followed the game plan right until the final whistle and were competitive throughout the game, overall we can be proud of the performance that we put out.

“When you look at the task at hand, playing a team which fielded six first-team players it was also going to be more about the experience than the result.”

Bedford praises her team following Lommel test

Following the trip to Belgium, Bedford hopes that her side have learnt from the challenge and will take some of the lessons learnt into their up-and-coming fixtures.

Bedford explained: “To travel out 24 hours before a game and to stay overnight, it’s given the players a new experience and something which gives them a taster of the life of a professional footballer.

“I hope the trip has given the team motivation to continue to work hard and to work on their development, we have some important league fixtures coming up including this weekend against Leyton Orient and after a slow start it’s important we use this experience to push on."