Brentford B were narrowly beaten 1-0 by South Korean champions Ulsan Hyundai in the opening game of the Atlantic Cup in Portugal on Thursday evening.

Neil MacFarlane’s side put in a resilient display and would have been well worth a draw in the match but Ulsan Hyundai struck late on through Myeong-jae Lee.

It was a game which wasn’t blessed with chances as both sides had their spells in the game in terms of possession but neither were regularly able to cut through and create many clearcut chances.

The B team lined up unchanged from their last match earlier in the week against Middlesbrough Under-21s in terms of the outfield players, but Ben Winterbottom replaced Matthew Cox in goal. The side were aiming to maintain some momentum from a positive display back in England against Middlesbrough as they headed to Portugal for the first of three games.

There were a couple of early chances for the South Korean side when the ball was squared on the edge of the box to Ataru Esaka but he shot well wide before Valeri Qazaishvili tried his luck with an attempt with the outside of the boot, but he could only find the hands of Winterbottom who collected comfortably.

The B team opened this year's Atlantic Cup

On 20 minutes the Bees were able to fashion their first real attempt on goal and it came when good work on the high press saw them win possession back through J’Neil Bennett and the ball ricocheted into the path of Kyreece Lisbie but his low shot from close range was smothered by the Hyundai keeper.

Brentford threatened their opponent’s goal once again just a few minutes later when some patient play saw Ryan Trevitt square the ball into the path of captain Alex Gilbert and his powerful left footed shot had to be tipped over by the keeper.

Winterbottom was then called into action around the 30-minute mark when Esaka threaded the ball to Um Wonsang. He then drove towards goal in the box and opted to shoot high towards the the near post but for a strong palm from the B team keeper who pushed the ball away from danger.

Brentford started the second period brightly and four minutes after the restart Trevitt beat his man down the right before he whipped a powerful cross in. The onrushing Bennett had to improvise and opted to chest the ball goalwards which the keeper saved well.

Daniel Oyegoke in action for the young Bees

More blows from range were traded as Trevitt looked to catch out the keeper with a strike which he turned around the post well, whilst substitute Joo Mnkyu’s low drive was kept out well by Winterbottom

It seemed as though the match would be heading for a 0-0 draw and therefore a penalty shootout, but on 86 minutes the deadlock was broken, and it came in somewhat unfortunate circumstances. A set piece came into the box and was cleared before Myeong-jae Lee struck and the ball ended up in the net via a deflection as the Bees came away from the game with nothing in terms of points, but a performance where they more than matched the South Korean side throughout.

Brentford B: Winterbottom, Lisbie (Syla, 60), Adedokun, Oyegoke, Crama, Jones, Olakigbe (Holland, 79) Trevitt, Bennett (Vine, 79), Gilbert, Yogane (Dickov, 45)

Subs not used: Angelini, Tavaziva, Wilcox, Beckham, Waruih, McManus

Ulsan Hyundai: Hyeonwoo, Seunghyun, Younggwon, Tae Hwan, Myungjae, Gyusung, Qazaishvili, Bojanic, Esaka, Wongsang, Adam

Subs: Suhuk, Dongwhan, Hyeonbeen, Jongeun, Youngwoo, Hyuntaek, Sangheok, Siyoung, Sungjoon, Illok, Yungu, Jaewook, Minhyeok, Chyoung, Mnkyu