The Brentford B Team drew 1-1 with a Chelsea XI this evening in a Behind Closed Doors friendly at The Blues' Cobham Training Centre.

Emmanuel Ledesma opened the scoring in the first half before Chelsea equalised from the penalty spot in the final 10 minutes.

The Bees' starting lineup included Chris Mepham, Reece Cole and Bradley Clayton, who had all made First Team cameos against Peterborough United at Griffin Park on Tuesday. Ledesma was also given a chance to put more minutes under his belt, continuing his trial with the Club. Meanwhile, Chelsea fielded a strong looking team that featured Patrick Bamford, Marco Marin and Ghanaian international forward Christian Atsu.

A darting run from Cole brought the game to life after only four minutes, the young midfielder broke through the centre of the field then forced a save from the goalkeeper away to his left.

Further chances fell Brentford's way as Clayton and Marc Rio also came close to breaking the deadlock within minutes of the first whistle. Both saw low drives blocked on their way to goal.

Chelsea soon settled into the game and created chances of their own, but were pounced upon by the swift counter attacking of those in red and white stripes on several occasions.

A prime example of this came after 20 minutes, when Bamford had a dipping shot saved by Brentford's trialist goalkeeper. No sooner had the forward put his hands to his head, than Zain Westbrook was careening back through the centre of the field towards the opposition penalty area. His ball to Cole was quickly flicked wide to Danny Parish, who cut inside and saw a shot deflected narrowly over.

Bamford went closer moments later, when he managed to get clear of the Brentford back four and present himself with the best chance of the half. Despite putting a lot of power into both efforts, his first and second attempts were saved bravely by the onrushing goalkeeper.

The opening goal came just five minutes before half time. Ledesma struck a free-kick from just outside the 18-yard box, which hit a hand on its way through the wall and the referee awarded a penalty. The Argentinian had his spot-kick saved at first, but stooped quickly to glance the rebounding ball into the back of the net with his head.

Over the course of the second half, with some tired legs on the field and the sunshine making for very warm conditions, both teams made changes. Nathan Fox and Kyjuon Marsh-Brown both returned to action after a few weeks out with injury.

The best chance that Chelsea mustered before their equaliser, came from an indirect free-kick awarded after the referee had spotted a passback to the goalkeeper. The man between the sticks pounced on a ball that had been deflected off Manny Onariase's foot on its way to his gloves, when the whistle blew and a free-kick was given. Brentford escaped unharmed as The Blues squared it too quickly and the shot was scuffed wide at the far post.

Brentford were finally broken when a slip from Mepham and a fractionally late tackle from Fox resulted in a blue shirt on the floor and the referee pointing to the spot. The kick was put away calmy into the bottom corner.

Both teams created a final chance to snatch victory, although neither managed to. Marsh-Brown burst forward but was tripped as he made to move swiftly past his marker, prompting Cole to fire a free-kick narrowly wide. Then Chelsea saw a powerful header tipped over in the final second of the match, the teams ending all square.

Brentford B Starting XI: Trialist; Lukas Talbro, Chris Mepham, Manny Onariase, Jarvis Edobor; Reece Cole, Zain Westbrooke; Danny Parish, Bradley Clayton, Emmanuel Ledesma; Marc Rio

Brentford B second half: Trialist; Lukas Talbro, Nathan Fox, Manny Onariase, Jarvis Edobor; Reece Cole, Zain Westbrooke; Kyjuon Marsh-Brown, Trialist, Trialist; Marc Rio