Raphael Assibey-Mensah struck a hat-trick and Danny Parish added a fourth as Flemming Pedersen’s B Team beat Reading at Jersey Road this afternoon in a friendly match. The 17-year-old opened the scoring inside two minutes with a fine curling effort and then added a second six minutes before the break, shortly after The Royals had restored parity through Harry Cardwell’s strike. His third came from the penalty spot after Parish had been fouled before Parish himself rounded off the win midway through the second-half.

Following on from last week’s disappointing 5-0 defeat against a strong Birmingham Under-23s a fast start was desired, and that is exactly what The Bees got. Barely 90 seconds had passed when Bradley Clayton dispossessed Reading’s trialist centre-back and fed Assibey-Mensah to curl an unstoppable finish in off the inside of the post from 18 yards. The Royals, who have beaten Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea in the PDL Division One this season, were looking to play out from the back but The Bees pressing meant they turned over possession time and time again in dangerous areas.

Parish’ charge down bounced inches wide of Joe Tupper’s post and Chris Mepham’s header was hacked off the line by the Reading defence. Fine work by Ilias Chatzitheodoridis opened up a shooting opportunity for James Ferry but his effort was deflected behind. Assibey-Mensah had a great chance to double The Bees advantage when Marsh-Brown robbed Tupper but his shot was blocked by the covering defenders with options open. A deflected Marsh-Brown drive landed on the roof of the net and Zain Westbrooke shot over as Flemming Pedersen’s side continued to boss the game as it passed the half-hour mark.

Despite their domination The Bees only had one goal to show for their efforts and the precarious nature of that advantage was demonstrated as, with pretty much their first attack of note, Cardwell picked up on a slack Chatzitheodoridis back-pass, rounded Dominic Kurasik, and slotted home to level. If Reading had hoped the goal would change the balance of the game they were disappointed as The Bees stepped straight back onto the front foot. Marsh-Brown battled well by the corner flag to dispossess Omar Richards and fed the ball across to Ferry who blasted over from eight yards.

A second Bees goal wasn’t long in coming though as Assibey-Mensah turned home Emmanuel Onariase’s cutback from a delightful chipped through ball by Clayton. Cardwell had a chance to send the visitors in level at the break as he raced in behind but Kurasik was off his line smartly to make a block save before Aaron Kuhl had the final chance of the half but again the Brentford keeper was equal to his volleyed effort.

The Royals made six changes at the break to give their whole squad a run out and it was one of those fresh faces, Axel Andresson who had the first chance of the second-half, curling a shot into the arms of Kurasik from 18 yards out. However, it was one of the survivors from the first-half who played a big part in Brentford’s third goal as Reading's trialist centre-back lost the ball to Parish before bundling The Bees striker over inside the box, Assibey-Mensah stepped up to slot home the spot kick to complete his hat-trick.

After that goal the game became a feisty affair with players from both sides flying into challenges and the referee brandishing a number of yellow cards to try and keep control of the game. When the football did take centre-stage Cardwell was again denied one-on-one by Kurasik before Parish settled matters adding The Bees fourth. The attacker timed his run into the Reading half perfectly to receive Ferry’s ball over the top and he kept his cool to slot past Lewis Collins from just inside the box. Brentford had chances late on to add further gloss to the scoreline: Ferry having an effort blocked and Reece Cole shooting over after good hold-up play from Marc Rio. However, in the end, four goals were enough to record a convincing win over The Royals.

Brentford: Dominic Kurasik; Nathan Fox (sub Jarvis Edobor 81 mins), Chris Mepham, Emmanuel Onariase, Ilias Chatzitheodoridis; James Ferry, Zain Westbrooke, Bradley Clayton; Kyjuon Marsh-Brown (sub Marc Rio 70 mins), Raphael Assibey-Mensah (sub Reece Cole 60 mins), Danny Parish (sub Luke Dunn 88 mins) Subs not used: Dimi Kyriatzis

Reading: Joe Tupper (sub Lewis Collins 46 mins); Terrence Vancooten (sub Axel Andresson 46 mins), Trialist, Trialist (sub Tom McIntyre 46 mins), Omar Richards: Aaron Kuhl; Andy Rinomhota (sub Harrison Bennett 46 mins), Tyler Frost (sub Ryan East 46 mins); Sam Smith (sub Andrija Novakovich 46 mins), Harry Cardwell, Conor Davis