Jon De Souza's Youth Team put clear daylight between themselves and the chasing pack with a 3-2 win over Charlton Athletic at Sparrows Lane this morning.

Jeremiah Kamanzi, who only found out he was starting seconds before the whistle as Kyjuon Marsh-Brown fell ill in the warmup, put Brentford ahead after 18 seconds but they were pegged back almost instantly by George Lapslie's stunning effort.

Bradley Clayton had a goal harshly ruled out for offside in a crazy opening six minutes but it took until the final 15 minutes for the game to kick back into life after that.

Substitute Marsh-Brown put The Bees ahead but Brandan Hanlon levelled things with five minutes to go.

However Clayton had the final say as his low shot crept into the bottom corner to send Brentford 10 points clear of the third placed Addicks in the Under-18 Professional Development League Two South.

Jon De Souza welcomed back Nik Tzanev and Gradi Milenge while Seika Jatta and Kamanzi were elevated from the substitutes bench to the starting XI for the trip to South London.

It was a dream start for Brentford, who won the first meeting 2-1 back in late November, as Zain Westbrooke released Kamanzi through the middle and the winger opened up his body to curl home from 15 yards.

The Bees had barely time to savour their lead before the hosts levelled as Lapslie slipped inside James Ferry and curled an unstoppable effort into the top corner from 20 yards.

In an incredible opening five minutes Brentford thought they had re-taken the lead as Clayton headed home from a Reece Cole free-kick only for a linesman's flag to wrongly rule the goal out.

The action didn't show any immediate sign of stopping as Clayton hooked a shot wide and Jordan Beeney made a fine reaction save to deny Kamanzi after he had cut inside.

Ezri Konsa made brave block to get in the way of a fierce Westbrooke volley as Brentford bossed the opening ten minutes of the half.

The Bees were playing some good incisive football in the opening stages and Charlton were not seeing much of the ball as Brentford popped the ball around well.

Ferry capped off a fine move with a low shot that Beeney held well but, slowly, the hosts did get into the game as the pace of Josh Umerah and Hanlan and the guile of Lapslie began to cause Brentford's backline some concerns.

Lapslie did well to turn in the midfield and slip through Hanlan but his finish was woeful and rolled wide from 10 yards.

Another fine spell of passing football from The Bees saw Westbrooke bring another good save out of Beeney as the two sides went in level at the break.

It was Brentford who got off to a flying start in the first-half but it was The Addicks who nearly scored within a minute of the start of the second period as Alex Kelly's shot from 10 yards was brilliantly deflected over the bar by Seth Owens flying block.

Kamanzi brought another good save out of Beeney and Konsa got a vital block in to turn a shot from Ferry behind for a corner.

Conditions were not easy for goalkeepers with the cold and wet but both goalkeepers were showing excellent handling given the elements.

Beeney held a shot from Kamanzi and he was then called upon to deal with a long-range effort from Cole.

Milenge was the latest to go close as he strode forward from the centre of defence and saw a deflected shot crash off the outside of the post.

Aside from Kelly's early shot it had been all Brentford in the second-half but they were soon indebted to Tzanev for keeping them level as the tall goalkeeper made two crucial saves in a minute.

Firstly he was out quickly to smother a shot from Hanlan behind for a corner and, from the resulting set-piece, he magnificently clawed the ball off the line as if bounced off a Brentford defender in front of him.

Tzanev made another good save to deny left-back Archie Edwards seconds before Jon De Souza's side took the lead for the second time with a classic counter-attacking goal.

Cole broke up play on the edge of his own box and led The Bees charge forward which involved Westbrooke and Clayton and ended with Marsh-Brown's shot slipping through Beeney and into the back of the net.

Brentford tried to kill the game off after going 2-1 ahead, not by wasting time but by maintaining possession and pulling tired Charlton legs around the pitch.

It looked like it was working until the hosts levelled out of the blue with five minutes remaining as Hanlan sprung the offside trap and finished calmly under Tzanev from the edge of the box.

Both sides knew how important all three points would be and the closing stages of the match were a frantic end-to-end affair.

If the hosts could grab the winner they would close the gap on Brentford to four points with three games in hands while a Bees victory would stretch their lead over Charlton to 10 points.

Charlton threw everything at Brentford but The Bees back four held firm, getting a vital head or toe in at just the right time, and then struck with just a minute of the 90 remaining.

Marsh-Brown cut in from the right wing and ran across the face of the box before slipping a ball into Clayton who turned onto his left foot and unerringly found the bottom corner from 12 yards.

Tzanev showed good handling to hold a shot from Chris Millar but in truth the hosts were a spent force and had nothing left to try and find a third equaliser.

Cole blazed a free-kick over from 25 yards in the dying seconds as Brentford wrapped up a third straight win and went a long way to securing an Under-18 Professional Development League Two South play-off spot.

: Jordan Beeney; Mustapha Bangura-Williams (sub Sam Nwusu 67 mins), Aaron Barnes, Ezri Konsa, Archie Edwards; Alex Kelly (sub Chris Millar 84 mins), Samuel Bone (sub Luke Carey 72 mins), Regan Charles-Cook, Brandan Hanlon; George Lapslie, Joshua Umerah

: Aiden Prall

: Nik Tzanev; Audrius Laucys (sub Romayne Pennant 61 mins), Gradi Milenge, Seth Owens (sub Chris Mepham 52 mins), Tom Field; James Ferry, Zain Westbrooke, Reece Cole; Seika Jatta (sub Kyjuon Marsh-Brown 60 mins), Bradley Clayton, Jeremiah Kamanzi

: Tom Roberts, Tony Guppy