Jon De Souza was very pleased with his side’s showing for the first hour in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Colchester United which moved The Bees eight points clear at the top of the Under-18 Professional Development League Two South.

Bradley Clayton’s first-half brace set Brentford on their way to a fourth win in five unbeaten matches with James Ferry adding a third late on in the half, just after Colchester had pulled one back from the spot through Louis Dunne.

Zain Westbrooke scored a superb free-kick eight minutes into the second-half to kill the game as a contest and after that an element of sloppiness crept into Brentford’s play.

That laxness allowed The Us to grab a late consolation through George Brown but that didn’t take the gloss off what, for an hour at least, was an excellent performance according to Jon.

“I think today’s win was probably more comfortable than the result showed but some sloppiness towards the end cost us,” said Jon, speaking to Bees Player after the match.

“We were very good for 60 minutes or so but after the players felt they had won the game I thought we got a little sloppy.

“They scored a penalty to make it 2-1 and then we went 4-1 up.

“I thought our play up to then was very good.

“When we had to go and win the game I felt we were very good but once it went to 4-1 in the player’s head they felt the game was over.

“The players got a little bit sloppy but when Colchester scored their second goal we seemed to get a little bit more control back in the game.

“The game died a death but we didn’t control that die.

“Our overall quality was good in the first hour.

“We passed it with quality, were a threat in and around the box and our tempo was good.

“We dominated the game throughout but it was just our lack of quality that cost us when we went to 4-1.

“I did feel that we dominated and controlled the game.

“I don’t think we created too many clear cut chances throughout the game; the only other real chance was the Makhosini Khanye one.

“We always looked like we were going to score and when we did get our chances we were quite clinical.”

Bradley Clayton’s first-half brace took his recent tally to six goals in his last five matches for the Youth Team and was his fourth goal this week after he scored for the Under-21s in their 4-1 win over QPR on Tuesday.

Jon understandably has been delighted with Bradley’s goal scoring form this season but added that as well as his work in possession Bradley’s work off the ball is another key asset for the team.

“Bradley has got 12 goals in 16 games this season,” said Jon.

“When I sat down with him before the start of the season I told him that his aim was to score one every two games.

“He is now averaging three every four games which isn’t bad at all.

“I don’t like singling out players because there are quite a few like Bradley but the one thing you know you will always get from him is hard work.

“With 95 per cent of our players we know that every time they play and train they will give us everything.”

Brentford’s four goals on Saturday meant they have now scored 18 goals this year in six league games.

Jon De Souza’s side have also conceded ten goals in those six games but Jon feels that is always likely to happen given his team’s style of play.

The Youth Team manager believes that as long as his players play with freedom and are willing to express themselves then he and the coaching staff will be happy.

“We always look like we can score goals we just need to make sure that defensively we concentrate,” said Jon.

“The way we play is quite risky so we know that we are always going to be vulnerable to concede.

“We spoke to the players today about freedom and fear.

“They need to have fear in their play that if they don’t work hard and don’t run around then we, as staff, won’t have it.

“They should have that fear but apart from that they should have the freedom to go and express themselves.

“There was a free-kick where Herson Rodrigues Alves ran over the ball and then we played off the front man and it looked like it was rehearsed.

“We hadn’t worked on that as staff, it was the players who thought of it and delivered it off the cuff.”

Next up for the Youth Team is a tricky tie down in South London against Crystal Palace whose seven match winning run in the league came to an end with a 3-0 defeat to QPR on Saturday.

Palace are currently 11 points behind The Bees but have three games in hand as both sides battle to make the end of season play off.

While the result is important for Jon he is always keen to test his players out individually against Palace who can count England Youth Internationals amongst their ranks.

“Someone told me that Crystal Palace have won seven in a row before last Saturday’s game so they could go into the game having won eight in a row,” said Jon.

“It should be a good game as I felt it was a good game the last time we played them.

“If you look at the tradition they have had in producing players it is great that we are both top of the table but the big thing for me is whether we can go there and have some of the best players on the pitch.

“They have got some England Youth Internationals in their team so if we can go there and say we have some of the best individuals on the pitch, like we have had recently, then that’s the thing that delights me the most.”

The Palace game ends a four match spell which has seen The Bees face three of their closest challengers for the Under-18 PDL Two South league title.

After wins over Charlton Athletic and Colchester and a draw against Swansea, Brentford have taken seven points from three games ahead of Saturday’s match.

Jon said that building up to this spell of games his side set a target of 10 points from the four games to get them used to the more results driven environment of first-team football.

“We have tried to challenge the players this month,” said Jon.

“We asked them up until the Crystal Palace game, with QPR being the first one, how many points they would want out of those four games.

“They set a target of 10 points.

“We have got seven from three games and they have got to win the next game to hit the target.

“We got that from our manager and from the first team who do that.

“We won’t do it regularly but we thought it would be a good four game period as it included Swansea City, Charlton and Crystal Palace so we knew it would be a tough period.

“The first team set themselves targets of where they need to be at the end of the season and during the season.

“Most first teams do that so it was good to get them into the habit.

“You need to win games of football to pay your mortgage as a player.

“They have said they want 10 points from those games and we have got seven points from three so we will go into the Palace game and review it after that.”