A memorable 2014 that had seen Brentford achieve promotion to the Sky Bet Championship and made a great start to life in the second tier ended with three more crucial clashes in late December.

. The Bees were irresistible in the first-half and led 3-0 thanks to fine efforts from Alex Pritchard, Andre Gray and Jota. The hosts fought back in the second period with Craig Noone and Kenwyne Jones finding the back of the net but The Bees held on to move up to third in the table.

. The visitors scored within 20 seconds through Darryl Murphy and the Irish striker added a second soon after. Paul Anderson made it 3-0 before the break and, despite a late Sam Saunders’ double Tommy Smith added a fourth to wrap up the points.

Mark Warburton’s side fell to a second defeat over the festive period just 48 hours later as

. A late own-goal gave Brentford hope of salvaging a point but Andre Gray’s last minute header hit the post and bounced away to safety.

It was also a busy time for the Youth Team as they flew out to take part in the IMG Cup at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The tournament saw Brentford pitted against Stevenage, Black Rock FC and the IMG Academy.

. Hopes of qualifying for the final were raised after a

.

Ultimately

in their final group game,

with The Bees goal. The draw saw them enter the fifth/sixth Play-Off where they quickly found themselves 2-0 down to the US Men’s National Team Under-17s.

.

In player news

. The year ended with Brentford adding to their ranks as

. The 20-year-old midfielder had made 75 appearances for the Scottish club and has international recognition from Under-16s through to Under-21s.

There was an early Christmas present for Brentford fans as the new Brentford Community Stadium came one step closer after

.