Brentford Under-21s booked their place in the next round of the Jersey Mike’s Trophy with a 2-1 win over Crawley Town at Broadfield Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The young Bees, who had Gustavo Nunes in the team, were dominant from start to finish as Domeiro Bobb-Semple's brace capped a fine performance from Sam Saunders' side.
Both sides had periods of possession as they looked to find the opening goal early on.
The game's first chance of the game fell to Ollie Shield on 19 minutes. Nunes' lovely work on the left side of the pitch saw him slalom his way into the box before his blocked shot fell to Shield, whose diving header went wide with the goal gaping.
A loose ball in the Brentford half saw Ayman Benarous have the opportunity to be through on goal but just as the winger looked to shoot, a recovery challenge from Joseph Wheeler-Henry ensured he could do no damage.
On 29 minutes, the first goal of the game arrived and it was the Bees who grabbed it as Luca Picotto pounced on a mistake by Omari Mrisho. His cross was then flicked in by Bobb-Semple, who reacted quickest despite having two defenders to get ahead of.
The west Londoners were playing with confidence and a well-worked corner almost brought Saunders' side their second but a last-ditch intervention from Josh Flint deflected Wheeler-Henry's shot wide.
Brentford remained in control, and a fantastic move involving a neat exchange of passes between Bobb-Semple and Picotto left the latter with only the goalkeeper to beat. Before he could strike, he was brought down by Flint, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot.
Isaac Holland stepped up, but his penalty crashed against Vito Mannone’s right-hand post.
The miss did little to slow the visitors though. Nunes showed impressive trickery to beat his man before picking out Bobb-Semple, who struck from just inside the box to grab his second of the game.
At the other end, Reggie Rose was called into action, producing a fantastic reflex save to keep out Flint’s header from a corner.
Rose had to be sharp again as the Red Devils pushed for a way back into the game, getting his fingertips to Klaudio Krasniqi’s firm shot to tip it over the bar.
Owen had a strike from the edge of the box that looked destined for the bottom corner but Mannone made a good stop to deny the midfielder.
There was to be a nervy ending, though. Malcolm Ebiowei was adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty area and Connor Wickham stepped up and slotted calmly.
The away side would see out the game though despite Crawley's best efforts to put the west Londoners under pressure.
The victory sees Brentford finish second in Group P, securing their place in the next round of the Jersey Mike’s Trophy in their first season in the competition. The round of 32 is scheduled to take place in the week commencing 7 December.
Sam Saunders' side now turn their attentions to the Premier League Cup when they take on Hull City on Sunday 22 November.
Crawley Town: Mannone, Flint, Ebiowei, Watson (Krasniqi 52), Aderoju, Ferizaj (Wickham 74), Adeyemo, Benarous (Robertson 85), Tinsdale, Mrisho, Heneghan
Unused subs: Izquierdo, Di Biase, Kotey
Brentford: Rose, Nunes, Riley, Grey, Gorman, Holland, Shield, Picotto, Wheeler-Henry, Bobb-Semple (Nwosu 73), Oladapo-Gamu
Unused subs: Klimas, Wolfheimer, Powis, Giscombe, Redknapp
Saunders: I couldn’t be prouder
Reaction: Sam Saunders on tonight's JMT Victory
Sam Saunders praised his side’s execution of the game plan as they secured their place in the next round of the Jersey Mike’s Trophy with victory at Crawley Town.
“We set ourselves targets coming into this competition, and getting out of the group was the first one,” said Saunders. “I couldn’t be prouder of the players for the way they went about it tonight.
“They executed the game plan really well and I think we deserved the win. Now we’re hoping for a good draw in the next round so the lads can keep showing what they’re capable of.”