Brentford B secured a second Premier League Cup win with a 4-2 victory over Derby County Under-21s at Wheatsheaf Park on Saturday afternoon.
The young Bees started in blistering fashion, Joseph Wheeler-Henry scoring a first-half brace, and Isaac Holland also getting on the scoresheet. Under-18s striker Jai Nwosu scored his first B team goal in the second half to secure an impressive win for the west Londoners.
Sam Saunders’ side started the game with intensity and were rewarded inside two minutes with an early goal. After Holland’s cross from the left side wasn’t dealt with, the ball fell to Riley Owen, who played it back to Wheeler-Henry outside the box, the right-back slamming the ball into the bottom left corner for the opener.
The Bees’ second goal came on 15 minutes in eerily similar fashion to the first. Receiving the ball from Owen outside Derby’s box, Holland took two touches to his right before sending a powerful strike into the bottom left corner to double the advantage.
The young Rams responded positively and looked to pull one back on 19 minutes. A well-placed cross from the right side found Cameron Wilson inside Brentford’s box, but his header bounced left of the goal.
The west Londoners immediately responded on 22 minutes and had a third goal in the blink of an eye. Owen played a corner to Holland in acres of space inside Derby’s box, but his shot was blocked. The ball fell to Wheeler-Henry near the edge of the box, the defender putting it into the back of the net with his left foot for his second goal of the afternoon.
The half-hour mark came and went and it was Remi Harvey who seemed destined to score for the visitors as he found space inside the Bees’ box. His shot was sent straight at Brentford goalkeeper Aidan Stokes; however, the American fisted the ball away from danger.
Two minutes later Stokes was called into action again as Isaac Gordon weaved his way into space inside the hosts’ box with a neat move, the goalkeeper making a superb save with his outstretched right arm.
Stokes continued his stellar run on 41 minutes as Harvey looked to score from a Gordon cross, the shot-stopper getting low and securing the ball before it raced between his legs.
With a minute to play in the first half, Owen sent a corner into the Derby box, the ball falling off the pack to Ollie Shield. He set the ball for Wheeler-Henry outside the box, who fired at goal, but the ball was blocked before being secured by Alfie Halliwell in goal for the Rams.
Out of the break, the Bees mirrored the start to the first half and scored inside three minutes. Nwosu pounced on a loose Derby pass inside their own box, the striker scoring into an empty net for his first B team goal.
Two minutes later Luca Picotto was shown a second yellow card, the left-back sent off.
The visitors looked to pounce on a 10-man Brentford side as Justin Oguntolu fired at goal from outside the box, but Stokes was up to the task and secured the ball diving to his left.
Derby’s opener eventually came on 66 minutes, Oguntolu finding space inside Brentford’s box to curl the ball into the right side of the net with his right foot.
Despite being down a player, the Bees continued to play. Wheeler-Henry put Ben Wilson deep in the Rams’ box with a well-placed throw-in, the midfielder looking to cross, but the ball was intercepted by Halliwell.
The visitors had a second with 15 minutes to play in the game. After a cross from the right side to the back post wasn’t dealt with, the ball sailed high into the air and fell to Oguntolu on the goalline, the no.9 putting the ball into an empty net.
Derby looked to score a third on 80 minutes as Charlie Smith sent a header goalward, but Stokes was up to the task and quickly dived low to his left to secure the ball.
A minute later Kean Wren found space inside Brentford’s box, but his shot sailed inches over the bar.
With a minute to play in the game, Holland did well to press Halliwell and block his clearance attempt, winning possession back deep in the Rams’ box. The winger played it back to Jacob Hanson breaking into the box, but his shot was blocked.
The Bees now turn their attention to the Premier League 2 as they host Fulham U21s at Wheatsheaf Park on 18 October, kick-off at 1pm.
Tickets are available here.
Brentford B: Stokes, Wheeler-Henry, Picotto, Avenell, Oladapo-Gamu, Grey (Hanson 86), Shield, Owen, Nwosu (Bobb-Semple 65), Wilson, Holland
Subs not used: Powis, Wolfheimer, Klimas, Trimboli, Giscombe
Sent off: Picotto 50
Derby County U21s: Halliwell, I. Gordon (K. Gordon 58), Robinson, Offor, Osayande (Green 58), Tola (Wren 58), Wilson, Harvey (Smith 70), Oguntolu, Hodges, Jones
Subs not used: Djedje, Banks, Corry
Booked: Jones 17, Osayande 53, Harvey 59, K. Gordon 12, Wren 78, Wilson 88
Saunders: I was in no doubt that there would be a response
Reaction: Sam Saunders on Derby County win
Brentford B head coach Sam Saunders reflected positively on his side's 4-2 win over Derby County in the Premier League Cup, a strong response from the side's loss to MK Dons on Tuesday.
"I was in no doubt that there would be (a response). Obviously started off with a really fast start... we played a lot more balls forward and opened the pitch up a little bit more and had winning runners," he said.
"The three agreements from the group was to play forward and run forward, be aggressive... and the third one was to communicate. You could hear they were at it and they wanted to respond and they showed a real hunger to do that.
"We've just got to keep performing, but the win puts us in a good position in the group, obviously you want to go automatically through as number one."