A poor spell at the start of the second half cost Brentford’s Development Squad dear as they were unable to add to their run of three straight wins, falling to defeat against Swansea City.
Brentford’s Under-21 side came in to the game on the back of wins of Crystal Palace, Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers but were beaten 4-2 by Swansea on a chilly, wet night at Griffin Park.
The Bees probably had slightly the better of the first half but conceded two quickly just after the break and there was no way back.
Josh Laurent scored twice to give them hope but Swansea had done enough to claim the points.
The game started in a frantic manner with chances at both ends.
Richard Lee denied Owain Jones and Raheem Hanley before a Jermaine Udumaga free kick deflected wide at the other end.
An injury to Swansea defender Stephen Kingsley halted the game for five minutes and disrupted the flow and when the match resumed Brentford started to gain the upper hand.
A long range shot from Daniel O’Shaughnessy was saved before Emmanuel Oyeleke curled an effort just wide and Nick Proschwitz fired narrowly off target after being set up by Udumaga.
Proschwitz should have put Brentford in front when he latched on to a poor Henry Jones back pass but he was denied by Swansea goalkeeper Oliver Davies and the stopper got down well to turn Udumaga’s rebound over the crossbar.
Courtney Senior had a shot blocked and then forced Davies in to a low save while at the other end Lee denied Adam King after a quick break.
Henry Jones should have tested Lee when he found space 20 yards out but he blazed wide before a James Loveridge cross from the right wing hit the base of the near post.
Oyeleke had a shot deflected wide before Proschwitz headed the resulting corner over from close range while a Connor Roberts cross just eluded Owain Jones on the stretch and Kenji Gorre fired it in to the side netting.
Udumaga had a shot blocked late in the first half and The Bees would have gone in at the break believing they had the upper hand.
But Swansea flew out of the blocks at the start of the second half and were two up before Brentford had got going.
The first goal came when Josh Sheehan moved in to space on the left and drilled a ball across; Raphaël Calvet could do little but turn it in to his own goal.
The second was all the work of Gorre, he picked the ball up on the left, cut inside Josh Clarke and curled a shot past Lee and in to the top corner.
The two goals were the least Swansea deserved for a fine spell of play.
Lee was forced to save from Henry Jones and tipped a Gorre shot over before denying Owain Jones when he went through one-on-one.
An Oyeleke shot was tipped over for Brentford but most of the action was at the other end.
Gorre shot wide, Lee saved from Owain Jones and then held on to a deflected effort from Henry Jones.
The Bees pulled one back when substitute Bradley Clayton let fly from 20 yards, Davies was unable to hold on and Laurent arrived to poke it in.
Laurent also shot wide soon after but Swansea still had the initiative.
King should have added a third for the visitors when he headed over from close range but Giancarlo Gallifuoco made no mistake soon after, nodding in a brilliantly delivered Henry Jones free kick.
As both teams made changes, Brentford took control, trying to find a way back in to the game.
They reduced the arrears when Laurent headed in an Oyeleke corner and pressed hard for the leveller.
Davies tipped an Oyeleke shot over the bar before, from the resulting corner, a toe-poke from Calvet was deflected inches wide.
Marcos Tébar almost levelled when Oyeleke got away down the right and cut the ball back but the Spaniard’s effort was cleared off the line.
A Laurent shot was deflected just over and O’Shaughnessy missed the target with a header from close range as the minutes ticked down.
Owain Jones shot wide for the visitors but they were hanging on and Davies made a fine save from Clayton as the game entered stoppage time.
However, from the resulting corner, the game was up.
Lee came forward to try and score the leveller and Swansea broke quickly, Alex Samuel was able to roll the ball in to an unguarded net from 50 yards to seal the win and leave Brentford beaten.
Brentford Development Squad: Richard Lee; Josh Clarke, Raphaël Calvet, Daniel O'Shaughnessy, Aaron Greene (sub Harry Ascroft 60 mins); Marcos Tébar, Josh Laurent; Courtney Senior (sub Kyjuon Marsh-Brown 73 mins), Jermaine Udumaga (sub Bradley Clayton 60 mins), Emmanuel Oyeleke; Nick Proschwitz
Subs (not used): James Ferry, Gradi Milenge
Bookings: Tébar (45 mins)
Swansea City Development Squad: Oliver Davies; Connor Roberts, Stephen Kingsley, Giancarlo Gallifuoco, Raheem Hanley; Henry Jones (sub Adnan Maric 79 mins), Josh Sheehan; James Loveridge (sub Alex Samuel 79 mins), Adam King, Kenji Gorre; Owain Jones
Subs (not used): Gregor Zabret, Alex Gogic, James Demetriou
By Chris Wickham