Kevin O’Connor’s first game in charge of the Development Squad ended in a 2-2 draw after Sergio Bus' 90th minute equaliser denied him a debut victory.
The former Brentford midfielder was placed in charge of The Bees Under-21s on Monday after Lee Carsley took over as First-Team Head Coach.
For much of the match it looked like it would be a winning start as Montell Moore twice put Brentford ahead with fine finishes.
His first came after he instigated a counter-attack with Courtney Senior and then arrived in the box to sweep home the low cut-back, the second came with 13 minutes to play as the wide-midfielder cut inside and fired into the bottom corner.
However Bus, who scored Wednesday’s first just before the break, taking advantage of a slip in the Brentford backline, would have the final say as he capitalised on an underhit Gradi Milenge backpass and bundled the ball past Mark Smith in the dying seconds to claim a share of the points at Middlewood.
With a number of the older Development Squad players involved with the first-team it was another young side that made the trip up the M1 to face The Owls with seven of the starting XI aged 18 or younger.
The Bees, looking for a first win in four Under-21 Professional Development League Two matches, started on the front foot, exploiting Sheffield Wednesday’s narrow midfield diamond to good effect.
It took just five minutes for them to unlock The Owls’ defence as Moore released Senior with a pin-point crossfield ball and continued his run to perfectly meet the winger’s cutback and slot home into the bottom corner.
With so little width in Wednesday’s midfield Moore and Senior, with help from Audrius Laucys and Tom Field on the overlap, were finding all sorts of space up against their respective full-backs.
Moore dragged a shot wide of the near post and had an effort blocked behind for a corner as The Bees looked dangerous early on.
However as the half wore on Sheffield Wednesday, with their direct style, began to impose themselves on the game. Warren Clarke smashed a drive off the top of the bar, Mark Smith made an acrobatic save to deny Bus and Claude Dielna also tested out the Brentford stopper with a powerful long-range effort.
The hosts’ narrow midfield was enabling them to pick up the second-balls and pen The Bees back towards their own goal. James Demetriou shot wide and then called Smith into another fine save in the space of 60 seconds before Smith was out sharply to save at the feet of the Wednesday striker.
Just as it looked like Brentford had survived until half-time with their lead intact they conceded with a minute of the half to play as Clarke pulled the ball back and, when Field and Milenge both slipped, Bus was left in acres of space to roll home.
The start to the second-half was more cagey than the first with both sides making too many errors in possession to build up pressure. Aside from a wasted Bus effort it took until the 70th minute for a real chance to be created as the same man broke The Bees offside trap but went wide rounding Smith and allowed the Brentford keeper back in to make the save.
Jan Holldack fizzed a free-kick just over from 35 yards and Moore was denied bravely by Cameron Dawson from Julius Fenn-Evans’ inch perfect through ball. However there was nothing Dawson or The Owls defence could do with 13 minutes to play as Moore broke the offside trap, drove into the box and then curled into the bottom corner to put The Bees back ahead.
It looked like that would prove to be the winner, especially when substitute George Hirst missed two very presentable chances late on, both times shooting straight at Smith from good positions but The Owls were not to be denied as Bus seized on a weak Milenge backpass and bundled the ball past Smith and into the back of the net.
It could have got even worse for O’Connor’s side but Hirst fluffed his lines for a third time, deep into injury time, when he ran through one-on-one but blasted his shot straight at Smith from close range as both sides settled for a point.
Brentford: Mark Smith; Audrius Laucys, Chris Mepham, Gradi Milenge, Tom Field (sub Reece Cole 77 mins); James Ferry (sub Zain Westbrooke 70 mins), Marcos Tebar, Jan Holldack; Courtney Senior, Seika Jatta (sub Julius Fenn-Evans 63 mins), Montell Moore Subs not used: Josh Bohui
Sheffield Wednesday: Cameron Dawson; Luke Booker, Daryl Lachman, Claude Dielna, Courtney Wildin; Ryan Meadows, Connor Kirby, Warren Clarke, Matt Penney (sub Jake Nicholson 50 mins); Sergio Bus, James Demetriou (sub George Hirst 77 mins) Subs not used: Brad McDonagh, Brad Beatson, John Centeno