Jeremy Steele said his players had made him and the coaching staff proud after their 1-0 defeat to QPR on Saturday in the U18 Professional Development League Two South.
Despite having 14 players out ill or injured Brentford put in a fine battling performance and should have taken at least a point from the game at Sipson Lane.
The game was settled just before the hour when Addison Garnett powered home a header from Callum O’Sullivan’s deep free-kick.
The defeat was harsh on Brentford who played well and were denied a stonewall penalty late on when Josh Bohui was flattened by Alex Gogic inside the box.
Speaking to Bees Player after the game Jeremy said he was proud of his side’s efforts and the football they played despite all the problems they had had in the build-up.
“I am delighted,” said Jeremy.
“The work ethic was tremendous and the staff have let the players know that we are proud of the performance.
“The players should be proud within themselves as well because they have done everything today.
“Preparations weren’t ideal.
“All in all there were 14 players out today.
“We had a couple of injuries and a virus swept through the camp yesterday so we sent all the players home just to make sure all the players who weren’t ill didn’t catch the virus.
“There were a few players out there who were really struggling in terms of illness but I don’t think you could tell from the outside who was ill and who wasn’t as they all put a real shift in and they pushed them to the limit.
“I thought we played our style of football well and dominated the game.
“We had some really good clear cut chances and limited them to very few.
“I thought we were by far the better team and after they scored the goal they looked to kill the game.
“There was lots of going down injured, taking time to take corners, free-kicks and throw ins and that frustrated us because it is an Academy game of football and we want to see their style up against our style.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get to see that for the rest of the game because it was a very stop and start game.
“We still looked to go forward and create chances but we couldn’t get the breakthrough.
“We had a great chance at the end with Seth Owens, who made a run all the way from centre-back into the box, but he couldn’t quite keep the ball down.
“I think our style of play came out on top today but unfortunately we didn’t get the result.
“I will go out on a limb and say it was a stonewall penalty.
“Josh has been absolutely cleaned out.
“The fantastic thing about that however was Tony Guppy’s pass: an outside of the boot 35 yard pass into the path of the centre-forward.
“He has taken a touch round the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper took him out.
“Unfortunately it hasn’t been given but the move was fantastic.
“It was another example of us creating chances with good quality football.”
Saturday’s defeat was The Bees first defeat of the season after wins over Millwall and Barnsley in their opening two games.
The final whistle was greeted with great celebrations from the home side who now join Brentford on six points after two wins and two defeats.
Jeremy believes that the celebrations at full-time show just how much it now means to all teams to beat Brentford given the strides The Bees’ Academy are making.
“This year a lot of teams are looking at us in the league and saying that we could be a contender to finish in at least the top three,” said Jeremy.
“We don’t tend to concentrate too much on that.
“If our performances are good then results will come anyway.
“We will let other teams do what they do anyway and it was frustrating today in that sense but that was their game-plan.
“We will call it a professional game-plan but we were slightly disappointed on that side.
“QPR do have a physical style and I thought we battled extremely hard.
“We would say that our players are more technical than physical but I thought they dealt with the battle extremely well.
“I didn’t think we were overawed by that at all.”
Given the injury and illness sweeping the squad three Under-16s were called into the squad.
Josh Bohui returned up front while George Harmes and Danny Parish both made their Under-18s competitive debuts in the game.
Jeremy was delighted with the contribution all three made to the team and said that they have given him selection options for the upcoming weeks.
With all the ill players expected back into training today and with a number of the injured players nearing fitness Jeremy said there will be fierce competition for places in the coming weeks.
“The Under-16s were excellent,” said Jeremy.
“It was frustrating that George Harmes had to come off at half-time because he was excellent for 45 minutes.
“He took a knock to the head and we took a precaution to take him off.
“He held the middle of the pitch brilliantly, passed the ball well and competed excellently.
“Josh Bohui is a skilful lad who has loads of ability and he showed that on occasions.
“Normally he would do a bit more but he isn’t up to the intensity of Under-18 football yet but when he does he will be a good player.
“Danny Parish was a real pest when he came on.
“He presses at all times and his movement is fantastic and they found it difficult to live with him.
“All in all the three Under-16s were excellent.
“I think it is a 48-hour virus as we have a couple of players who are already feeling better.
“The lads who were ill should be back on Monday and three or four of the lads who were injured should be back in the next two or three weeks.
“It will be interesting competition for places as the last two performances have been excellent even though the result today wasn’t quite the right one for us.
“The performance was very good and competition for places will be intense and I am really looking forward to that.
“The intensity in training at the moment is different class.”