Jon De Souza said he was pleased with the performance of Brentford’s Development Squad in the first half of their win against Bristol City but less so with the second half.
The Bees beat their Championship opponents 2-0 yesterday afternoon.
They went ahead after 18 minutes when Curtis Jones scored an own goal and Charlie Adams doubled the lead late in the first period.
Development Squad Manager Jon, speaking to Bees Player after the match, said he wanted more from his team in the second half of the Under-21 Professional Development League Two South clash.
He said the fact his side have only played three league games this year due to the weather may have been a factor.
“I was pleased with the first half but thought we could have done better in the second half,” said Jon.
“We pressed well in the first half, we moved the ball well, we had chances and we looked good.
“In the second half it wasn’t as good.
“We were 2-0 up and I expected up to dominate the game a bit more.
“We sat off and didn’t play with quite the same intensity as we did in the first half.
“Fitness may have been a factor; this was only our third game of 2013 due to the weather.
“I would have liked to have seen more intensity in the second half.”
Bristol City started the game with three central defenders but abandoned that at half time.
Jon said he told the Brentford players to expect a different City team after the break and didn’t feel his side did enough to combat it.
He said he wanted his team to push more for the goal that would have killed the game but praised them for the way they saw the win out.
The Bees have conceded late goals in many Development Squad matches this season, including in the reverse fixture, but kept a clean sheet, only their third in 13 league matches.
“I said to the players that I thought they would change their shape at half time,” he explained.
“I certainly thought they would get a team talk and their players would have been told that the next goal would get them back in to it.
“Bristol City came out in the second half like I expected them to.
“I thought we let them get on top of the game for the first 20 to 25 minutes of the second half.
“I knew if we got the next goal the game would be over.
“I don’t think we did enough to press for that goal.
“They had a few chances where they could have done better.
“But, in fairness, I think we managed the game well.
“We were 2-1 up against Bristol City in the first game with ten minutes to go and lost 3-2.
“There have been other games where we haven’t quite managed a result.
“Although I felt we did give them a couple of chances, we did manage the game well.
“We are expansive so we are always vulnerable to concede.
“I am pleased with any clean sheet.”
Jon said his players relaxed and played better after taking the lead.
“We were a bit cautious in possession at the start,” he said.
“Once you get a goal, confidence builds and we started to pass the ball better.
“We relaxed, we moved the ball quicker and that made it harder to plug gaps.
“At the start we moved it a bit slowly.”
The top of the table is very tight with seven teams in with a chance of a top two finish.
The top two in League Two South play off against the top two in League Two North to decide the overall winner and Jon has set his sights in the end-of-season shoot-out.
The Bees sit second after the win – behind Charlton Athletic but ahead of teams including Brighton and Hove Albion, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City.
They have seven games left to play to stay there.
“Our aim is to finish in the top two,” said Jon.
“If we want to do that we have to compete against teams like this.
“We should be looking to win these sorts of games.
“We have some tough games coming up.
“We need to keep ourselves in and amongst the top two.
“We are trying to make the Play-Offs; the players can then have the experience of playing in a semi-final and hopefully a final.”
A full video interview with Jon De Souza is available here for Bees Player subscribers.