Jon De Souza felt Saturday’s 2-1 win over Ipswich Town was probably the most satisfying win since he took over the Youth Team job back in October.
Seika Jatta’s 90th minute strike secured the deserved win for the Youth Team which keeps them atop the U18 Professional Development League Two South.
Earlier Bradley Clayton had seen his 6th goal in nine games cancelled out by Shane McLoughlin’s second half strike.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Jon said he felt that for the neutral it was a very entertaining match between two footballing sides.
However on the balance of play The Bees manager thought his side did enough to ensure that it was a deserved three points which they picked up.
“I would probably say that was my most satisfying result back as Youth Team manager,” said Jon.
“I thought it was a really good game of football.
“The first-half hour was quite even.
“We had a little bit more of the ball but they were more of a threat towards our goal.
“When we scored we settled down and really started to play some good football and should have scored a couple more.
“I thought the second-half was a tale of three 15 minutes.
“I thought in the first 15 minutes we were very good and could have scored a couple more.
“Then they made three substitutions on the hour and they got back into the game and started to dominate.
“They were a threat towards our goal and Nik Tzanev made some terrific saves.
“The last 15 minutes were just end-to-end and it was a really entertaining game.
“I thought first-half we overplayed in our first-half a little bit.
“Our idea of how to play football is to work the ball up the pitch so that we get good quality in the final third.
“Some people might say that our last goal is a little bit direct but that is how we want to play.
“We want to get good quality into the final third.
“Normally it takes you to play through the final third and be patient which we did the majority of the time but I thought we mixed it up quite well in the second-half whereas in the first-half we were a little bit obvious.
“I have to give credit to the players because when Ipswich Town equalised normally the side who equalise get the momentum.
“However our reaction straight from kick-off was very good and to win it at the end is always good.”
Seika Jatta’s late winner was his second goal in three appearances since returning from an injury that had ruled him out for most of the opening months of the season.
Jon thought it was just reward for the player who had worked so hard to get himself back into contention after injury.
“They were two very different goals but very good in different ways,” said Jon.
“The first goal was a great bit of play and linking and it ended up with a goal.
“The second goal was one pass and we were in behind but it was a great bit of composure from Seika Jatta.
“I am delighted for him because he has had a hard couple of months since we have come back.
“To score the winner was a great thing for him.”
One feature of the game was the number of times that Brentford players were flagged for offside looking to break in behind.
Although it disrupted the flow of Brentford’s attacking play Jon said he wasn’t too concerned as it showed the desire his players had to break in behind Ipswich’s backline.
With The Bees late winner coming from a run in behind Jon said he would keep encouraging his players to play on defenders shoulders to try and exploit the space in behind the oppositions defence.
“I don’t mind players getting caught offside,” said Jon.
“I think the biggest threat and at our Academy is that we don’t get enough people running in behind.
“For me the fact that they are getting caught offside shows they are trying to run in behind.
“I am not too fussed but when it becomes a regular occurrence I will address it, however, I would rather have that than no runners in behind.
“The first goal came from Bradley running into the box and that showed good desire.
“We set them a target and once they reach that target we try to kick them on.
“Once they get in the habit of doing that we can address the how, when and where so they don’t get caught offside.”
Next up for the Youth Team is a huge game at home to Charlton Athletic next Saturday at Jersey Road.
Charlton have made the end of season play-offs the last two seasons and are having another strong season again this campaign.
As well as being a strong Under-18s team Charlton have also produced youngsters like Joe Gomez, Karlan Aherne-Grant, Harry Lennon and Diego Poyet who have all gone on to play Championship football in 2014.
Jon believes Saturday’s game will be a good yardstick to test The Bees both as individuals and as a team.
“It will be a good game of football,” said Jon.
“Both teams are up there and they are a good Academy with a lot of boys in the first team.
“Away from the league standings it is about us testing ourselves against one of the best Category Two Academies who have got some very good individual players.
“I am more interested in who has got the best individuals because ultimately you are looking at getting individuals into the first-team.
“They have managed to get into the end of season play-offs the last two years but they have also got seven or eight players into the first-team and we have got to make sure we have got players at that level.”
Bees Player subscribers can listen to the full interview here