Kevin O’Connor was full of praise for his side’s performance despite The Bees going down to a 1-0 defeat away at The Den against Millwall this afternoon in the U21 Professional Development League Two South.
Brentford dominated the first-half and went close through Herson Rodrigues Alves, Josh McEachran and Bradley Clayton but couldn’t find the all-important breakthrough. Tom Field struck the post in the second-half but moments later the decisive goal came as Mikael Ndjoli pulled back for Lee Martin to steer home.
Speaking to Bees Player after the defeat Kevin said there were a lot of positives to take from both individual and team performances even if the result was not what was wanted.
“I was frustrated that we lost the game but I am really happy as there were a lot of positives,” said Kevin. “I am happy with the performance but disappointed to lose 1-0. We got the performance today without getting the result and that is something that I have to learn because I am still thinking about results coming from first-team football. There was a lot of positive play and the stuff that we did in training with our forward play and quick interchange was coming through.
“I told the first-team players and the Under-21s that they had a point to prove with the new Head Coach coming in and I am thought we played really well today. It is a massive incentive for them because it is like a clean slate for them and I think a lot of them did themselves a lot of good in there today so I am happy on that front. I think we had three or four standout performances today. The first-team boys did well as you hope and expected that they would but a few of the younger boys did very well as well.”
Brentford dominated the first-half with the midfield trio of Josh McEachran, Bradley Clayton and Reece Cole in particular finding time and space to cause The Lions' defence problems.
However it was at the two ends of the pitch that he felt the game was won with his side failing to take their opportunities while Millwall capitalised on a moment of indecision in the Brentford backline to secure the three points.
“If we could have got the first goal then the confidence would have flowed through the team from there,” said Kevin. “That is our problem at the moment that we are not scoring the goals to take us 1-0 ahead and then today a mistake has cost us. We were trying to get the ball into Bradley Clayton with one and two touch passing which was quick and forward. We got into lovely pockets with Bradley on the half-turn, slipping balls through, and that was really good to watch.
“Their goal was a little lack of communication between the two centre-halves, then we lost the ball and unfortunately we couldn’t recover. It is a learning curve but we can’t keep saying it is a learning curve. It has to stop at some point and we have to start keeping clean sheets. When you play in the first-team one little mistake can lead to a goal and that was the case today.”
Despite a recent run of three straight defeat Kevin feels that the overall direction of his team’s performance is upward and he is keen to ensure that trend continues.
“Sometimes I feel that we are getting there as we have three or four good performances but then we have a down day because they are young,” said Kevin. Today was a positive and hopefully we can keep on an upward curve.”
Bees Player subscribers can listen to the full interview below