Chris Mepham felt that Friday’s win over Crewe Alexandra showed the Youth Team has what it takes to handle the pressure of closing out games in the Under 18 Professional Development League Two South.
The Bees led 1-0 going into the final 30 minutes of the game, a lead given to them by Chris’ first strike for the club in the 20th minute.
Crewe threw everything at Brentford in those closing minutes and came close to equalising as they hit the post twice and had two efforts cleared off the line.
Speaking to Bees Player after the game Chris felt it was a great sign that The Bees had dug in so well to secure the three points.
Surprisingly Chris said the mood was slightly down in the dressing room after the game but felt that only showed how high the standards were being set for the Youth Team this season.
“Not every game is going to be like that,” said Chris.
“You do get games where you are going to have to defend for your life in the last 30 minutes or so.
“At the end of the day we came away with the three points which was the important thing.
“It just shows that we can handle the pressure that gets put on us in the later stages of the match.
“It is a learning curve and it is a learning curve to see if we can handle games like that.
“There have been games in the past where we have been 1-0 up and we have let it go in the end.
“It shows the character that we have in the team to fight until the last whistle and defend properly.
“It feels like a defeat in there.
“We are the kind of boys that even if we win it doesn’t mean we will be happy.
“Some of the boys feel like their performances weren’t up to scratch.
“The most important thing for the back four is that we got the clean sheet.
“That is very pleasing for us in that respect.”
Crewe set up with two up front and then pushed their two wide players forward to make it difficult for Brentford to play their normal passing game out from the back.
For Chris playing at full-back he admitted that The Railwaymen’s tactic made it more difficult for The Bees to play their normal passing games.
However the 16-year-old thought it was a credit to the team that they continued to play their passing game for the majority of the match.
“At Brentford we want to play out from the back but when they press you high you might have to resort to other options like going long,” said Chris.
“We tried to play out from the back and we will continue to do so whether we have one striker or three pressing us.
“That is just the way that we play and it is the right way to play.
“I think we dealt with their press well for 60 minutes.
“When it got to the later stages of the game you are going to sit back a bit to defend your lead and your goal-line.
“Over 60 minutes we did it really well but the last 30 minutes we didn’t do it as well.
“We will take it to the lab and see how we can improve on that and see out games properly.”
Chris gave The Bees the lead with his first goal for the Youth Team as he broke forward from right-back exchanged passes with Bradley Clayton and then curled home into the bottom corner from 10 yards.
He could have added a second a few minutes later but his longer-range left-footed effort drifted just wide of the far post.
The former QPR defender praised Brentford’s coaching staff for encouraging him to work on his left-foot and was delighted that work paid off on Friday.
“I was surprised really because I don’t score many,” said Chris.
“I saw the chance to shift it onto my left foot and coaches always encourage you to play on the left foot.
“It is pleasing that you don’t get shouted out if it goes wide.
“It just shows that practice on your left foot does make perfect.
“I got a bit carried away and nearly got the second.
“If you score one then you have more confidence.
“In the later stages of the game I got more confident going forward and I tried to get more shots off.”
The win over Crewe temporarily moved The Bees to the top of the Under 18 Professional Development League Two South table.
The Bees have lost only one of their opening six games taking 11 points in the process.
Next up is a tough trip to last season’s North section Champions Huddersfield Town on Saturday morning.
Chris is looking forward to the trip to The Terriers and hopes that the Youth Team can take the positives from the opening games of the season into Saturday’s trip to West Yorkshire.
“It’s unbelievable being top of the table,” said Chris.
“You can’t ask for more than to be top of the table.
“It is great for the confidence of the game.
“It shows that we are willing to fight and beat any team.
“It has come at a good time as they are a good side but we are top of the table.
“There is good spirit around the dressing room and we will take it to analysis and take the positives into next week’s game.
“Hopefully we can minimise the negatives.”