After 42 matches Brentford went into the final three weeks of the season well in the hunt for a Sky Bet Championship Play-Off place.
The final sprint for a top six finish started badly as The Bees lost ground in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off race with on a disappointing night in South Yorkshire against Sheffield Wednesday. Mark Warburton’s side created enough chances to win three or four matches but failed to find the back of the net before they were hit late on as Kieran Lee scored to leave them three points outside the top six with three matches to go.
Mark Davies scored late on to deny Brentford a first win in three matches as Bolton Wanderers took a point at Griffin Park. Alex Pritchard put Brentford ahead in the first-half but Adam Le Fondre levelled before the break. Jonathan Douglas restored the lead but it was Davies who would have the final say as he capitalised on a weak James Tarkowski backpass to slot home past David Button.
A goal in each half meant that Brentford would go into the final day of the season with at least a chance of making the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs. Alan Judge scored early and James Tarkowski added a second after the break to secure the three points away at Reading with a 2-0 win. The Bees would start the final day of the season two points behind sixth placed Derby County as they looked to extend their season into the Play-Offs.
One Brentford side extending their season in the Play-Offs were the Youth Team as they came from behind to beat Huddersfield Town 2-1 in their Under-18 Professional Development League Two Play-Off Semi-Final. Second-half goals from Seth Owens and Bradley Clayton completed the turnaround after Rekiel Pyke had put The Terriers ahead in the first-half. The win set up a final at Griffin Park against Charlton Athletic in early May.
Lee Carsley’s side had a double header against Charlton Athletic to finish their Under-21 Professional Development League Two South season. The first match in South London was the definition of a game of two halves as Zain Westbrooke swept The Bees ahead in a first-half that they dominated. However Mikhail Kennedy’s early second-half goal levelled things up and from then on Brentford hung on to leave The Valley with a point. There would be no winning end to the season as The Addicks scored twice late on at Jersey Road to win 3-2 four days later. Goals from Kyjuon Marsh-Brown and Tyrell Miller-Rodney saw Brentford lead 2-1 going into the final few minutes but two late goals consigned them to defeat.
With the non-league season coming to an end there was plenty of loan movement as Kieran Morris returned from his loan spell at Conference South side Maidenhead United. Lionel Stone extended his loan spell at Woking until the end of the season with four Development Squad players returning from their loan spells later on in the month. Chris Long signed a loan extension to take him through to the end of Brentford’s season.
Alfie Mawson’s fantastic debut season in the Football League with Wycombe Wanderers saw him finish as a runner-up in the Sky Bet League Two Player of the Season vote. Two Brentford players, Alex Pritchard and Jota, were named in FourFourTwo magazine’s Top 50 players in the Football League. The plaudits kept on coming for Alex as he was named the Irish Supporters’ Club Player of the Year and also in the top 10 players in the Sky Bet Championship as voted for by other managers. The Tottenham Hotspur loanee was also named in the PFA’s Team of the Year for the Sky Bet Championship.
Brentford’s Youth Alliance College Partnership won the London and South East Division title in the Football Conference Youth Alliance after winning their last 11 matches. The title was wrapped up after a dramatic 3-2 win on the final day at home to Watford CSE as Dan Wright’s team celebrated after a debut season league win.
and beyond. There was more good news for the Academy as
.
to stay at Griffin Park.
It was announced that Scott Hogan had suffered a setback in his recovery from knee injury and would require another operation and extended recovery period.
.
Julius Fenn-Evans featured in all three matches as Wales Under-16s won two and lost one of their matches at the UEFA Development Tournament in the Faroe Islands.