Brentford’s Youth Team suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at home to Huddersfield Town in the U18 Professional Development League Two South this afternoon.
Goals from Rekeil Pyke and Jamie Spencer at the start of each half were enough for The Terriers to claim all three points. Kingsley Eshun’s late goal wasn’t enough to stop the away side securing their third win of the season.
Academy Head Coach Jon De Souza made a single change to the starting eleven from last weekend as right-back Sean Bird came into the side in place of Juan Pablo Gonzalez Velasco.
Town made the brighter start, taking only three minutes to create an opening. Cedwyn Scott clipped a shot against the post after a long ball had slipped beyond the Bees’ back four.
A few minutes later goalkeeper Cameron Greaves showed smart reflexes to keep out Jack Boyle’s swerving effort from distance.
The opening goal came from some neat play down the right wing before Scott drilled the ball across the box. Pyke nipped in ahead of his marker to knock the ball into the net at the near post.
After half an hour, the home side had their best chance to level the score. Josh Bohui found Courtney Austin on the left side of the penalty area, he turned and was able to roll a pass back to George Harmes. The advancing fullback fizzed his effort just north of the crossbar.
At the other end, Chris Mepham got down bravely to deflect another long-range drive from Boyle onto the outside of the post. Greaves was also in action moments later as he came out quickly to deny Pyke getting a clear shot on target.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first with Huddersfield taking the game to their opponents. Two minutes after the restart they had a controversial second goal.
A deep cross from Regan Booty to Sam Warde saw the assistant referee on the near touchline raise his flag for offside. The ball was pulled back to Spencer and his powerful shot was too strong for Greaves, who could only tip the strike into the top corner of the net. After a long conversation between two of the officials, the goal was allowed to stand and Brentford were two behind.
De Souza introduced some different options in the following minutes; Danny Parish and Anthony Guppy provided a fresh set of legs on either flank. Eshun was then swapped into play to lead the line instead of Courtney Austin.
Parish came closest to making an impact, when he met Romayn Pennant’s deep cross from the left. Town goalkeeper Tadhg Ryan made a stunning save to claw the ball away from the top corner despite the power generated by Parish’s header.
Playmaker Boyle hassled the Bees all afternoon but was thwarted by good defending at every chance. With 20 minutes to play, the small attacker darted his way into the box but Greaves was on hand to parry his shot away from danger.
With time almost up, Bohui won a free-kick on the edge of the box when he was tripped by Warde. Harmes’ whipped in a cross, Ryan came out to get something on it but the ball bounced free and Eshun pounced to score his first goal of the season.
The Bees rallied to try and find an equaliser in the last minutes of regulation time as well as the four added on for stoppages. Reece Cole led the charge from the middle but Huddersfield remained resilient and held on for the win.
Brentford: Cameron Greaves; George Harmes, Chris Mepham, Terrence Vancouten, Romayn Pennant; Reece Cole, Giovanni McGregor; Sean Bird (Danny Parish 52), Ian Carlo Poveda (Anthony Guppy 58), Josh Bohui; Courtney Austin (Kingsley Eshun 65)
Subs (not used): Jordan Carey
Huddersfield Town: Tadhg Ryan; Jordan Williams, Jacob Henson, Dylan Cogill, Harry Clibbens; Sam Warde, Regan Booty, Jamie Spencer; Jack Boyle; Cedwyn Scott, Rekeil Pyke
Subs (not used): Adam Porritt, Scott Maloney, Luca Colville, Callum Elliott, Akeel Francis