Bournemouth U21s 2 Brentford U21s 3: Yogane's winner secures PDL title for young Bees | OneFootball

Brentford Under-21s claimed the Professional Development League national title following a scintillating 3-2 win over Bournemouth Under-21s at Vitality Stadium on Wednesday night.

After going into half-time down 1-0, the young Bees hit the lead early in the second half thanks to strikes from Iwan Morgan and Romelle Donovan. After a Bournemouth equaliser, Tony Yogane’s late winner ensured the trophy made its way back to west London.

First team defender Kristoffer Ajer made his return to the pitch, lining up alongside fellow defenders Benjamin Arthur, Benjamin Fredrick, Josh Stephenson and goalkeeper Reggie Rose.

As the rain poured on Bournemouth the clash started evenly, both sides getting used to the slippery conditions.

It was the hosts who had the best early look on goal inside 10 minutes, Dom Sadi finding space in the box and firing at goal, putting it wide left.

A corner soon after saw Harold William find space in the box, however his header faded wide right of the goal.

On 13 minutes Yogane found space down the left side for the young Bees and pushed forward, his cross finding Ethan Brierley in the box who put his shot over the bar.

In typical fashion of a final the game continued to be an arm wrestle, both sides easing into the game as the early rain passed.

On 23 minutes Stephenson found himself in space and the defender pushed forward down the left side, eventually gliding into shooting distance and firing at goal, but his shot was straight to the hands of Callan McKenna in goal for the hosts.

Less than a minute later it was Bournemouth who broke the stranglehold. Pouncing on a loose ball in the young Bees’ half, Daniel Adu-Adjei was then played through and made no mistake in finding the back of the net.

Despite going down it was Brentford who went on the attack next, Ashley Hay finding Morgan outside the box who fired at goal, but McKenna was there to make the save.

Entering the second half of the opening 45 minutes Sadi again found space near the penalty spot and fired at goal, however Stephenson was there to make a timely block.

With five minutes to play Ash Clarke found himself through on goal for the hosts, however Rose made a superb save in goal for the young Bees. Ben Winterburn claimed the rebound and fired at goal, Ajer there to make a strong block.

Brentford’s best chance of the first half came late on as Donovan played a dangerous free-kick into the box, Ajer meeting it first and heading it goalward, McKenna there to keep the ball out. Morgan sent the ball back at goal from the rebound but it was kept out and cleared, keeping the game at 1-0 at half-time.

After replacing an injured Hay in added time of the first half, Michael Olakigbe was straight in the action to start the second half. His cross on 51 minutes found Yogane near the penalty spot, whose shot was blocked and cleared.

A minute later the young Bees were rewarded for their early dominance in the second half. A smart ball from Brierley’s free-kick found a cutting Morgan on the right side of the box, the forward making no mistake to equalise for the visitors.

The momentum continued to run Brentford’s way as they dominated the ball. They again found reward to go ahead, this time through Donovan’s individual brilliance. He worked his way past multiple defenders before firing a powerful strike from outside the box into the top left corner.

Five minutes later it was Bournemouth on the attack with multiple dangerous moves. A corner just after the hour mark was superbly saved by Rose, before the ensuing corner fell off his hands to William at the back post who tapped it home to equalise.

With half-an-hour to play the game continued at a thrilling pace. Brierley crossed another dangerous free-kick into the box, the ball bouncing off the pack to Morgan whose shot was blocked.

Olakigbe came close to giving the young Bees back the lead soon after as Yogane made another positive move down the left and crossed to the goal line, however his header went over the bar.

Rose was called into action with 20 minutes to play as Clarke found space and fired at goal, the Brentford goalkeeper doing well to secure a tough ball.

Adu-Adjei was inches away from handing Bournemouth back the lead minutes later, however his shot from Archie Harris’ cross raced past the right post and out of play.

Zain Silcott-Duberry had his turn to put the hosts ahead as the game inched closer to 80 minutes, however his curling effort remained wide of the goal.

After absorbing the Bournemouth momentum the young Bees were back on the attack. On 86 minutes Stephenson smashed a shot goalward that came off a defender and floating towards goal, hitting the post before being cleared by McKenna.

A minute later the visitors found reward for effort through Yogane. The winger made a strong move to his right at the edge of the box and fired the ball to the top right corner, the shot beating the outstretched hands of McKenna to put Brentford ahead.

A tense final 10 minutes ensued as seven minutes of added time were added, all 11 players forced to defend strongly to ensure MacFarlane’s side secured the PDL title.

Bournemouth U21s: McKenna, Akinmboni (Stuttle 90), Harris, Winterburn (Williams 66), William, Kinsey, Clarke (Boutin 90), Sadi, Adu-Adjei, Silcott-Duberry, Rees-Dottin

Subs not used: Allan, Dacosta Gonzalez

Booked: Harris 62

Brentford U21s: Rose, Fredrick, Stephenson, Ajer, Arthur, Owen (Dickov 90), Yogane, Brierley, Hay (Olakigbe 45+3), Morgan, Donovan

Subs not used: Tavaziva, Williams, Avenell

Booked: Donovan 69

Attendance: 2033

MacFarlane: Tonight we got what we deserved

Brentford Under-21s head coach Neil MacFarlane reacted to an excellent comeback win in the PDL final.

"I'm hugely proud of the players and staff, together we've worked relentlessly through an unbelievable season, and our mentality and improvements within the group has been phenomenal," he said.

"I said to the group that the feeling we had last week was not what we wanted and we need to go an extra yard for each other tonight like they've done all season.

"We were absolutely electric in the second half, all of the goals we scored were outstanding. You don't always get what you deserve in football and life but tonight they did.

"It's an honour to coach them, first of all they are really good people, but also very good footballers and we want to see them go on and sample more nights like tonight."