Brentford U18s 2 Northampton Town U18s 3 | OneFootball

Brentford Under-18s opened 2024 with a 3-2 South East Youth Alliance League loss to Northampton Town Under-18s at Uxbridge Football Club on Saturday.

Head coach Lydia Bedford made four changes to the starting XI from the side that drew 3-3 with Gillingham before Christmas, goalkeeper Marley Tavaziva, Greg Asemokhai, Kaya Halil and Remy Bennison each coming into the starting line-up.

Northampton Town found the best chance of the opening 10 minutes and made the most of it to go 1-0 up, Josh Rayfield’s cross finding James Owen in the box whose header found the bottom right corner.

The young Bees wasted little time in trying to find an equaliser, Halil pushing the ball through the middle of the pitch and finding Bennison, whose shot was fired straight at Northampton Town keeper Marcus Bald who made an easy save.

Both teams enjoyed periods of dominating possession across the middle of the first half, but neither side managed to put together strong attacking plays.

Charlie Carroll made a good run down the left side on 32 minutes, his cross finding a dangerous position in the box, however it was well cleared by Asemokhai before the visitors could get a shot on target.

Brentford’s best chance of the opening 45 minutes came just prior to the 40-minute mark, Bennison’s corner finding Chanse Headman at the back post, but his header was saved and cleared just over the bar by Bald.

Owen was back in the action for the visitors as the break approached, his cross finding an open teammate in the box, however it was well saved by Tavaziva.

Brentford started the second half with energy, Bennison’s cross in the opening 10 minutes from the left side just clearing a trialist’s head at the back post.

The young Bees’ best chance came minutes later. Trae Payet led the counter attack from the back, finding Emeka Peters who put the ball out in front of Halil, who cut back inside and fired a shot which was well saved by Bald.

Despite some promising attacking moves by Brentford it was the visitors who opened the second half scoring, a loose pass in defence by the young Bees leading to an own goal on 58 minutes.

Northampton Town nearly added a third goal soon after, Carroll firing a shot from the edge of the box that was well saved by Tavaziva diving to his left.

Still seeking their first goal, the young Bees continued to press, Peters' cross rebounding off multiple players in the box to a trialist, whose shot was well saved by Bald.

Carroll went one better on 76 minutes, finding himself one-on-one with Tavaziva and putting the ball in the bottom right corner to make it 3-0.

As the game drew to a close, the young Bees came to life following their first goal on 89 minutes to make it 3-1. Headman’s header hit the post, however it was followed in by a trialist.

The pair were involved again in added time to give Brentford their second goal, Headman’s cross finding a trialist in the box who headed it home to make it 3-2.

However, it was too little, too late, Northampton Town taking home the three points.

Brentford U18: Tavaziva, Payet, Ivanov (Trialist, 23’), Taylor, Asemokhai, Headman, Peters, Halil (Djoro, 77’), Bennison (Booth, 62’), Poliakov (Trialist, 62’), Agyei (Francis, 77’)

Northampton Town U18: Bald (Smith, 86'), Ireland, Cartwright, Jenkins, Licorish-Mullings (Baxter, 72’), Owen, Hart (Jevterevs, 77'), Guess, Carroll (Evans, 81'), Rayfield, Murray (Findlay, 68')

Bedford disappointed with opening clash of 2024

Brentford Under-18 head coach Lydia Bedford said her side's first game of the new year didn't reflect the improvements they had made across the final weeks of 2023.

Two goals in the final five minutes helped the young Bees finish strong, however the first 85 minutes weren't to the level of last year's performances.

"I felt that we didn't really show how much we've developed in the first half of the season today, it almost felt like a little break over Christmas and we'd forgotten some of the things we've started to get really good at," said Bedford.

"We said to them at half-time that it just was nowhere near the performance levels that we've set of ourselves or what we expect."

Bedford praised the side for continuing to press late in the game despite a positive result seeming out of reach.

"I said to them the conversation at the end of the game changes once you suddenly score two (goals) in the final five minutes," said Bedford.

"But I said to them that I didn't think by our standards that the first 85 minutes were anywhere good enough individually or collectively."