QPR U21s 3 Brentford B 1: Young Bees battle bravely but lose out to west London rivals in Premier League Cup final | OneFootball

Brentford B fell just short in their bid to win the Premier League Cup on Thursday evening suffering a 3-1 defeat to west London rivals QPR at Loftus Road in a hard-fought final.

Despite a quick response to going a goal down with a Benjamin Arthur header, a firm volley from distance edged the Hoops ahead in the first period. There were chances to equalise as Iwan Morgan and Ashley Hay went closest in the second half, but the hosts grabbed a late third to win the derby and deny Brentford a second title in three years.

Tony Yogane and Hay were making their first starts for the B team since returning from loan spells in League One and Two respectively.

Harry Murphy had the home side's first chance of the game as he dragged a shot on the edge of the box just wide despite being in acres of space.

On nine minutes it was the home side opened the scoring as Kieran Morgan found space in the middle of the penalty area pouncing onto a good cross from Emmerson Sutton to finish past Julian Eyestone.

The response from the away side came on 14 minutes as with their first set-piece of the game, Ethan Brierley delivered a sublime cross which found Arthur who powered a header past Matteo Salamon.

Arthur almost grabbed his second of the game, drawing a great save from the QPR goalkeeper, the Hoops' shot-stopper then stood up quickly to make an acrobatic stop to deny Max Dickov's powerful shot.

Both sides had good periods of possession but on 39 minutes the home side went ahead again as Murphy smashed a volley from outside the box into the top corner of the net.

The second period began with a slower pace than the first as the home side were comfortable with just keeping possession in their backline.

The Bees finally put together a string of good passes and Morgan's flick fell to Hay who failed to control his shot which flew over.

Kieran Petrie was found in a dangerous position and the winger's shot was saved incredibly well by Eyestone but Dillon looking certain to tap the ball in, Benjamin Fredrick made a sensational goalie intervention to deny the striker.

On 70 minutes, a golden chance was presented to Morgan as he was found in the middle of the penalty area by Josh Stephenson but the striker failed to hit the target as his shot skewed wide.

The win was sealed with a late header from Jack McDowell who made it three for the hosts late on in second-half stoppage time.

The Bees were defeated by their rivals, falling short of securing their first trophy of the season.

MacFarlane's side still have two finals still to play in the form of the London Senior Cup against Hanwell Town and the Professional Development League play-off final against Bournemouth. A fixture date for the former will be provided in due course however the final against the Cherries will take place on Wednesday 21 May at Vitality Stadium (7pm kick-off BST).

The Robert Rowan Invitational on Monday 19 May is when the B team can be watched next as they take on another London rival, Tottenham Hotspur at Gtech Community Stadium (7pm kick-off BST).

Tickets for the game can be found here.

QPR U21s: Salamon, Putman, Da Silva (McCann 90+3), McDowell, Wilkie, Tuck (O'Brien 79), Dillon (Vaughan 90+3), Morgan, Bennie (Petrie 25), Murphy, Sutton

Subs not used: Halliday

Booked: McDowell 56, Petrie 83

Brentford B: Eyestone, Frederick, Arthur, Stephenson, Avenell, Dickov (Headman 87), Brierley (c), Owen, Morgan, Yogane, Hay

Subs not used: Shield, Rose, Grey, Williams

Booked: Fredrick 56, Morgan 56, Dickov 71. Williams 77