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 took 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 he joined a starting backline of Benjamin Arthur, Benjamin Fredrick, Josh Stephenson and goalkeeper Reggie Rose.

The clash started evenly, with both sides getting used to the slippery and wet conditions.

It was the hosts who had the best early look on goal inside 10 minutes as Dom Sadi found space in the box and fired just wide.

Harold William then got on the end of a corner but his header fell to the 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, with both sides easing into the match 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 at 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.

Brentford went on the attack next, with Ashley Hay finding Morgan outside the box. He 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, but Ajer was in the right place to make an important 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 goalwards. McKenna was there to deny the Norwegian before Morgan's effort on the rebound was cleared away.

After replacing the injured Hay in stoppage-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 Morgan on the right side of the box. The forward made no mistake to equalise for the visitors.

The momentum continued to run Brentford’s way as they dominated the ball. They again found their rewards as they went 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.

An effort just after the hour mark was superbly saved by Rose at the other end, before the ensuing corner fell off his hands to William at the back post, who tapped it home to level the game at 2-2.

With 30 to play, the game continued at a thrilling pace. Brierley delivered another dangerous free-kick into the box, with the ball bouncing off the pack to Morgan whose shot was blocked.

Olakigbe went 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 the ball.

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

Zain Silcott-Duberry tried his luck as the game edged closer to 80 minutes, however his curling effort was wide of the goal.

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

A minute later, the visitors won the final through Yogane. The winger made a strong move to his right at the edge of the box and fired the ball into the top-right corner.

Neil MacFarlane's side held out through seven minutes of injury-time to secure 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."