Brentford U17s lost 4-2 to Leyton Orient U17s in the Arsenal Academy Cup final, finishing the match with 10 players. Jai Nwosu and Jovan Kasujja scored for Brentford, but a red card and three second-half goals from Orient sealed the Bees' defeat.
Key points
Brentford U17s lost 4-2 to Leyton Orient U17s
Match held at Wheatsheaf Park
Brentford finished with 10 players
Jai Nwosu and Jovan Kasujja scored for Brentford
Leyton Orient scored three second-half goals
Brentford U17sLeyton Orient U17sArsenal Academy CupJai Nwosu
Brentford U17s 2 Leyton Orient U17s 4: 10-man Bees lose Arsenal Academy Cup final
Brentford U17s 2 Leyton Orient U17s 4: 10-man Bees lose Arsenal Academy Cup final
Brentford Under-17s fell to defeat in the Arsenal Academy Cup final, losing 4-2 to Leyton Orient Under-17s at Wheatsheaf Park.
Jai Nwosu and Jovan Kasujja scored quick-fire goals before Christavie Botendo pulled one back, with the Bees ending the first-half with 10 men as Jai Bansoodeb was shown a straight red. Orient then scored three second-half goals to turn the game on its head and claim the trophy.
Brentford captain Nate Ogungbemi had a sight of goal in 40 seconds, breaking out after a perfectly weighted pass from Josh Oladapo-Gamu. The left-back opened his body to beat his man then drove half the length of the pitch with the ball before skewing his strike wide with his weaker right foot.
On 11 minutes, Nwosu and Bansoodeb linked up to create a big chance for the latter. Bansoodeb pirouetted on the ball in midfield to feed Nwosu who drove into the box before returning a pass to the midfielder who looked to caress the ball into the bottom right corner but put it just wide.
Bansoodeb then showed real strength to leave Ronald Idowu-Johnson on the floor before reversing a pass into Nwosu, who was thwarted well by Noah Walters as he tried to round the Orient keeper.
Three minutes later and they came the closest yet to opening the scoring when Micaiah Fanoiki burst forward from right-back and fed Nwosu in. The striker took a good first touch and rattled the near post with his left-footed effort.
Q&A
What was the final score of the Arsenal Academy Cup final between Brentford U17s and Leyton Orient U17s?
The final score was Brentford U17s 2, Leyton Orient U17s 4.
Why did Brentford U17s finish the match with 10 players?
Brentford U17s finished the match with 10 players because Jai Bansoodeb received a straight red card.
Who scored the goals for Brentford U17s in the Arsenal Academy Cup final?
Jai Nwosu and Jovan Kasujja scored the goals for Brentford U17s in the final.
How did Leyton Orient U17s turn the game around in the second half?
Leyton Orient U17s scored three goals in the second half to turn the game around and secure their victory.
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On 21 minutes, the Bees' pressure told. Coran Madden beat two players on the left before squaring to Nwosu who adjusted his body well to convert from close range.
The west Londoners had a second two minutes later when Nwosu turned provider, flashing a ball across goal where Kasujja met it at the back post to tap home.
The young O's responded quickly however, and pulled one back on 27 minutes when Brentford failed to deal with a corner and Idowu-Johnson's header fell to Botendo to fire past Layton Nicholls from inside the six-yard box.
Madden had a chance to restore the two-goal lead with 10 minutes to play in the first period after magical footwork from Bansoodeb on the right. The Northern Irish winger was on the stretch as he connected with the cross and could only hit the side netting.
Nicholls had to make a huge save minutes later as a long throw floated into the box and over the heads of the watching Bees defence and Quin Phillips struck a half-volley towards goal.
A high-octane first half was ended with a sending off for Brentford as Bansoodeb lunged into a tackle late and was shown a straight red card on 39 minutes, forcing the young Bees to hold out to the break with a slender 2-1 lead.
It was a difficult start to the second period for the 10-man west Londoners, who conceded five minutes after the restart when Botendo got his second of the game, firing through the bodies inside the box to level the tie.
The visitors then took the lead on 58 minutes when Joel Mensah closed down Dylan Danso's pass and went through one-on-one, before lifting the ball over Nicholls cleverly to flip the game on it's head.
After that, the Bees were better and Kasujja had a good effort blocked by Walters after he was fed by Ogungbemi down the left wing.
Nicholls had to bail out Danso on 70 minutes when the centre-half was pounced on driving out from the back. The Brentford keeper did superbly to make himself big and save with a strong right arm as Solomon Gbadebo had almost too much time to think about his strike.
Madden had another effort with 15 minutes to play, stinging the hands of Walters with a low drive, before substitute Oli Theobald had a snapshot fly the wrong side of the post for the young Bees.
Kayden Scannell should have wrapped the game up for Orient on 82 minutes, bearing down on goal with 30 yards of free space, but he fired into the side netting. Alper Sahan also missed a golden opportunity for the visitors, giving Brentford a chance to find a way back into the final.
The west Londoners did create opportunities; Andrew Noni almost scored with his first touch off the bench heading just wide at the back post and Ogungbemi had an improvised chance go desperately close in stoppage time.
But, it wasn't to be - Scannell scored a fourth in the second minute of added time as Brentford committed players forward and the young O's went on to lift the Arsenal Academy Cup.
The Bees will look to bounce back with the Under-18s final Professional Development League game of the season as they travel to Hull City on Saturday 2 May (11am kick-off BST) as they attempt to make the play-offs.
