Posh Under 21s run of wins came to an end on Tuesday afternoon as they were beaten by a strong Brentford B team in the capital.
Peterborough United Under 21s were beaten 2-1 by Brentford B on a sunny afternoon in West London with the Bees, who included club record signing Igor Thiago in their line-up, providing a tough test for Ryan Semple's young charges.
In a close game, Brentford took the lead a minute before the break but were cancelled out by a Harley Mills penalty in the second half. Ultimately the Bees regained the lead shortly after and ran out winners.
It was the home side who started the game brightly and they were close to taking the lead when Kyreece Lisbie fired wide on the volley after six minutes. The hosts threatened shortly after as Ethan Brierley found himself in on goal, but his shot narrowly missed the target.
As the first half went on Posh found their feet in the game and were almost level when Lucca Mendonca found himself in an unusually forward position and was played in on goal by David Kamara, but his shot went wide of the post. Just before the half hour mark, Posh raced forward on the counter with the ball falling to Patryk Sykut but he failed to connect properly with the ball and squandered a golden opportunity to take the lead.
Posh were made to rue this as on the stroke of half time, Igor Thiago backheeled the ball into the path of Ryan TREVITT and he fired the ball past Smith to give Brentford the lead at the break.
On the hour mark, Brentford had several chances to extend their lead. Firstly, the ball fell perfectly for Trevitt to score his second of the game, but Justin Osagie brilliantly blocked the shot which was destined for the back of the net. From the resulting corner Bastian Smith was forced into a number of top saves which helped keep Posh in the game.
On 73 minutes, Harley Mills was fouled as he broke into the box and Posh were awarded a penalty. MILLS stepped up and fired the ball past Matthew Cox in the Brentford goal to level the score. This lead didn’t last long however as TREVITT scored his second of the game with a superb free kick which flew into the top corner, leaving Smith with no chance.
Posh pushed hard for an equaliser and went close in stoppage time as a Mills set piece was tipped around the post by Cox. In the remaining minutes Brentford were reduced to ten men but Posh were not able to find an equaliser and the Bees ended victorious.
Lead Professional Development Coach Ryan Semple said: “The performance level out there for large periods of the game was very good. The level of the players the opposition had out today really speaks volumes about how well we have played. Football is a game not played on paper but rather on the pitch and today the performances of our players is something we should be really proud about.”
Posh Under 21s are back in action next Wednesday as they host Sheffield Wednesday back at the idverde Training Ground.
Posh: Smith, Mendonca, Mills, Campbell, Osagie, Rose, Davies (sub Claxton 89min), Young (sub Fox 65min), Kamara, Sykut, Changunda (sub Fitzpatrick 80min). Unused subs: Sakalas, Unwin.