Brentford B's season ended with two games against Manchester City at the beginning of May. One away at City's giant training complex, the Etihad Campus, and one at the home of The Bees, Griffin Park.
The first game was narrowly won by City, a 4-3 scoreline that could have swung either way after plenty of chances for both sides throughout. Reece Devine volleyed the first home goal in off the crossbar after only nine minutes, then Tyreke Wilson converted a penalty as City headed in 2-0 up at the break.
Marcus Forss got one back with 52 minutes gone, intercepting a weak pass and finishing past Pawel Sokol. A few minutes later, Bradley Clayton netted a penalty for The Bees to make it all square.
Just before the hour mark, City struck twice in quick succession to restore their two-goal advantage in the blink of an eye. An own goal started it, before Devine had scored again to make it 4-2.
Brentford’s third came from Forss again, this time controlling a pass from Nikolaj Kirk and scoring low into the corner of the net. In the final minute of time, Archibald curled a shot from the right wing that looked destined for the top corner until it struck the bar. Hardy had laid the ball back to him only for the Scot to crash one off the woodwork.
Brentford B came from behind twice to end their season with an impressive win over Manchester City Under-23 at Griffin Park a few days later.
The Bees fell behind to an early strike from Ian-Carlo Poveda and the City attacker scored from the spot later on to put his team 2-1 up after Herson Rodrigues Alves had equalised. But there was a stirring fightback from The Bees. Ali Coote levelled and Marcus Forss blasted home the winner late on to ensure The Bees ended the campaign with a victory.
May Results
Manchester City U23 4 Brentford B 3 - Report
Brentford B 3 Manchester City U23 2 - Report
May Goalscorers - Marcus Forss (3), Ali Coote (1), Herson Rodrigues Alves (1), Bradley Clayton (1)
Post-Season
The season ended in early May after Brentford B had played 42 recorded games, excluding behind closed door friendlies, and had several big moments over the season. The graduation of Chris Mepham stands out as the squad's biggest acheivement this term, but there were other milestones.
Jarvis Edobor was rewarded with a new contract at the close of the campaign, a reward for him playing nearly 80 per cent of the season in the back line for Kevin O'Connor and showing tremendous improvement. On the new contract, O'Connor said: "His improvement on the training pitch and during games has shown myself and all the staff here that he is willing to work on all aspects of his game to become an all-round better defender and footballer."
To read the full announcement click here.
Five B Team players came to the end of their deals, and have left the Club. Zain Westbrooke confirmed his move to newly promoted Coventry City last month, while Herson Rodrigues Alves has joined Maidenhead United. Bradley Clayton was another long serving member of the squad to leave this summer, along with Jan Novak and Raphael Assibey-Mensah.
Click here for the full squad update.
Just before the players left for the summer, two of the squad received awards for their work this season. Marcus Forss was awarded the Mary Halder B Team Player of the Year trophy, while Joe Hardy was given the B Team Community Player of the Year for his work with the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust.