Brentford Women’s B team fall at the last hurdle in the Capital Cup Junior Section final as they were beaten 3-2 by Millwall Community Trust at Bedfont Sports Club on Sunday afternoon.

Kasey Clifford dragged the Bees back into the game before half-time with a long-range strike after two early first-half goals from Millwall only for the away team to double their lead again just after the break. A brilliant strike late on from Chelsey Logan created an entertaining end to the match but Millwall held on to ensure they went home with the cup.

Tommy Ryan-Maynard’s side got off to the worse possible start as they found themselves a goal down inside the first five minutes.

Chloe Brian’s deep cross from the right flank found Melissa Jones who played a pass into the path of captain, Ellie Hinckley who was able to slot the ball past Emily Boycott from close range to put her side in front.

It got worse for the women’s B team as Millwall doubled their lead on eight minutes following a long-range strike from Brian.

The midfielder found herself in space with the ball on the right wing and shot from around 25 yards out with her effort lobbing Boycott who had no chance.

Nia Bowman was having an excellent game for Brentford at right-back despite the Millwall goals and put in a number of big challenges as her side began to grow in the game.

Bowman was solid for Brentford

The Bees began to play some good football and were rewarded with a goal on 33 minutes through Clifford.

The Brentford number 20 latched onto a loose pass from the Millwall defender and struck a perfect first-time shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner, pulling one back for her team.

Charlotte Halpin was causing the opposition back line problems and came close to getting an equaliser moments later but her shot from just inside the box went wide.

The Brentford number 12 had a strong start to the second half and came close again for the Bees just after the break.

Clifford played a great ball through to Halpin but Millwall keeper Wiktoria Gmitrick did well to keep out her shot as her side remained in the lead.

On 57 minutes Millwall were awarded a penalty after the referee deemed Bowman’s challenge on Jones to be a foul.

Boycott would have felt extremely hard done by after the Brentford keeper made a great save to keep Jones’ spot kick out but the forward was there first to tap the rebound into an empty net.

Clifford put in another good performance as captain

Halpin was a real threat for Brentford but the only thing missing was a goal, the midfielder found herself in behind the Millwall defence again but her volley didn’t trouble Gmitrick.

After huge amounts of pressure on the Millwall goal the B team finally got their second of the game on 81 minutes.

Substitute Chelsey Logan struck a powerful shot from just outside the box with the ball flying over the Millwall number one as the winger claimed her second of the season at the perfect time.

The goal helped the Bees come to life as they pinned Millwall back in hopes of finding a leveller and taking the game to penalties.

Clifford may have thought she had done that in the second minute of injury time but her shot from just outside the box went over the bar as the visitors held on to claim the Capital Cup Junior Section trophy.

Despite the result head coach Ryan-Maynard and assistant head coach Charlotte Tanner were left proud of their side.

Talking on the final, Ryan-Maynard said: “We took 10 minutes to grow into the game and we were punished twice but the girls did fantastic to keep going and get themselves back into the game. We fought all the way to the end and I’m really proud of that performance.”

Despite going 2-0 down in the opening 10 minutes Clifford was able to pull one back before half-time giving the Bees the momentum as they went into the break.

Ryan-Maynard went on to explain what his message was at half-time to his players as they looked to find an equaliser.

“The message was clear, when you come back out for the second half make sure you come out firing and to just keep dominating the game,” said Ryan-Maynard.

“There was spells of possession where we done well but we just needed to be more clinical in the final third and needed more conviction in our shots.”

In what was a physical game between the two sides Tanner was pleased with the fight her team showed as they continued to look for a route back into the game.

“There was high studs flying left right and centre but we kept our heads and kept fighting and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” explained Tanner.

“The message we put up on the board before the game was we’re proud of every single one of you to get to a cup final, everyone involved in the B team this season has been absolutely amazing.”