Sheffield United U18s 6 Brentford U18s 1 | OneFootball

Brentford Under-18s were knocked out of the Professional Development League Cup by Sheffield United Under-18s on Tuesday following a 6-1 loss.

Following a gritty first half in windy conditions at Sheffield United Football Academy, the sides went into the break even at 0-0. The hosts opened the scoring on 62 minutes, however, and carried that momentum through to reach a semi-final, despite Emeka Peters' second-half goal for the young Bees.

Jon-Paul Pittman made five changes to the side that lost in the league to Ipswich Town Under-18s at the weekend, with goalkeeper Connor Wolfheimer, Freddie Taylor, Trae Payet, Luka Bentt and Peters added to the starting line-up.

The game started scrappy, with neither side able to dominate possession as the wet and windy conditions made life difficult for the players.

On 22 minutes, the hosts had the best chance of the first half, Sam Colechin’s cross was met by Jevan Beattie, whose shot cannoned into the post. Beattie put the ball in the back of the net seconds later, however the offside flag was up.

Chances were hard to come by across the rest of the first half, as both sides battled hard without being able to trouble either defensive line.

Coming out of the break, it was the young Bees who enjoyed a period of momentum as they played with the assistance of a strong breeze.

Adam Poliakov went close to opening the scoring on 55 minutes as he pushed forward down the right side on a Brentford counter attack. He entered the box before firing across the face of goal.

The visitors continued to attack in a strong period of play, with multiple crosses into the box keeping the hosts’ defenders on their toes.

Despite a period of momentum for Brentford, it was the home side who found the opener just after the hour mark through Siem Eyob-Abraha’s header from a Beattie cross.

The young Blades added another two goals within the next three minutes, Archie Christie-Crainie firing home the second and a Brentford own goal making it 3-0.

It was four on 74 minutes as a corner bounced around in the box before being headed to Eyob-Abraha at the back post, who nodded it into the back of the net to complete a brace.

Two minutes later, Beattie finished at the second attempt after his initial effort was parried by Wolfheimer to make it 5-0.

While the result was decided, the young Bees continued to fight and saw some reward for their efforts on 87 minutes. Following a great counter attack, Peters received Trae Payet's cross from the right and took a touch before firing home.

Jaye Long added a sixth for Sheffield United in injury-time as the young Blades secured their spot in the PDL Cup semi-finals.

Sheffield United U18s: Hewitson, Colechin, Tawodzera, Tahir, Hough, Okyere, Christie-Crainie, Reid, Beattie, Long, Eyob-Abraha

Subs: Gordon, Grainger, Kiwomya, Dearden, Makhalira

Brentford U18s: Wolfheimer, Taylor (Ivanov 46), Payet, Golding, Klimas, Honor (Powis 76), Owusu (Giscombe 76), Bentt (Bobb-Semple 70), Poliakov, Halil, Peters

Subs not used: Anderson