Brentford U17 4 Bolton Wanderers U17 0: Nwosu brace as young Bees lift PDL Shield | OneFootball

Brentford Under-17s lifted the Under-17 Professional Development League Shield this evening as they cruised to a 4-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers Under-17s at Wheatsheaf Park.

It was a dominant first-half display which saw Jai Nwosu score a brace and Josh Oladapo-Gamu get on the scoresheet, before Jai Bansoodeb scored the pick of the bunch in the second half to wrap up the final win.

Bolton had the first chance of the evening when wing-back Alfie Healy arrived late at the back stick to draw a good save from Layton Nicholls with bodies in his line of sight.

On nine minutes the young Bees had their first sight of goal. Coran Madden weaved his way into the box after superb distribution from Nicholls and powerful hold up play from Nwosu. The winger looked to have been brought down as he went to strike the ball but the referee waved away the red and white appeals.

As the ball was recycled, Reuben Lawal whipped in an excellent delivery which Nwosu glanced goalbound on the stretch but James Shillingham held on well in the Bolton net.

The west Londoners began to turn the screw; on 11 minutes they were only denied by a brilliant goal line clearance after Dylan Danso's header across goal was flicked on by Jovan Kasujja, but Joe Lamb instinctively lifted the ball away as it looked destined to hit the back of the net.

Then, on 19 minutes, they broke the deadlock. Madden drove down the left wing and crossed perfectly to Nwosu who tapped home from inside the six-yard box to give the young Bees the lead.

Bolton went down the other end and had a great chance to level almost immediately but Dan Ogboru couldn't sort his feet out and didn't challenge Nicholls from close range. Nwosu then hit the angle of post and crossbar with a header seconds later as the game really opened up.

Nwosu had another chance on 25 minutes after he was slid into the box following clever combination play between Bansoodeb and Madden, but the striker pulled the ball just wide of the post with his left-footed strike.

The west Londoners did double their lead on the half hour mark when centre-back Oladapo-Gamu found space in the crowd from Bansoodeb's dangerous in-swinging corner to nod home into the empty net and make it 2-0.

Five minutes later, Nicholls made a huge save to keep the two-goal lead in tact, smothering Oliver Best's volleyed effort from close range.

That was an important moment in the game, as minutes later Nwosu got his second of the day and Brentford had a third. Latching on to a weak back pass, Nwosu was ice-cool to round the keeper and tuck home past two sliding Bolton defenders to put the young Bees in cruise control at the break.

Bolton came out better in the second period and had a chance on 55 minutes when substitute Sonny Coyne flashed a ball across goal to the back post which somehow evaded two Bolton attackers.

It was Brentford who scored next though with the best goal of the game on 57 minutes. Nwosu picked the ball up on the right and floated a superb pass into the box, where Bansoodeb lobbed the onrushing keeper expertly with his first time volley.

On 65 minutes, the young Trotters hit the post following a scramble in the box, before Nicholls was able to save the second effort.

Denver Clement then came close to finding the top corner from 30 yards for the visitor, but the strike whistled just past the post.

Bansoodeb was brilliant all evening, and floated past three defenders with 15 to play, forcing Lamb to turn the ball just wide of his own goal. From the resulting corner, skipper Chris Cohalan lifted his effort just over as he improvised to twist and connect with the ball.

Dylan Mason came off the bench and was played through on goal in stoppage time by Yerime Ouattara, but was denied by a strong hand from Shillingham as he looked to strike across the Bolton keeper.

In the end, it was a thoroughly deserved victory for the young Bees who lifted the PDL Shield having scored four excellent goals and matched their attacking prowess with a determined defensive showing.

Brentford: Nicholls, Fanoiki, Lawal, Oladapo-Gamu (Biggs 75), Danso, Cohalan, Kasujja (Mason 75), Hanson (Serme 75), Nwosu, Bansoodeb, Madden (Y. Ouattara 57)

Subs: Lyon

Booked: Fanoiki 31, Danso 70, Nwosu 90+2

Bolton: Shillingham, Kendrick (Doyle 72), Healy, Quirk, Lamb, Baucutt (Coyne 46), Best, Hopkinson, Ogburu (Baxter 60), Clement, Fakhy (Zuill 79)

Booked: Clement 81

Kieran Driscoll on lifting U17 PDL Shield

Kieran Driscoll said he was proud of his side's professionalism as the young Bees beat Bolton 4-0 to lift the Under-17 Professional Development League Shield.

"I thought we started the game really brightly. It's been a good competition for us, we've had some really good performances and tonight was a great way to cap it off," he said.

"We spoke at half-time about even though we'd gone in a couple of goals ahead we knew it was going to be a different game. We could see there was going to be a reaction, but the boys put in a really professional performance to see the win too.

"The lads were really level-headed and they settled any nerves really quickly. It's great for the lads to have the opportunity to play in a final. Hopefully they'll keep that moment with them for a long time."