Brentford U21s 3 Coventry City U21s 0: Donovan and Furo on target in Gtech win | OneFootball

Brentford Under-21s made it four Professional Development League wins in a row on Tuesday as they beat Coventry City Under-21s 3-0 at Gtech Community Stadium.

Romelle Donovan and Kaye Furo were on target for Sam Saunders' side, as was captain Josh Stephenson to help the west Londoners secure all three points.

The young Bees dominated proceedings early, controlling possession across the opening 15 minutes of action.

Donovan was lively early and almost had an assist as he whipped a quick ball from deep in Coventry’s box to Stephenson near the goal line, however the latter’s effort sailed over the bar.

On 14 minutes Ethan Laidlaw had a moment of brilliance as he flicked the ball past his defender before racing into the box. He looked to curl his shot into the top right corner, but it was kept out by Coventry goalkeeper Eliot Meredith diving to his left.

Donovan again made his presence felt with a superb cross, this time finding Furo at the back post whose glancing header was saved by Meredith.

The opener came on 25 minutes through captain Stephenson. Streaming into the box he ran onto Laidlaw’s set and made no mistake, whipping the ball into the right side of the net with his left foot.

Despite being camped in their own half much of the opening half the young Sky Blues managed to put the Bees under pressure on 34 minutes as Elliot Betjemann sent a powerful strike at goal from outside the box, but it was tipped over the bar by Brentford goalkeeper Julian Eyestone.

Enjoying a period of momentum the visitors looked to put the west Londoners under pressure again, this time Billy-Ray Cullinane shooting from the right side of the box, however his effort was kept out by Eyestone diving to his right.

As the game neared half-time it was Donovan again causing problems, this time looking to score. After being played through the backline the winger was one-on-one with Meredith but his shot was saved. The rebound fell straight back to Donovan, but his effort flew over the bar.

Down the other end a loose Brentford pass in their own half was pounced on by Conrad Ambursley. He was tracked down well by Joseph Wheeler-Henry but still managed to get a shot off, but it sailed across the face of goal.

Sam Saunders’ side came out firing in the second half and were immediately rewarded through Donovan. Taking a free-kick outside the box on the left side, Donovan looked as if he would cross it into the box, but instead whipped it towards the near post, beating Meredith in goal for Coventry to double Brentford’s lead.

On 65 minutes the Bees had their third, this time through Furo. Laidlaw made a brilliant individual run down the left side and found himself deep in Coventry’s box before crossing to the back post, Furo there to tap it home to make it 3-0.

With the game under control Saunders’ side continued to control possession and despite some late looks on goal from the visitors, saw the game out and kept the clean sheet.

Brentford’s attention now moves to Sheffield Wednesday away from home on Friday afternoon in the PDL.

Brentford U21s: Eyestone, Shield, Stephenson, McManus (Avenell 62), Wheeler-Henry (Picotto 73), Grey (Pierre 73), Donovan, Owen (Mawene 73), Furo, Bentt, Laidlaw (Boni 73)

Coventry City U21s: Meredith, Critchlow-Woyo, Batanwi, Betjemann, Witts (McBridge 67), Davies, Tambe (Stidder 72), Cullinane (Russon 83), Unadike (James 72), Shepherd, Ambursley

Subs not used: Richards

Booked: Batanwi 41

Saunders: There were some really good bits of play

Brentford Under-21s head coach Sam Saunders reflected positively on the Bees 3-0 win over Coventry City at the Gtech.

"Anytime you win 3-0, scoring three goals, clean sheet, you're always pleased. Us being perfectionists there's stuff you want to improve on," he said.

"Some really good bits of play, I felt at time we could've been a little bit more clinical, but when you win 3-0, it's hard to grumble.

"All the boys that came across from the first team, from minute one to minute 94... the attitude and desire of those boys and the whole squad in general was really pleasing to see."