The Brent Under-12 Boys team suffered a narrow defeat in their opening Watkin Cup match, losing 2-1 at Barnet.
Brent started off well with Danny and Kalungi leading the attack and constantly getting behind the Barnet backline. In the opening minute of the game, Kalungi played a through ball from the left hand side into Danny, who managed to slot his shot under the goalkeeper for the first goal of the game.
After this early breakthrough, Brent did well to withstand sustained pressure from Barnet. Goalkeeper Casper made several good saves and the back three of Tyreece, James and Fabian defended solidly. Unfortunately, a goalmouth scramble following a corner saw the ball deflected off a Barnet player, enabling them to equalise in the 22nd minute of the game.
Barnet were determined to take the game to Brent after half time, creating two opportunities within the first few minutes of the second half. Casper was able to make some remarkable saves, with Brent keeping Barnet to taking long range shots due to a compact defence. However, Barnet went ahead in the 43rd minute when an attacking player reacted quickest to a loose ball after a save from Casper, putting the rebound away.
Brent really pushed hard in the last 10 minutes of the game, creating counter-attack after counter-attack. A late opportunity for Dion was ruled out due to a close offside call.
Brent Squad: Casper, Thiago, Tyreece, James Scollan, Fabian, Dion Selmani, Connor, Adam Abdelaziz, Danny, Kalungi