Colchester United U21s 1 Brentford U21s 2 | OneFootball

Brentford Under-21s took all three points after a hard-fought 2-1 win away at Colchester United on Friday night.

An Isaac Holland penalty and Riley Owen strike from the edge of the box gave the west Londoners a narrow victory against the resilient U's.

Former Bee Kyreece Lisbie netted for the hosts, having joined the Essex outfit on a permanent deal in January.

It was Lisbie who had the first chance of the game after making a darting run through the centre of the pitch and striking at goal.

After an even first 15 minutes, Vonnte Williams was upended in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Holland stepped up and confidently dispatched his penalty to give Brentford the lead.

Lisbie had another chance to get on the scoresheet against his former side but Marley Tavaziva made a strong stop to deny the winger.

Max Dickov was next to go close as he took a fabulous touch to set himself following an Owen pass but the stand-in striker saw his effort saved by Jude Sadler.

Caelan Avenell should have the doubled the visitors' advantage but his header fell agonisingly wide, with Dickov then seeing a powerful drive fly past the post.

Lisbie would make no mistake when given his third chance of the game, pouncing on a loose ball and finishing well as the home side levelled just before half-time.

Tavaziva had to make a good save to deny Hakeem Sandah’s shot early in the second period.

Romelle Donovan had the young Bees’ first meaningful effort of the second half as he stung the gloves of the Colchester keeper with a fierce strike from distance.

The west Londoners went back in front with an hour on the clock. Owen was awarded the time and space on the edge of the box to set himself and find the corner of the net.

Brentford kept pushing for a third and in quick succession, Donovan and Andre Grey went close, with the latter seeing an effort deflect onto the post.

The young Bees saw out the game to secure a third win on the bounce in the Professional Development League, and move back to the summit of the PDL South section table ahead of Charlton Athletic, who had temporarily claimed top spot with a win against Watford earlier in the day.

Brentford U21s will now take a break from league action as they fly abroad to take on Monaco's Under-23s. The game will take place on Monday 11 March and kick-off is scheduled for 12pm local time.

Brentford U21s: Tavaziva, Avenell, Williams, Stephenson, Headman (McManus 71), Owen, Holland, Grey (Wilcox 87), Dickov (Poliakov 87), Krauhaus, Donovan (Bentt 87)

Unused subs: Agyei

Colchester United U21s: Sadler, Akor, Bethmann, Phillips (Kokoshy 84), Abidekun, Harvey (Banjoko 46), Lisbie, Joliffe, Godziemski, Sandah, Bennett (Dysdale 61) (Jakes-Mikay 84)

Unused subs: Sexton

Saunders pleased with brave performance

B team assistant coach Sam Saunders spoke on his team's win and how the side had to battle hard for the result.

Riley Owen's second-half strike secured a third victory in a row.