Brian Barry-Murphy’s side and the young Bees met to raise money for Heart of West London, an alliance of charities and organisations aiming to use the power of sport and a collective voice to change the game for cardiac health.
The fixture commemorated the life and legacy of former Brentford FC technical director, Robert Rowan, who was instrumental in setting up Brentford B.
Rob sadly passed away in November 2018 due to an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of just 28 with proceeds from the game going to fund ground-breaking sports cardiology research at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity.
And, fittingly, both sides served up a highly entertaining spectacle at the Gtech Stadium in what was an action-packed clash with Brentford fighting back from 2-0 down to seal victory via a 92nd minute header.
Recently crowned Premier League 2 champions City had earlier raced into a 2-0 first half lead only for the hosts to hit back with two late goals at the end of a vibrant first 45 minutes.
It was City who struck first on 19 minutes, Nico O’Reilly executing another superb strike to follow on from some of his spectacular efforts for our Under-18s this season.
Collecting the ball on the edge of the Brentford area with a lovely touch, O’Reilly then despatched a clinical shot into the bottom right corner to fire City ahead.
Four minutes before the break, City had doubled our advantage. Kian Breckin was the architect, embarking on a fine solo run from inside our half.
Brentford sought to clear the danger but the ball fell invitingly to Will Dickson inside the box who tapped the ball home.
However, within two minutes Brentford had narrowed the deficit.
An Alex Gilbert through ball into the City box fell to Ryan Trevitt who, in turn, found Nathan Young-Coombes who tapped home from the six-yard line.
And on the brink of half-time the hosts had drawn level, Michael Olakigbe curling the a fine shot into the right side of the net to make it 2-2.
A feisty second half saw both sides look to create an opening without success before, with the very last play of the game, Brentford dramatically snatched the win.
A 92nd minute free-kick saw Nathan Jones’ initial header tipped onto the bar by City keeper Mikki van Sas.
But Tristan Crama was there to head home the rebound from close range and so clinch the win.
