Brentford B 1 Nottingham Forest U21s 0 | OneFootball

Brentford B secured a nail-biting 1-0 victory against Nottingham Forest Under-21s in the quarter-final of the Premier League Cup on Friday evening.

With chances few and far between, an Iwan Morgan header midway through the first half was enough to book the young Bees' place in the last four of the competition.

Neil MacFarlane returned to the sidelines following his ventures with Scotland during the international break.

The opening five minutes of the game welcomed the first big chance as a fabulous through ball from Conor McManus found Isaac Holland, who squared to Morgan but the striker failed to convert from close range.

Holland was next to go close as he had a snapshot after a pass from Ethan Brierley in the box.

The hosts took the lead on 32 minutes as Morgan powered a header home following a cross from Max Dickov.

Kristian Fletcher went close to levelling the scores as he carried the ball from the halfway line and unleashed a strike which only just went wide.

A massive moment in the game then occurred as on 42 minutes, Holland was fouled by Forest defender Joshua Powell. The left-back was adjudged to have been the last man and was given a straight red card.

Half-time substitute Adam Poliakov had a chance early in the second period as the midfielder's firmly hit effort was held by George Murray-Jones in the Reds' net.

Morgan then had another headed attempt but Murray-Jones made a great save to deny the striker his second goal of the evening.

The 10 men of Forest struggled to fashion an opportunity in the second half as MacFarlane's side managed the game well.

Brentford expertly saw out the remainder of the match to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the PL Cup.

Attention now turns back to the Professional Development League for the west Londoners as they take on Fleetwood Town on Monday 31 March at Wheatsheaf Park.

Brentford: Eyestone, Fredrick (Poliakov 46), McManus (Williams 32), Stephenson, Arthur, Owen, Holland, Brierley, Morgan, Krauhaus, Dickov

Unused subs: Wilcox, Tavaziva, Grey

Nottingham Forest: Murray-Jones, Sinclair, Powell, Abbott, Thompson, Hammond (Evans 86), Nadin (Blake 79), Perkins, Fletcher (Berry 59), McAdam, Ndala

Unused subs: Willows, Hanks

Booked: McAdam 62, Thompson 90+2

Red card: Powell 42

MacFarlane praises "mature" performance

Brentford B head coach Neil MacFarlane reacted to his side's 1-0 victory against Nottingham Forest Under-21s in the Premier League Cup.

"I was thrilled with the performance," said MacFarlane.

"We started the game really fast and were on the front foot. I said to them at half-time that it would still be difficult.

"We were really mature in our performance and it was another brilliant night for us."