Brentford U18s 1 AFC Wimbledon U18s 0 | OneFootball

Brentford Under-18s' Professional Development League Cup campaign remains alive following a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon Under-18s on Friday night.

A late first-half goal from Josh Djoro gave the young Bees the lead going into half-time at Wheatsheaf Park and despite going down to 10 players late in the game, the side did enough to grind out an important victory.

Wimbledon enjoyed the better of the chances across the opening 10 minutes. Kai Mackenzie took possession on five minutes just outside the box and fired at goal, however it flew over the bar.

Ed Leach was next up on nine minutes, but his left-footed shot from inside the box was straight at Brentford keeper Connor Wolfheimer.

The young Bees’ best early chance came on 11 minutes, Ollie Shield regaining possession and driving forward before shooting just over the bar.

While the hosts were enjoying plenty of possession, it was Wimbledon who were creating the best opportunities. Harry Hedges saw his effort from outside of the box parried away by Wolfheimer.

The first half continued to be an arm wrestle, with Wimbledon proving to be dangerous on the counter attack and testing Wolfheimer on a number of occasions.

Meanwhile the young Bees continued to enjoy the majority of the ball but were unable to piece it together in the final third.

That changed on the brink of half-time, however, as Djoro found the back of the net to break the deadlock. Nedved Owusu fired at goal and saw his shot saved by Wombles keeper Ethan McGrath, however as the ball bobbled out of his hands, Michael McSorley managed to get a foot to it to keep the play alive. The ball fell to Djoro, who made no mistake from close range.

Coming out of the break, it was Wimbledon who had the best early chance to score. Wolfheimer parried the initial effort on target, with the ball dropping to a free Wimbledon player. His shot was cleared off the line by Greg Asemokhai.

One minute later, the young Bees came close to doubling their lead. Adam Poliakov drove forward on the counter attack and sent in a dangerous cross but none of his team-mates could get on the end of his delivery.

Continuing a fast-paced 10-minute period, Wimbledon again tested Wolfheimer with a shot on target, but the Brentford keeper was up to the task and deflected the ball away.

Jake Lawrence went close to equalising for Wimbledon on 78 minutes as he fired at goal from outside of the area, however the ball cannoned off the crossbar before being cleared away.

Poliakov was shown a red card late on, meaning the young Bees would have to see out the game with 10 players.

Wimbledon thought they had found a leveller in stoppage-time after tapping in the rebound after Wolfheimer had saved an initial shot onto the post, but the goal was ruled out for a handball in the build-up to the finish.

Lydia Bedford's side held firm despite their numerical disadvantage to claim all three points.

Brentford U18s: Wolfheimer, Shield, Ivanov (Ouattara 69), Klimas, Asemokhai, Honor, Owusu (Payet 60), Djoro (Powis 46), McSorley, Poliakov, Bobb-Semple (Giscombe 69)

Subs not used: Golding

AFC Wimbledon U18s: McGrath, Moore, Soukou, Kirby, Horan, Goma, Leach, Lawrence, Mackenzie, Hedges, Nkeng

Subs: Nhotshwa, Norris, Fraser, Sealey, Woods

Bedford: Room to improve following PDL Cup win

Brentford Under-18 head coach Lydia Bedford was proud of her side for grinding out a tough win against AFC Wimbledon despite not putting in their best performance of the season.

Bedford said the Friday night fixture was the perfect preparation ahead of the FA Youth Cup third round tie against Norwich City next month.