Cardiff City U21s 4 Brentford U21s 0: Rose sent off as Bees fall to PDL defeat | OneFootball

Brentford U21s were beaten 4-0 by Cardiff City U21s in the Professional Development League on Tuesday afternoon at Leckwith Stadium.

The young Bees were reduced to ten men early on following a red card for goalkeeper Reggie Rose and, with full-back Maxwell McKnight tasked with filling in between the sticks, the west Londoners conceded two goals in each half as Cardiff secured all three points in Wales.

The young Bluebirds started the quicker of the two sides, and Trey George fashioned his team's first chance as he slipped past Ollie Shield and fired a firm shot which Reggie Rose saved with a right boot.

A mix-up at the back saw Rose lose possession outside his area and, as he tried to recover, he pulled down George. With the referee judging him to be the last man, Rose was shown a red card, reducing the Bees to ten men.

The away side were doing a good job of containing Cardiff following the red card, as right-back McKnight was tasked with donning the goalkeeper's gloves.

There were numerous half-chances for the Welsh side, but McKnight and his defenders were thwarting their advances.

McKnight was called into action, making a great save to deny George as his curled effort was arrowing towards the top corner.

Brentford created an opportunity of their own late in the first period as Conor McManus rose highest from a corner to head just over.

The resilience from the away side was eventually broken though as, on 42 minutes, a cross into the box from Caden Voice found Pearce in the box, who headed into the goal.

The lead was doubled as Cody Twose's shot was heavily deflected by Josh Stephenson, which wrong-footed McKnight and saw the ball end up in the net.

Despite the disadvantage, Brentford came out for the second period with confidence and Ethan Laidlaw almost halved the deficit with a free-kick that just went wide.

Kyrie Pierre was next to go close as he slalomed his way into the box, only to put his eventual shot wide of the goal.

It was a dominant start from the Bees, and a well-worked move saw McManus slide a pass to Michel Boni, whose flicked attempt goalwards went over the bar.

The home side snuffed out any chance of a comeback by adding a third through Mannie Barton, who reacted quickest by heading a loose ball into the net.

Daniel Ola added to the scoreline to make it four, rifling from a tight angle into the roof of the net.

The defeat means that the west Londoners do not close the gap on the top two sides, Sheffield United and Peterborough United.

The Bees are next in action on Sunday 1 February as they take on Bristol City at Wheatsheaf Park.

Cardiff City: Dennis, O'Brien, Voice, Watts (Ola 74), Kingdon, Debono (Keita 83), Davies (Kaba 60), Twose, Pierce (Apter 74), George

Unused subs: Griffiths

Brentford: Rose, McKnight, McManus (Honor 83), Asemokhai (Ogungbemi 13), Stephenson, Grey, Shield, Bentt, Boni (Giscombe 83), Pierre (Trialist A 62), Laidlaw (Bobb-Semple, 83)

Booked: Stephenson 85, Bobb Semple 86

Red card: Rose 4