While Manchester United and Manchester City endured miserable Saturdays, a club run by an Irish management team quietly put together what its head coach called probably its best win of the season.
Keith Andrews’ Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium on 31 October, with Cork goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher keeping a clean sheet and Damien Duff working alongside Andrews on the touchline. The result keeps the Bees sixth in the Premier League, the kind of position that brings European football into the conversation.
How Brentford got the job done
The breakthrough came on the half-hour. Dango Ouattara drove a low cross in from the right and Forest defender Nikola Milenković turned it into his own net, according to the club’s match report. Jensen then rattled the crossbar with a free-kick on 36 minutes.
Forest, managed by Oliver Glasner and sitting in the relegation zone before kick-off, pushed after the break. Kelleher was called into action two minutes after the restart and Brentford had to defend as a unit for long spells. The game was settled in the 76th minute when Igor Thiago, set up by substitute Jaidon Anthony, saw his shot deflect off Milenković and in off the underside of the bar. It was the Brazilian’s second goal in successive matches.
The occasion carried extra meaning: it was Brentford’s 100th Premier League game at their home ground, watched by 17,108 supporters. It also ended a four-match winless run and delivered a first clean sheet since September, Yahoo Sports reported.
Andrews: ‘Probably our best win of the season’
Andrews, the former Ireland midfielder from Dublin, pointed to the circumstances. Brentford had played away at Hull City and Sunderland during a congested week, he said, while Forest had nine days to prepare. He told West London Sport the team had shown different ways of playing and praised the leadership, the collective defending and the impact of his substitutes.
He also had words of support for Thiago, saying he had seen a spark in the striker in recent weeks and had never been worried about him.
It is a notable recovery after midweek. Brentford’s preview build-up had been dominated by an injury to midfielder Fábio Carvalho and Andrews’ warnings about Forest’s quality, and the side had gone four league games without a win.
The Irish connection at the Gtech
Brentford have become a genuine point of interest for Irish supporters. Andrews, in his second season as head coach after guiding the club to ninth place in his first, is joined by Duff, who arrived as his assistant in summer 2026 after a year out of the game following his departure from Shelbourne, the Irish Examiner reported in August. The pair played together for Ireland and briefly worked together on Stephen Kenny’s Ireland coaching staff.
Kelleher, who left Liverpool for Brentford, recorded ten clean sheets in his first season in west London, the fourth-best tally in the league, according to the Irish Examiner. Earlier this season he described Duff as exactly what the squad needed. Ireland defender Nathan Collins was an unused substitute against Forest.
For Ireland, a confident Kelleher playing every week in a top-six side is welcome news heading towards the November international window.
Elsewhere: a tough day for Duffy’s Derby
There was less cheer in the Championship, where Derby County, who recently handed veteran Ireland defender Shane Duffy a short-term deal, were thrashed 4-1 at Millwall. Duffy was an unused substitute, according to the Southwark News report, while Ireland international Sammie Szmodics started for John Eustace’s side. Sky Sports reported that Derby are second from bottom, four points from safety and without a win in nine games.
What happens next
Brentford travel to third-placed Brighton next Sunday, 8 November, a side fresh from a historic first win at Manchester City and boasting the best defensive record in the league. It is a stern test of whether Andrews’ men can hold their place in the European conversation going into the international break.
For Irish fans, it is also one of the more appealing fixtures of the weekend: an Irish manager, an Irish assistant and an Ireland goalkeeper taking on the league’s form side.
Sources
- Brentford FC: Brentford 2 Nottingham Forest 0 match report (31 October 2026)
- West London Sport: Andrews savours Brentford’s ‘best win of the season’ (31 October/1 November 2026)
- Yahoo Sports: Keith Andrews calls Forest victory Brentford’s ‘best win’ of season (1 November 2026)
- Irish Examiner: ‘I just want Damien to be Damien’: Keith Andrews hails Duff’s impact at Brentford (24 August 2026)
- Irish Examiner: Caoimhín Kelleher: Damien Duff exactly what Brentford needed (23 August 2026)
- Sky Sports: Millwall 4-1 Derby County report (31 October 2026)
- Southwark News: Millwall 4-1 Derby County report (31 October 2026)
- Sky Sports: Man City 0-1 Brighton report (31 October 2026)
Featured image: Brentford Gtech Community Stadium by AndyScott, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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