Carlisle United's faint hopes of progress in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy were ended last night.

Nottingham Forest Under-21s' victory at Accrington Stanley meant the Blues could not qualify from their group.

United needed Accrington to win by three goals in order to reach the knockout stages in second place in northern group C.

But Forest's young side won 2-1 at the Wham Stadium.

That meant the Premier League club took second place in the group behind Accrington on goal difference.

Both ended the group stage on six points with United missing out in third place on three points, ahead of bottom side Harrogate Town on goal difference.

Carlisle's hopes were dashed by two Forest first-half goals at Accrington.

Jack Thompson and Julian Larsson gave the visitors control in the final group fixture.

Korede Adedoyin pulled one back for John Coleman's League Two side but the result that would have taken Carlisle through never looked likely.

It means a group stage exit for the second campaign running for Paul Simpson's side, who lost to Accrington and Forest U21s before defeating Harrogate in this season's competition.

And their exit costs them the chance of further financial gains from the controversial Trophy, where prize money is on offer from the Premier League's involvement.

Carlisle's last game, the 2-0 win over Harrogate, attracted a club record low home crowd of just 716, with a number of fans continuing to boycott the Trophy over the involvement of top-flight clubs in what was previously a lower-league competition since 2016.

Forest are one of just two Category One academy clubs to make it into the knockout stages from the northern section of the draw, along with Liverpool.

Their fellow Premier League or Championship U21 teams - Newcastle United, Leicester City, Manchester United, Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton - were all knocked out.

In the southern section, Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham, Arsenal and West Ham United's Under-21 sides reached the second round.