Whilst Wanderers first team were in action at Ewood Park, the next generation of talent were securing their passage into the sixth round of the FA Youth Cup with a 1-0 victory away at Nottingham Forest.

A Maison McGeechan strike was enough to seal a glamour tie against either Chelsea or Liverpool in the quarter-final stage of the competition.

The only goal of the contest came shortly after half-time when McGeechan neatly fired past Forest goalkeeper Karl Darlow following an inch perfect slide-rule pass from the once again impressive Aaron Mooy.

Following the impressive 4 - 0 victory over Hull City in the previous round, Peter Farrell's young Wanderers earned a trip to The City Ground for the fifth Round tie.

The visitors made a bright start to the game and could have taken the lead from as early as the third minute, when a crossfield ball over the top of the Forest centre-backs found an onrushing Michael O'Halloran, but unfortunately he could not replicate his delightful lob in the previous round, tamely shooting into the arms of Karl Darlow in the home net.

Eleven minutes later and Forest had their first sight of goal. A corner was swung in from the left-hand side towards the back post, which was met by Nialle Rodney, but fortunately for Bolton, he hit the shot into the ground and the ball bounced over Tom Brocklehurst's crossbar.

The Bolton goalkeeper was called into action for the first time in the 22^nd minute, when Grant Spencer gave the ball away in midfield and possession was picked up by Forest striker Tim Hopkinson, and with space ahead of him carried the ball before unleashing a powerful shot towards goal, which produced a smart save to Tom's left.

The game was beginning to open up with Aaron Mooy dictating midfield with his intelligent link-up play to the benefit of the Wanderers wide players. And this nearly gave the Whites the lead when a beautifully weighted pass found Matt Carlisle, whose shot-come-cross eventually found the feet of Maison McGeechan, however his goal-bound effort was blocked by the Forest centre-half.

Forest began to get themselves into the game due to the solid hold-up play, pace and the trickery of Nialle Rodney, who was beginning to impose himself on the game.

Forest almost took the lead on the stroke of half-time when a lofted corner into the heart of the Wanderers six-yard box was dropped by Brocklehurst. The ball slipped through his hands and with the goal at his mercy, Tim Hopkinson unbelievably put his effort wide of the right-hand post.

Shortly after the restart, the move of the match produced McGeechan's game-winning finish.

The ball was knocked into Danny Ward, who showed his strength and determination to outmuscle Sean McCashin in the heart of the Forest defence, where he then neatly fed a pass to Aaron Mooy. With a hole in the Forest defence, Mooy sent a great pass through to the onrushing McGeechan, who from 16 yards fired the ball past Darlow into the bottom left corner.

Two minutes later and Wanderers hard work was nearly instantly undone, but for a brilliant save from Brocklehurst. The ball was crossed in from the right and met with a strong header by Matt Sykes which seemed destined for the back of the net, until a leaping Brocklehurst palmed the ball around his left hand post. It was rightly met with applause from the home fans.

The game was beginning to open up and man-of-the-match, Aaron Mooy was dropping deeper for the ball supplying the Bolton ammunition. It was his exquisite pass inside the right full-back to Michael O'Halloran that nearly doubled the Wanderers advantage. O'Halloran used his pace to break free into the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot across the keeper which had him beaten, but not the right hand post.

Forest by no means let their heads drop during a dominant spell by the Wanderers and nearly drew level on the hour mark. A cross was headed to the edge of the area and Max Wright fired a ferocious half volley against the underside of the Wanderers goal. There were claims from the home fans that the ball had crossed the line, but Paul Davison made the correct decision to let play continue.

Forest began to throw bodies forward in search of the equaliser and attempted to get the lively Ranger on the ball as much as possible. He came close twice in the space of ten minutes, dragging shots wide of the left hand post.

With the clock running down, Forest surged forward in the 90th minute hoping to snatch an equaliser at the death and take the game to extra-time. The ball broke to Tim Hokinson, who skipped passed Rhys Bennett, and fired a low shot to the left, but Tom Brocklehurst was there again to cap an excellent performance to parry the shot and then reclaim the loose ball at the Forest striker's feet.

The full-time whistle was met with jubilation from the young Wanderers, who face the winner of Liverpool v Chelsea (which takes place on Thursday 5^th February) in the quarter-finals of the competition.