Neil MacFarlane was so pleased with the way his side improved during their Dutch tour following a last minute 2-1 win against Jong AZ. 

Speaking to club media, he said: "We are thrilled for the group, to be able to come across here and have two outstanding games, the other day against [Jong] PSV and today against [Jong] AZ Alkmaar. 

"They are two very technical sides who really test you out of possession, but to a man without the ball we were exceptional today. 

"And then we were even better with the ball than we were against PSV, we have to keep getting better at that all the time, but I have seen improvements through the last few months and it leaves us in a brilliant place to go back to Jersey Road on the back of what has been a brilliant week. 

"Today we had a lot more of the ball than against PSV, we just had to be a little bit more patient to suck them out of their positions to then get through them. 

"We did that at the start of the second half, and our press then also gave us opportunities to take the game away from AZ today. 

"We weren't clinical enough to get the second and then go on and get the third and we conceded the goal from a similar position to the other day. 

"So, I was disappointed for the group, but we learnt from the other day and that is the important thing. 

"We didn't put ourselves under pressure, we went right back on the front foot, scored a goal and we stole it. 

"I also thought out wide free-kicks could have been better against PSV and we had much better quality going into the box today, and that was what led to the opening goal." 

Jong AZ started quickly, and Iman Griffith quickly caught the eye with his trickery and made early inroads as he dribbled into the box before having a shot blocked by Nico Jones. 

The young Bees had the ball in the net in the first half when Alex Gilbert picked out Aaron Pressley with a cross and his header rippled the back of the net, but the referee cut short any celebrations for a foul from the striker as he challenged for the header. 

Brentford continued to trouble their hosts as Michael Olakigbe did well down the side and crossed to Gilbert, and his header was pushed over the top. 

Gilbert was again denied before the break as a fluid counter attack saw Ryan Trevitt and Charlie Farr combine to get the Bees up the pitch, he cut the ball back to the captain and his shot was again saved. 

Despite AZ keeping the ball well, they had consistently struggled to deal with Brentford's aerial threat, and that caused their downfall early in the second period as Val Adedokun looked to find Tristan Crama with a searching ball, but in trying to get their first Vasilios Pavlidis put through his own net. 

Both sides had openings to score, but they were predominantly efforts from range through Gilbert for the Bees and Loek Postma for Jong AZ. 

With five minutes remaining the Dutch side finally found the breakthrough after they worked the ball down the left, sent the ball into the middle and with Jayden Addai arriving at the far post he looked to snatch a late draw. 

But Brentford weren't to be denied, Tony Yogane brought down a young ball and slid through Farr, who darted forwards, shifted the ball onto his left foot and curled it into the corner of the net.