Derby County Under-21s fell to a 3-0 defeat against Aldershot Town in the National League Cup at the EBB Stadium on Tuesday night.
Jake Buxton's Under-21s side were late entrants into the new National League Cup competition, as they took the place of Reading's Under-21s last month.
The fixture against the Shots was the Academy side's first in the competition. andJake Buxton’s side are joined by fellow Premier League 2 sides Brighton & Hove Albion, Fulham and Southampton in Group A of the competition alongside National League sides Aldershot, Maidenhead United, Wealdstone and Woking.
The Under-21s lined up with first team experience in their ranks, with Jake Rooney, Tom Barkhuizen and Liam Thompson getting minutes into their legs as they continued their returns from respective injuries and Academy graduate Dajaune Brown led the line from the start.
Goals from Ryan Jones and Aaron Jones saw Aldershot take the lead in the first half. Ryan Jones was on the scoresheet again in the second period to cement the hosts' victory with the Rams’ attacking threat thwarted by a stern Shots defence.
Cruz Allen and Barkhuizen looked to provide the threat for Derby in the opening 45 minutes. Barkhuizen played the Welsh youth international into space on the edge of the area early on, but Allen's strike went just over the bar.
The scoring was opened by Ryan Jones after 17 minutes. Some good work from Oliver Scott on the wing found Jones in space to finish tidily from close range.
Allen found himself in a similar position on the edge of the area again minutes after the goal, but he was unbalanced as he struck the bouncing ball and couldn't trouble the Shots' goalkeeper.
The lead was doubled by Aaron Jones who headed in at the back post after meeting Kai Corbett's cross from the edge of the area after 30 minutes.
Brown out-paced his marker late in the half for Derby and fashioned a shot on goal that was well dealt with by home goalkeeper Jordi Van Stappershoef.
Barkhuizen and Thompson were withdrawn at half-time as they got 45 minutes to replenish their match sharpness after being out of action since the end of August, with Jack Perry and Harry Hawkins replacing the first team duo.
Allen jostled for the ball and played a neat pass to Brown in behind just after the half-time whistle, but the Rams' striker pulled his strike just to the wrong side of the near post.
Ryan Jones claimed his second goal of the game as the Shots won the ball high up the pitch and saw the attacker one-on-one with goalkeeper Harley Price to finish calmly on the hour mark.
Brown came close again in the 78th minute as he broke free on the right flank, but once again Van Stappershoef got down well to the dangerous-looking strike.
Next up for Derby in the National League Cup is a visit to Maidenhead United on Tuesday 5th November (7:30pm kick-off), while they return to action on Monday 21st October with a trip to Brentford in the Premier League Cup (7pm kick-off).
Team News
Derby County Under-21s: Price (GK), Bardell (C), Gill, Rooney (Moloney 62), Osayande (Ebuka 78), Robinson, Barkhuizen (Perry 46), L Thompson (Hawkins 46), Brown, Stephen-Iwumene (Eames 62), Allen.
Unused Substitutes: J Thompson (GK), Spencer.
Post-Match Reaction
Under-21s Lead Coach Jake Buxton said: “There were a lot of positives to take from the experience of playing in the competition. At times we competed both with and without the ball, but in the moments that count we made individual errors for the goals we conceded.
“We were also not ruthless enough when we created good chances in front of goal. The National League Cup competition is an excellent opportunity for both players and coaches, as long as we can see what we need to improve on and can get better from the experience."