Derby County Under-21s fell to a 2-0 defeat against Wealdstone in the National League Cup at Grosvenor Vale on Tuesday evening.
The clash against the Stones was the Under-21s' third fixture in the National League Cup competition, which pits senior fifth-tier teams against Under-21 sides from higher in the pyramid.
Jake Buxton’s Under-21s drew 3-3 against Maidenhead United in their last outing in the competition last month, having gone down 3-0 at Aldershot Town in their opening group stage encounter.
Derby first team right-back Joe Ward captained the side and saw an hour of action in the nation’s capital.
Henry Sandat opened the scoring for the home side inside five minutes, taking a touch and hitting a half-volley past Jack Thompson.
Derby reacted well to going behind, but it was the home side that got the next goal. They doubled their advantage on the half-hour mark after Deon Woodman bundled the ball home from a corner.
The Rams looked for a way back into the game and defender Kei Robinson headed the ball back across the six-yard box from a corner, but Wealdstone eventually got it clear.
Derby continued to push to get a goal back as Johnson Osong cut inside from the left-hand side, but his near post effort was saved.
Niall McAndrew came close minutes later, as his first-time effort looked to have caught Jacob Adams off guard in the Wealdstone goal, but his shot crept just wide of the post.
The defeat means the Rams will now be unable to progress beyond the group stages of the National League Cup this term ahead of their final Group A fixture at Woking on Tuesday 7th January (7pm kick-off).
Attention now turns to Premier League Cup action, where Buxton’s side take on Brentford B at the Proctor Cars Stadium on Friday night (7pm kick-off).
Team News
Derby County Under-21s: Thompson (GK), Perry, Gill, D. Robinson, Osayande, K. Robinson, Ward (C) (Spencer 60), Allen (Hawkins 60), Ilesanmi (Oguntolu 77), McAndrew (I. Gordon 77), Osong.
Unused Substitutes: Evans (GK), Banks, Tola.
Post-Match Reaction
After the match, Derby County's Under-21 Lead Coach Jake Buxton said: “We started the game well but Wealdstone were a threat from set plays and we just could not deal with their physicality. This is an area we need to continue to work on for the future.
“We had a lot of the ball but without any real cutting edge. We got into a lot of good areas in the final third but just didn’t make the right pass or lacked quality with our shots or crosses.
“Having said that, there were many positives to take from the game again, and the experience of the competition is good for the group. We need to see better individual performances all around and now we change our focus to playing Brentford B in the Premier League Cup on Friday.”
Words: Will Stanier