Derby County’s Under-21s made it two wins from two in Premier League 2 in 2025 with a late 1-0 victory at Reading on Friday night.
Substitute Tristan Gill scored the only goal of the game in the final ten minutes to hand Jake Buxton’s side all three points on the road.
The win sees Derby move onto 15 points from their 12 outings this term, leapfrogging their opponents in the process, and impressively saw them build on the 2-1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur last week to maintain their strong start to the calendar year.
Derby’s side included four players who have experienced senior football out on loan this term in the form of Riley Moloney (Barwell), Darren Robinson (Hartlepool United), Daniel Cox (Enfield Town) and Lennon Wheeldon (Boston United), while Johnson Osong started in attack fresh from being on the bench for the senior team in the Emirates FA Cup against Leyton Orient on Tuesday.
The contest at Aldershot Town’s The EBB Stadium was one of few clear-cut chances and the scoreline was locked at 0-0 at the interval, with the hosting carving out more of the attempts.
It was a similar pattern in the second half and the match looked to be heading towards a goalless draw until Gill pounced with six minutes of normal time remaining to net his first goal of the season and fire the Rams to victory.
It was announced earlier this week that Gill had signed his first-ever professional contract and he marked the occasion in style with what turned out to be the winner against the Royals.
The Under-21s are next in action on Monday 20th January when they visit local non-league side Long Eaton United in the Derbyshire Senior Cup (7:45pm kick-off), while their next Premier League 2 outing is at home to Blackburn Rovers on Monday 27th January (7pm kick-off).
Derby County Under-21s: Evans (GK), Turley, Moloney (Gill 70), D Robinson, Cox (C), K Robinson, Perry, Allen (Canoville 90), Wheeldon, Osong (Ilesanmi 77), Davidson (McAndrew 46).
Substitutes Not Used: Shattell (GK).