Derby County lost on penalties to Mansfield Town after a 1-1 draw in normal time on Tuesday evening.
Lewis Dobbin gave the Rams the lead with a lovely strike in the first-half before a George Maris goal levelled things up on the stroke of half-time.
Neither team could find the breakthrough in the second-half and the game went to penalties with the Rams ultimately falling short in the lottery of the shoot-out.
A miscommunication at the back nearly allowed the hosts to break the deadlock within the first minute. Jordan Bowery found himself through on goal but Scott Loach did brilliantly to get down and get fingertips on the ball to push it out of the striker’s reach.
The early stages were very much end-to-end and it was the Rams who had a golden chance of their own to take the lead soon after. Max Bird, captaining the side in the absence of Curtis Davies, played a lovely ball in to Lewis Dobbin who fired wide from just inside the box.
Haydon Roberts was heavily involved down the left, first providing a lovely cross to Bartosz Cybulski who headed wide before getting that assist to his name soon after.
The left-wing-back, again causing problems, slipped a lovely ball into Dobbin and the Everton loanee cut inside before firing home brilliantly into the bottom right corner.
Mansfield nearly equalised on the stroke of half-time through a wonder-strike from Hiram Boateng. The midfielder picked the ball up 25-yards out and bent one towards the top corner but it smashed the crossbar and rebounded safely away from Loach’s goal.
They did get their equaliser with just seconds of first-half stoppage time remaining, though. A George Maris corner beat everyone and somehow found its way into the back of the Derby County goal.
After what was a shaky end to the first-half, the Rams regained control in the second-half and nearly went ahead twice early on.
A cross from Liam Thompson caught everyone out and nearly found its way into the back of the net but for a superb save from Scott Flinders before young Cybulski struck a lovely effort from around 25-yards which clipped the outside of the post.
Loach, who was excellent in just his second start for the Rams, was forced into a fine save by Lucas Akins – denying the Stags substitute from point-blank range.
Cybulski was lively all evening and nearly won it with just 10 minutes to go. Mendez-Laing did superb down the left to find fellow substitute Osazee Aghatise on the edge of the box, Aghatise then found the big striker who was denied by an on-rushing Flinders.
The hosts were on top in the final stages but it was the Rams that thought they had won it with the last kick of the game. They had the ball in the back of the net following pinball in the Mansfield box but the flag was up early to deny any premature celebrations.
Mansfield: XOOOXOOO
Derby County: XOOXOOOX
X: Miss
O: Goal
Derby County return to Sky Bet League One action at Pride Park on Saturday. Paul Warne will lead his side out for the first time at the home of the Rams when they take on Port Vale (3pm kick-off).
Mansfield Town: Flinders (GK), McLaughlin (57’ Harbottle), Hewitt, Bowery (45’ Hawkins), Maris (63’ Lapslie), Perch (C), Law, Wallace (30’ Clarke), Swan, O'Toole (45’ Akins), Boateng (63’ Gale).
Substitutes not used: Pym.
Derby County: Loach (GK), Forsyth, Cashin (45’ Robinson), Barkhuizen (45’ Mendez-Laing), Bird (C) (45’ Knight), Roberts, Thompson, Dobbin (67’ Oduroh), Sibley (76’ Aghatise), Stearman, Cybulski.
Substitutes not used: Wildsmith (GK), Haigh.
