Under-21s
Niall McAndrew fired Derby County Under-21s to a 1-0 victory on the road against Brentford B in the Premier League Cup on Monday night.
The fixture was Jake Buxton’s Under-21s’ second Premier League Cup tie of the season, after falling to a 3-2 defeat in a hard-fought clash at home to AFC Bournemouth Under-21s in September.
McAndrew continued his goalscoring form from the recent international break, as he netted for the Republic of Ireland Under-19s in a 2-2 draw with Croatia on Saturday 12th October. The young attacker gave Derby the lead after an hour of play, and they saw out the game to earn a clean sheet and three points against a strong Brentford side.
Both teams came into the clash looking for their first points in Premier League Cup Group I, as the Bees fell to defeat against Chelsea Under-21s in the first round of fixtures.
The Rams came into the fixture looking to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Aldershot Town in the National League Cup on Tuesday 15th October.
Derby were captained by defender Jake Rooney, who is increasing his match sharpness after sustaining a knee injury during the the first team’s pre-season training camp in Spainin July. The 21-year-old made his second appearance in as many games for the Under-21s after starting and playing 62 minutes against Aldershot.
Brentford lined up with a strong side, as Premier League first team regulars Mads Roerslev and Ben Mee featured for the Bees.
The first period saw a battling performance from the Rams with neither side able to open the deadlock.
Both goalkeepers came into action when it counted as Derby’s Josh Shattell denied opportunities for the hosts' attacker Ryan Trevitt in the first half and the Rams' Cruz Allen was thwarted by Matt Cox at the other end of the pitch.
It looked like Derby would take the lead in the first knockings of the second period when Jack Perry won a penalty for the Rams after he was fouled by Kim Ji-Soo in the box. Cox made an excellent stop to deny Harry Hawkins from the spot to keep the scores level.
McAndrew netted the only goal in a tight game, as he slotted home in the 60th minute after some tenacious work saw him win the ball high up the field and give Derby a lead they refused to yield.
The Under-21s will return to action in Premier League 2 on Friday evening with a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion (7:30pm kick-off), while their next Premier League Cup outing will see them host Chelsea on Friday 8th November at Matlock Town’s Proctor Cars Stadium (7pm kick-off).
Derby County Under-21s: Shattell (GK), Perry, Gill, Hawkins, Rooney (c), Robinson, Spencer (Stepien-Iwumene 67), Turley, McAndrew (Ilesanmi 77), Osong (Bardell 46), Allen (Davidson 88).
Unused Substitute: Thompson (GK).
Under-21s Lead Coach Jake Buxton said: “It was a good all-round performance from a very young team against a very experienced Brentford side.
“The most pleasing part of the performance was the clean sheet; we have done a lot of work on the basics of defending, stopping crosses, defending the goal with headers and blocks and we showed a real desire to not concede.
“We’ve had some disappointing scorelines in recent weeks, but this performance was very pleasing and I am pleased for the players.”
Images: Brentford FC
