3/1 To Win
Rory Delap couldn’t have been prouder of his team following Derby County’s Under 18s penalty-shootout victory over Manchester United in the third round FA Youth Cup.
In a game full of twists and turns, the Rams grabbed the lead in under five minutes through Connor Dixon, but United forward Tahith Chong quickly levelled things up.
Jayden Bogle restored Derby’s lead from a tight angle after that in the first-half, but the visitors struck early in the second-half through Aidan Barlow to equalise once again.
Ending in a 2-2 draw after full-time and extra time, three penalty saves in a row by Joe Fryatt firmly secured Derby County’s Under-18s a place in the fourth round of the competition.
Speaking to RamsTV, Delap said on the game: “It was emotional. The lads gave everything out there and you couldn’t ask for any more.
“It just didn’t fall for us to finish it off in normal time, but I think some of them are struggling to walk down to take a penalty, so I couldn’t be prouder of them tonight.
“We kept going and I’ve said it before and I will say it again, this team has got character in abundance.”
After losing to Brighton at this stage last season, the Rams produced a performance filled with quality all over the pitch to record a memorable cup victory and progress to the next round of the competition.
Derby got their goals through a sweetly-struck deflected volley from Connor Dixon early on and a lovely free-kick from Jayden Bogle but were twice pegged back by The Red Devils through a clinical run and finish from the dangerous Tahith Chong and a header from winger Aidan Barlow.
However, Joe Fryatt was the hero of the day, coming off the bench to replace Matt French at half-time to eventually save three of United’s four penalties in the shootout. Delap was delighted with Fryatt’s contribution.
“Yeah I’m not sure I’ve seen that before.
“He’s a good keeper and he’s been unfortunate, but to pull three saves off from the first three penalties is magnificent, and it’s something that he’ll remember for a long time.”
“We’ve been saying it, and sometimes it’s hard to believe that everyone’s going to play a part this season.
“Credit to Joe Fryatt; he’s not had a lot of a look in this year but he goes out and saves three penalties, he’s the hero and that’s why we love football.”
Another obstacle that presented itself during the game was the almost relentless downpour of snow, causing difficult playing conditions with the ball and physically due to the coldness.
‘’Even though they were playing a couple of lads were close to hypothermia, we had to change one lads’ shirt as he was so cold he couldn’t stop shivering.” Delap added.
“It was a lot to go through but credit to them, now they can go on and enjoy their Christmases.”
The 41-year old went on to say: “There will be an even bigger party later I think. They have deserved it. We have a little break of a couple of weeks now, with training only a couple of times next week but they have earned their time off.
“This is up there with everything I have done, but with everything the lads have done in this game they deserve the credit.”
Words by Jools Jordan Probert
