3/1 To Win
Derby County Under-21s ended their 2024/25 season with an emphatic 5-0 home win against Notts County B at Moor Farm Training Centre on Tuesday afternoon.
A Lennon Wheeldon brace in the second half, as well as an own goal and a Riley Moloney penalty, added to Trialist A’s first-half header and meant Keith Briggs’ Under-21s side finished top of The Central League with seven wins and two losses from their nine matches in the competition this season.
The match was also the side's final competitive fixture of the 2024/25 campaign, after they completed their Premier League 2 season with a goalless draw against Southampton last Friday.
The Rams took the lead just three minutes in as Trialist A headed home from an inch-perfect Moloney cross.
Derby pushed for a second, coming closest through Tony Weston. Martyn Waghorn played a cushioned pass down the line to Wheeldon, who picked out Weston on the edge of the box, but he couldn’t divert his effort goalwards.
Wheeldon hit a double in quick succession to put the Rams into a comfortable position in the second half. His first came when a brave header rattled in off the crossbar, and his second a fine first-time finish, when he was played through by a perfectly weighted pass from Trialist B.
An own goal gave Derby a fourth before Moloney fired home from the spot to make it five after he was dragged down in the box.
Second-half substitute Emmanuel Ilesanmi was fouled in the box minutes later, but his penalty was well saved before the end of the game to deny Derby a sixth goal.
Team News
Derby County Under-21s: Evans (GK), Rooney, Moloney, Stepien-Iwumene, Pieters, K Robinson, Trialist A, Trialist B, Waghorn, Weston, Wheeldon.
On The Bench: Rees (GK), Hawkins, D Robinson, Ilesanmi.
Words: Will Stanier
