Derby County 4 (Collins 43, 55, 62, Weston 80) Wolves 1 (Esen 49)
Wolves under-21s bowed out of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy following defeat to Derby County at Pride Park.
Rams striker James Collins stole the show with a hat-trick, despite substitute Josh Esen levelling early into the second period, before Tony Weston added a fourth late on for Paul Warne’s side.
The home side controlled the early stages of the game and threatened in front of goal on a couple of occasions, although Dan Bentley avoided being tested.
Adebayo Fapetu was first to try his luck as he fired over the crossbar, before the same man rose highest in the box to head a Kane Wilson corner just wide of the mark.
Bentley was called into action for the first time when Louie Sibley’s corner was met in the middle by Sonny Bradley, but the keeper did well to push the header away before Tyrese Fornah’s rebound was well blocked by the Wolves rearguard.
However, the youngsters in Old Gold keep plugging away and were battling well, resulting in a number of forays into their attacking third without quite being able to get an effort off at goal.
And at the other end, the Rams finally broke the resilience of James Collins’ side two minutes before the break. Wilson’s deep free-kick was headed towards goal by Eiran Cashin and there was Collins to poke home from a few yards out.
Half-time | Derby 1-0 Wolves
Esen replaced Enso Gonzalez at the break and the winger made an immediate impact by levelling the score on 49 minutes. Wolves broke well as Ty Barnett released Owen Farmer down the left before the forward attacked on the outside and delivered a teasing ball to no avail. However, Harry Birtwistle kept the ball alive and his cross was cleared only as far as Mason Rees who headed back into the danger zone where Esen was able to shoot under Josh Vickers and into the net with the help of Cashin’s attempted clearance which deflected the ball in.
Unfortunately for Collins’ side, they were level for just six minutes as Derby regained the lead when Wilson crossed from the right and Collins was able to head home past Bentley from inside the area under little pressure.
And Collins completed his hat-trick shortly after the half hour mark as Derby gave themselves a two-goal cushion, but it was from Wolves own undoing. Substitute Weston was on hand to intercept a loose Justin Hubner pass before teeing up Collins who curled his effort into the far corner and past Bentley.
Bentley did well to prevent a fourth as Wilson ghosted in to meet a cross into the area, but found the goalkeeper in the way who stood firm to bat the ball away.
After setting up the third, Weston got his own name on the scoresheet as Derby made it four with 10 to play. The midfielder received the ball in space inside the penalty area and took a strong first touch before finishing into the bottom corner with a smartly poked effort.
Full-time | Derby 4-1 Wolves
COMING UP
Wolves under-21s host Charlton Athletic in the Premier League Cup on Sunday afternoon – entrance for spectators at Aggborough is free.
NEXT FIVE
- 12/11 Charlton Athletic (H) PL Cup
- 24/11 Sparta Prague (H) International Cup
- 29/11 OGC Nice (H) International Cup
- 04/12 Leicester City (A)
- 11/12 Norwich City (H) PL Cup
TEAMS
Derby | Vickers, Wilson, Bradley (Osayande 73), Cashin (Cox 67), Collins (Wheeldon 73), Sibley, Elder, Fornah, Robinson, Brown (Weston 46), Fapetu (Allen 79).
Subs not used | Loach, Hawkins.
Wolves | Bentley, Birtwistle, Kandola, Hubner, Keto-Diyawa, Rees, Whittingham (Harper 80), Gonzalez (Esen 46), Barnett, Farmer (Lopes 81), Chiwome (Kaleta 70)
Subs not used | Young, Ojinnaka, E. McLeod.
