Derby 4 (White OG 25, Perry 31, Wheeldon 34, McAndrew 37) Wolves 1 (Holman 69)
Wolves under-21s endured a difficult evening as four first half goals wrapped up a comfortable victory for Derby County.
The Rams scored all four of their goals in a quickfire 12-minute period, with Fletcher Holman’s consolation 21 minutes from time coming too little too late.
Following a cagey opening 20 minutes or so, the hosts took the lead on the 25-minute mark when Freddie Turley’s corner was turned into his own net by the unfortunate Alfie White.
The second came just six minutes later when a loose pass from goalkeeper Lewys Benjamin was capitalised on by Jack Perry who made no mistake from close range, despite Benjamin’s best attempts to dive back across his goal.
Perry then turned provider for Derby’s third as he played in Lennon Wheeldon who was calm and collected with his finish, coolly slotting past Benjamin.
And shortly after Benjamin had denied Wheeldon another, Niall McAndrew got in on the act as he was picked out at the back post by Cruz Allen and fired home a volley for number four.
Half-time | Derby 4-0 Wolves
There was a clear improvement in the second half performance from Wolves who, despite being down and out where the scoreline was concerned, managed to conjure up one or two opportunities shortly after the interval.
Holman was set free and after the striker broke the offside trap, he took aim at goal but could only fire over the top.
Benjamin then prevented a fifth with a strong save from McAndrew, before Matty Whittingham flashed one wide at the other end.
Holman then got on the scoresheet for the fourth time this season with 69 minutes on the clock. After a corner kick caused pinball inside the area, Holman reacted quickly to smash the ball home from close range to reduce the deficit to three.
However, that was as good as it got for the Old Gold who had Benjamin to thank on two more occasions for keeping the scoreline at four, as the Rams held on for the three Premier League 2 points.
Full-time | Derby 4-1 Wolves
COMING UP
Wolves under-21s host Everton in their second Premier League 2 game of the week on Friday evening.
NEXT THREE
- 04/10 Everton (H)
- 08/10 Wrexham (A) BSM Trophy
- 21/10 Sunderland (A) PL Cup
TEAMS
Derby | Price, Bardell, Gill, Turley (Hawkins 64), Osayande, Robinson, Perry (Cox 86), Allen, Wheeldon, Stepien-Iwumene, McAndrew (Moloney 82).
Subs not used | Shattell, Spencer.
Wolves | Benjamin, White, Sutherland, Mabete, Voice (Olagunju 78), Ashworth, Esen, Barnett (Angel 59), Holman (Bradbury 78), Whittingham, Edozie (Lopes 59).
Subs not used | Okoduwa.
