Derby Men’s 2nd XI 0-2 Bedfordshire Men’s 1st XI: League leaders take all three points on their travels
Words by Louie Barrett.
Derby Men’s 2nd XI are still searching for their first win of the season after they were beaten 2-0 by Bedfordshire Men’s 1st XI.
The home side were looking to right the wrongs of last week’s defeat to Nottingham Trent but came up just short against the league leaders.
It was never going to be an easy one for Derby as their opponents came into the tie having put six past Northampton in their last match.
The game began as a scrappy affair with Derby just edging the play and looking the more dangerous of the two sides. It was the hosts who had a penalty shout in the opening stages after a collision involving Lamin Sanyang but the ref waved away the protests.
It took 20 minutes for the first big chance of the contest. A Derby corner seemed to be well cleared by Bedfordshire, but it fell to Guillaume Preston, who watched his wonderfully timed half-volley crash onto the bar and back into play for the relieved goalkeeper to collect.
With little over half an hour gone, it looked as though the visitors would go in front but after Antoine-James George’s strike took a huge deflection off Kyle Pemberton, Dan Lawlor-Potton made an outstanding save to keep the scores level.
Somehow the first half ended goalless and with both teams playing at 100 miles an hour for most of it, the half-time whistle was certainly welcomed. The second period came with little change to the first as neither side could keep hold of the ball effectively. Bedfordshire, however, began to settle as they went in search of the opener.
They managed to get a few minutes later as a Lewis Burgess long throw in was misjudged by the Derby keeper, allowing Harry Whittington to tap the ball into the back of the net.
The Bedfordshire tails were up, and they went hunting for a second as they looked to kill off the game. Their persistent pressure paid off when Derby failed to clear a long free kick and it fell to the feet of Tarik Dallas who expertly turned and whipped the ball into the top corner.
Derby looked to bolster their attacking threat through the introduction of a couple of attacking substitutions but despite their best efforts, they were unable to break down a very resolute and well organised visiting defence, leaving the game to finish 2-0.
Bedfordshire move top as Derby remain winless after a tough start to life in the Midlands 4A Division.
