The young Rams got their season off to a flying start as they smashed the young Reds at Moor Farm over the weekend.
Derby County Under-18s started their 2024/25 season with a bang, defeating Liverpool 5-1 at Moor Farm.
Lucas Pitt’s own goal and Owen Eames’ score gave the young Rams a two-goal lead at halftime, and second-half goals from Luke Banks, Justin Oguntolu, and substitute Charles Ebuka sealed the win.
Danny Maye, Rams Under-18 Lead Coach, stated, “Overall, I think it’s a really positive start to the season.” I thought we played poorly for the opening 20 minutes, but the good news is that we finished that time quite well.
“We kept positive in the face of a strong press, generated numerous opportunities, and possibly could have scored more in the end. Clubs have a distinct personality based on how they play, and we knew how they would push.
“They’re excellent on the counter press – similar to their first team – but when you play against Liverpool you know they’ll switch it up during the game which gives the lads different challenges to solve.”
Cruz Allen nearly gave Derby an early lead, but his snap shot bounced off the crossbar before Derby broke through close to halftime. All of the Derby players left an aimless forward ball as they recovered from an offside position, but the Liverpool backline became disorganized, resulting in Pitt scoring an own goal.
Eames made it 2-0 when he collected a wayward pass and shot into an open goal from outside the box. Oguntolu’s penalty was saved well before halftime, and the Rams went up 3-0 when captain Banks tapped in from a yard out. Liverpool cut the gap on the hour mark when Josh Sonny-Lambie curled a superb shot into the far corner.
However, with a few minutes remaining, Derby recovered their three-goal lead through Oguntolu, before Sean Corry identified Ebuka, who took his time and placed the ball into the corner to make it 5-1.
Liverpool coach Marc Bridge-Wilkinson said Liverpoolfc.com: “It was a very difficult scoreline to accept, and it’s not nice to surrender so many goals and lose a game like that. Individual blunders have undoubtedly contributed to at least three of those goals.
Liverpool coach Marc Bridge-Wilkinson said Liverpoolfc.com: “It was a very difficult scoreline to accept, and it’s not nice to surrender so many goals and lose a game like that. Individual blunders have undoubtedly contributed to at least three of those goals.
“Ultimately, goals alter games, so we need to find a method to score more while conceding fewer. Whatever team we field, the task is always to go out and win the game while also implementing the style and type of football we want to play, so scoreline apart, there were certainly positives to take.”
