Men's under-18s beaten in 11-goal thriller by Derby

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Our men's under-18s were on the wrong end of a 6-5 score-line.

2024-08-28T06:00+01:00

MU18 Brighton v MU18 Arsenal -09APR24 PH 0037

Our men's under-18s played out a thrilling opening group stage game in the Premier League Cup on Tuesday, but conceded a late winner as they were beaten 6-5 by Derby County.

Nehemiah Oriola put Albion in front with a well-taken drive into the bottom right corner from the left of the box, but the Rams made it 1-1 thanks to Owen Eames’s excellent curling effort from the edge of the box.

Inigo Calderon's side restored their advantage after 19 minutes when Oriola looped in a header from an Albion corner, although Derby once again found a quick response through Justin Oguntolu who was first to pounce on a loose ball in the box.

Joe Belmont rounded off a set-piece routine that was initially kept out by Derby goalkeeper Harvey Rees, but it was 3-3 with 30 minutes played thanks to Oguntolu’s second of the game, as he nodded in at the back stick.

Albion then faced an uphill battle as Tyler Silsby was shown a second yellow card and the man advantage showed. The Rams shot into a two-goal lead thanks to Oguntolu, firstly as the striker raced in on goal and slotted in, before he then finished off a flowing move.

Albion responded valiantly though, as Ronnie Gorman finished calmly to make it 5-4, before Oriola made it a hat-trick when he poked in at the back post.

Derby then found themselves down a man as Adisa Osanyande was given his marching orders for a second booking, but it would be the Rams who would snatch the win in the 86th minute as Marley Mintus controlled and fired in.

Under-18s head coach Calderon said, “We conceded six goals and it's quite complicated to win matches when you do that. We started well because we scored in the first minute, but after it was like we were not ready for the game.

“Maybe we thought ‘it's the cup, it's not as important as the league’, but for me, every time you put the shirt on, it has to be the most important game of your life. I think we lacked something like that.

“After the sending off it was difficult. The good lesson I can take is even with one less player and 5-3 down, we had chances to score and to win the game.”