U21s hit seven past Derby

Forest U21s were in East Midlands derby action on Friday night, with Derby County the visitors to the Nigel Doughty Academy in Premier League 2 Division 2.

The young Reds started the derby brighter and came close to opening the scoring in the second minute. Ateef Konaté shrugged off a Rams defender before firing inches wide of the Derby net.

Forest continued in the ascendancy and were rewarded for their fast start in the tenth minute. Konate was again at the heart of the attack, dancing through Derby defenders before striking the post. The rebound fell to Josh Powell, who smashed the rebound past Harry Evans.

 Despite the positive start, the lead only lasted six minutes. Ola Ibrahim found himself unmarked at the far post and was able to loop a header past George Shelvey following a whipped delivery from the Derby left.

 The visitors looked to build on their equaliser and were twice denied by the heroics of the Forest back line as the County forwards looked to set their sights on the Forest net.  

However, the Forest defence were not safe for long as Derby took the lead on the half-hour mark. Osazee Aghatise found himself unmarked in the six-yard box and was able to slot a low effort past Shelvey after a drilled delivery from Kwaku Oduroh.

Forest were only behind for a matter of seconds, with Powell doubling his tally for the evening as he again profited from a rebound falling at his feet and slotting into the bottom corner after Alex Gibson Hammond was denied by a defender on the line.  

The young Reds seized the momentum of the game and looked to hammer home the advantage. Goalkeeper Evans did well to keep the scores level, The Rams' number one got down low to tip a Billy Fewster effort around the post.  

Ateef Konaté continued to be the scourge of the Derby defence and on the 35th minute, the Forest number 10 restored his sides' lead. The Forest man drove down the right wing before pirouetting past three Derby defenders and smashing low past the despairing Evans.

Konaté was not finished there. The Frenchman again received the ball deep and proceeded to drive at the Derby defence, winning a free kick right on the stroke of half time. Konaté took it himself and bent a stunning effort over the wall and into the top left corner.

The visitors flew out of the traps as they looked to close the deficit. Sonny Blu Lo-Everton’s corner fell to the feet of goal scorer Ibrahim, but his fierce strike was blocked by a combination of Powell and Zach Abbott to keep The Reds' lead.

Derby continued to press for a goal to get them back into the game again, with captain Connor Dixon coming inches away from finding the top corner.

As The Rams looked to assert their dominance, they left themselves open at the back. A corner was cleared to Konaté, who slipped through Alex Gibson-Hammond and winger was able to jink past a recovering defender, but his effort flew over the crossbar.

Forest extended their lead in the 57th minute. Fewster fizzed a defence splitting pass into the on-rushing Oli Hammond, who found himself one-on-one with Evans. The Forest skipper opened up his body and rolled the ball past the 'keeper to extend the lead to three.

Despite their commanding lead, Forest continued to search for more goals. Konaté received a cut-back from substitute Julian Larsson, but the Frenchman hit his effort over the bar from eight yards out.

Larsson turned from provider to scorer with nine minutes to go. Konaté was again involved, playing a through-ball into the substitute, who chopped inside and then back out before smashing a low effort across the goalkeeper and into the net.

The scoring was completed in the second minute of stoppage time. Larsson doubled his tally for the night in spectacular style as the substitute let fly from 30 yards and smashed his strike into the top right corner.

Forest's win keeps them third in Premier League 2 Division 2, one point off the top of the table, with the team travelling to take on Hull U21s on Monday.

Forest: George Shelvey (GK), Sam Collins (Jack Perkins 63), Josh Powell (Joe Thompson 80), Zach Abbott, Jamie McDonnell, Pharrell Johnson, Oli Hammond, Billy Fewster, Esapa Osong (Julian Larsson 63), Ateef Konate, Alex Gibson- Hammond (Joe Gardner 80)

Substitutes not used: Ryan Hammond (GK)

Derby County: Harry Evans (GK), Kwaku Oduroh, Cian Kelly-Caprani, Jack Bates, Courtney Clarke, Will Grewal-Pollard, Ola Ibrahim, Darren Robinson, Osazee Aghatise, Connor Dixon, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton