U21 Report: Saints 4-1 Derby

First-half goals from Moses Sesay and Nick Oyekunle put Saints deservedly in control, and Will Merry then made it 3-0 shortly after half-time.

Derby netted from a clever free-kick late on to reduce the advantage, but the hosts then made it 4-1 with two minutes left through Brandon Charles.

It proved hard for either side to gain control of the opening stages of the contest with wet and windy conditions affecting play at St Mary’s.

The first chance of the game saw Oyekunle break through into the box in the 14th minute, but his shot was well blocked at the back by Derby.

Saints only took two further minutes to break the deadlock though. Sesay pushed into space in midfield and advanced to the edge of the Derby area before unleashing a powerful strike that flew into the right corner of the net.

Saints had the best of the first half from that point and looked more confident in playing the ball around in the difficult conditions than their visitors, who had struggled to maintain possession.

Moses Sesay opened the scoring inside 16 minutes. (Photo: Luke Simcock)

Tonda Eckert’s side deserved to go into the halftime interval ahead and doubled their lead shortly before the break.

Striker Oyekunle had been lively up to that point and got himself on the scoresheet when he smartly tucked home a right-footed effort across goal.

Saints knew a fast start to the second half could effectively kill the game and, in the 48th minute, Merry extended their lead when he smashed home from close range after a neat setup from Romeo Akachukwu.

Despite their dominance, Saints still had to be alert at the back to prevent Derby getting on the scoresheet – excellent blocks from both Abdul Okunola and Tommy Dobson-Ventura stopping shots on goal before Dylan Moody safely collected two long-range strikes.

Some superb football then almost saw Saints net a fourth as a one-touch move from back to front saw the ball progressed through midfield and out to the right, with Rory Whittaker’s eventual cross being fired over by substitute Charles.

The Saints defence would have deserved a clean sheet had they seen the latter stages out but Derby did get a goal of their own in the 79th minute thanks to a superb set-piece routine finished off by Adisa Osayande.

Any hope of a comeback from the away side diminished late on though as Saints rounded off their win by scoring a fourth as Charles took the ball around goalkeeper Jack Thompson and rolled home into an empty net.

Saints are next in action on Tuesday 21st October when they travel away to face Aldershot Town in the National League Cup, with kick off at The EBB Stadium set for 7pm.

Saints: Moody, Whittaker (Moore 73'), Merry (Gathercole 61'), Dobson-Ventura, Okunola, Fry, Bragg (c), (Daley 88'), Williams, Sesay, Akachukwu (Charles 61'), Oyekunle.

Subs not used: Jeffries.

Goals: Sesay (16'), Oyekunle (43'), Merry (48'), Charles (88').

Derby: Thompson, Turley, Stokes (Gough 58'), Osayande, Canoville, Wähling, Richards (Wilson 46'), Allen (Tola 46'), Wheeldon, Eames, Oguntolu (Osong 58').

Subs not used: Dzialuk.

Goals: Osayande (79').

Booked: Wheeldon, Gough.