Ten-man Derby County Under-18s were defeated 6-1 by Leeds United Under-18s in a difficult afternoon at Moor Farm Training Ground in Under-18 Premier League - North.

It was Leeds who opened the scoring as Max McFadden scored in the 11th minute, but Derby levelled instantly through Owen Eames.

However, the game then got away from Derby, with Marley Wilson scoring three, Josh McDonald getting on the scoresheet and unfortunate own goal from Adisa Osayande meant it ended 6-1.

Leeds took an early lead through McFadden after he caught defender Kelien Robinson in possession and tapped the ball into an empty net, but an immediate response from Danny Maye’s side saw Niall McAndrew play in Eames, who slotted home to level things up.

Leeds retook the lead minutes later, as Coban Bird was deemed to have been tripped in the box, leaving Wilson to fire home from 12 yards.

The away side added a third in the 20th minute as the ball fell kindly to McDonald who made no mistake.

The Rams reacted well to going 3-1 down, but Leeds added a fourth through Wilson again. The Leeds striker went on to complete his hat-trick in the final action of the first half, meaning the Rams went into the break 5-1 down with plenty of work to.

It was an unfortunate start to the second half as, despite starting brightly, Wilson’s effort took a deflection off Osayande and went in past the helpless Joshua Shattell in goal.

Substitute Cruz Allen came close to pulling a goal back, working the space to get a shot off, but his effort was saved comfortably. Eames was sent off just after the hour mark, receiving his second yellow card as the Rams played the remainder of the game with ten players.

Derby battled well with a man disadvantage, but it was a disappointing afternoon in terms of the scoreline in their penultimate league outing of 2023.

Attention now turns to a huge game at Old Trafford, where they face Manchester United Under-18s in the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup on Tuesday 19th December (7pm kick-off).

Derby County Under-18s: Shattell (GK), Gordon, Gill, Tola (Agustien 58), Osayande, Robinson (c), Gough, Eames, Oguntolu (Allen 46), McAndrew, Osong (Simons 58).

Substitutes Not Used: Gordon, Price (GK).

Words: Will Stanier.