A third game and a third different venue, but for a third successive game Derby County’s Under 23s and Sunderland Under 23s could not be separated as they battled out a 0-0 draw at St George’s Park.
The week previous saw the Rams held to a 2-2 draw by the Black Cats in an entertaining meeting at Pride Park Stadium, but under a thick cloud of fog in Staffordshire, very little separated the two sides.Jonathan Mitchell pulled off three fine saves to deny Andrew Nelson twice and Rees Greenwood once, whilst it was a story of nearly moments for Darren Wassall’s side, especially in a second half where they, largely, had their visitors penned inside their own half.
The lively Mason Bennett, leading the line, had the best of the moments, but he could not find a way through.
Even before kick-off at the England national team base, a thick, dense, cloud of fog set in, making it difficult to view the full length of the pitch from the sidelines.
It didn’t appear to hamper the players too much, however, as both sides registered quick chances – Alex Babos with the first for the Rams, before Mitchell made a comfortable save to deny Greenwood at the other end.
The 22-year-old Derby ‘keeper was needed to deny Nelson moments later, as he got two firm hands to the forward’s shot just left of centre, whilst Elliot Embleton fired over after a clever exchange of passes with Josh Maja.
Sunderland had started the better, but soon after that the chances dried up with Bennett’s deflected strike, after showing great poise, balance and strength, the closest either came to finding a goal before the interval.
With the fog thicker in the second half, nothing continued to separate the Rams and the Black Cats at St George’s Park, although the former enjoyed more control of possession over the second 45 minutes.
Alex Cover, deployed at right back, screwed an effort wide after weaving his way in from the touchline, but Mitchell had to be alert on the hour mark to deny Greenwood after a loose ball broke out to him on the edge of the area.
Notably, with 18 minutes remaining, Wassall introduced Under 16 midfielder Max Bird into the fray and he delivered a calming, mature and composed display in the middle of the park on his Under 23s debut.
There was one final chance in this game as Sunderland worked themselves back on top and enjoyed a strong end, but they were thwarted once more by Mitchell, who made another standout instinctive save to deny Nelson as the two teams shared the spoils for the third and final time this campaign.
Derby County U23s: Mitchell, Cover, Lelan, Bainbridge, Macdonald; Elsnik, Gordon, Babos (Davidson-Miller, 78); Donohue, Santos (Bird, 72), Bennett
Substitutes not used: Bogle, Ravas, Bateman
Sunderland U23s: Stryjrk, Josh Robson, Tommy Robson (Hume, 49), Beadling, Ledger, Brady, Embleton (Lawson, 70), Ethan Robson, Nelson, Maja (Molyneux, 87), Greenwood
Substitutes not used: Talbot, Wright
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