REPORT | WEALDSTONE 2-0 DERBY COUNTY U21s
Wealdstone win their second successive National League Cup game on a cold night at Grosvenor Vale.
Henry Sandat put the Stones ahead with a fine curling finish just five minutes in.
The Stones doubled their lead in the 27th minute when Deon Woodman finished well with an acrobatic finish from a corner.
Matt Taylor made seven changes to the side that were defeated by Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup on Saturday. Jack Wells-Morrison, Jacob Adams, Anthony Georgiou and Kallum Cesay the only players to stay in the starting XI. Academy players Jamie Pottle and
Coming straight out of the blocks, it was a perfect start to the game for the Stones. A threading ball played Wells-Morrison down the left-flank, five minutes in, who floated a perfect pass into Sandat to take that ball onto his right foot and curl into the top corner.
The game settled down after the opening goal, with the visitors going close to levelling the score, 22 minutes in. Joe Ward looked to go direct from a free-kick just outside the area, but his effort curled narrowly wide of the Adams goal.
The next big chance came five minutes later, again from a direct free-kick, this time it was Cruz Allen who tried his luck, but once again curled inches wide of the Stones goal.
But it was Taylor's side that would find the net once again, in the 27th minute, when a fine acrobatic finish from Woodman nestled into the back of the net to double the Stones lead.
Derby came close to pulling one back just before the break when Manni Ilesanmi was slipped through on goal, but a perfectly timed sliding tackle from goal-scorer Woodman blocked the effort before it could travel towards the Stones goal.
With just seconds to go in the half, it looked as though the Stones had put the game to bed when Micah Obiero looked to catch Jack Thompson off his line, but firing narrowly wide from about 40 yards.
The Stones came out of the blocks quickly once again, Obiero looked to curl one from distance, but once again went narrowly wide.
Derby County went close, 51 minutes in, when Johnson Osong weaved into space inside the area, hitting his effort straight at substitute keeper Toby Steward, who was on for his Stones debut.
A perfectly threaded ball found the run of Sandat, in the 63rd minute, who latched onto the ball and looked to dink Thompson, who kept his cool to get a palm to the effort.
Just two minutes later, it was the Stones turn to switch on defensively. Osong looked to have broken the offside trap, and with all the time in the world tried to round Stones keeper, but Steward kept his cool to palm away as the Derby forward looked to round him.
The Stones eventually came away with the win at full-time, making it two wins on the bounce in the National League Cup, with just one game remaining in the group stage.
WEALDSTONE XI: Adams (Steward 45'), Woodman, Dyer, Mason, Thorpe, Georgiou (Trialist 45'), Wells-Morrison (Trialist 45'), Cesay (Phillips 45'), Grant (Sekyere 76'), Obiero, Sandat.