Derby Men's 1st v Aston University- A waiting game.

Derby 3-2 Aston University

Derby Asterdale made hard work of beating bottom of the table Aston University, and had to come from behind to stretch their unbeaten home record. Due to an accident on the M1, the game was delayed with Derby players waiting an hour and a half. This led to the game being shortened to 30 minutes each way. Derby started very sluggishly and were clearly effected by the long wait, with passes going a stray and a lack of creativity. Derby slowly started to make their presence known on the break, Dave Green proving a valuable out let, but to many shots and short corners ended up flashing wide, without testing the keeper.

At halftime, Derby Asterdale were told to keep it simple, keep their heads and don't take anything for granted and the goals would come. A well worked short corner finally broke the deadlock, man of the match, Ian Wilson flicking the ball precisely past the keeper. Derby thought this would settle their nerves, but Aston equalised soon after with a lucky deflected short corner. Things got worse for Derby when Aston took the lead;poor marking from Derby left an Aston attacker free and he slotted past the keeper. This seemed to spark Derby into life, players began to fight for the ball. Sam Taylor leading by example,showing grit and determination in midfield (much to the annoyance of some of the Aston players). Possession started to be retained much better, which helped Derby score a contender for goal of the season. Defender Ross Richards collected in his own half, sprayed a delightful ball out wide and gracefully raced into the area (like an injured Matt Hexter!), where he received the ball back and hammered home. Following their equaliser, Derby quickly took the lead. Again taking advantage of an excellent short corner, Ian Wilson dragging into the left corner to leave the defender on the line with no chance. Derby defended well in the final moments of the game to make the result safe.

It may have been more then Derby deserved, but as Alex Ferguson famously said'only the best sides can play poorly and win.'

A week off before a huge game against local rivals Rolls Royce.

MoM- Ian Wilson- for two great finishes from short corners.
DoD- Ginger Rob- for failing to inform Karl about his availability, until he was on his doorstep ready to collecting for the game.

Rob
Ben-Adam-Karl-Ross
Dave-Sam-Ian-Martin
Kyle-Steadman
Sub- Webby