Match Recap: Derby County u23s 2-3 Leeds United u23s

Leeds United u23s came back twice from trailing positions to beat Derby County at Loughbrough University.

The Whites made a few changes from their defeat to Spurs earlier this week as Summerville returned to the starting eleven, while Kris Moore replaced Liam McCarron at left-back. Stuart McKinstry started in midfield while Sam Greenwood moved up front as Gelhardt started on the bench.

Leeds made a slow start in the beginning and Derby capitalised, opening the scoring on eight minutes from a poorly defended set-piece. Summerville got the first head to the cross before a deflected pass arrived at the feet of the Derby winger. He turned toward goal under barely any pressure and fired the ball across goal into the bottom left corner.

The away side responded though as Summerville went on a mazy run, beating a couple before driving down the right channel and driving a low strike across goal and into the bottom left corner to equalise on 18 minutes.

Derby responded quickly themselves, retaking the lead on 23 minutes as they attacked down the left, the cross hit the back of Kenneh and went straight into the path of Dixon in the middle with the goal at his mercy. He prodded the ball in and gave Derby the lead once again.

But Leeds kept fighting and grabbed an equaliser ten minutes later as Jack Jenkins slipped Sam Greenwood through on goal with a great pass, and Greenwood whipped the ball around the keeper and into the net for 2-2.

It was a topsy-turvy second-half, with Derby going through and hitting the post early in the second half. The home side looked dangerous on the counter, but Leeds continued to dominate and got their just reward on 72 minutes when McCarron broke forward on the counter, driving quickly before finding Gelhardt.

He worked his way toward the edge of the box before cutting inside and sending the keeper the wrong way, whipping the ball into the near post to give Leeds their first lead of the game.

Leeds saw out the victory while Derby ended the game with ten-men, finishing the game in role-reversal as The Whites started slowly but ended up dominating the game and could’ve even had a couple more goals.