Late Derby goal makes the difference at Pride Park...
Stevenage travelled to Pride Park for the first time in the club’s history, looking to pick up a huge result against promotion-hopefuls, Derby County. Over 27,000 supporters were in attendance, with over 1,000 travelling Stevenage supporters, located in one of the corners, singing loud and proud.
The gaffer made three changes from Tuesday’s defeat to Bristol Rovers, as Taye Ashby-Hammond, Luther James-Wildin and Louis Thompson returned to the starting eleven.
The first corner of the game went Stevenage’s way as both sets of supporters seemingly took turns to chant and sing early on. It was Jake Forster-Caskey to send a dangerous ball into the box after six minutes, but the Rams were awarded a foul.
Boro were playing some nice possession-based football around the 13-minute mark as they looked to get a feel for their surroundings on the big pitch. The move resulted in a throw-in high up the pitch, with Carl Piergianni knocking the ball onto Jamie Reid’s head, but his effort fell wide.
The visitors were very much holding their own at Pride Park and continued to find some neat patterns of play in wide areas. Jordan Roberts found the ball on the right-hand corner of the box, but his powerful cross flew over everyone’s head.
Another Jake Forster-Caskey corner looked to cause problems for the Derby County defence after half an hour, as Curtis Nelson nearly knocked the ball into his own net but was saved by a goal-line clearance.
Boro looked destined to open the scoring five minutes later as Jordan Roberts was able to shoot from six yards out, but Joe Wildsmith got a strong hand to it to deny.
It became a real battle towards the end of the first half as both sides looked to find the important advantage. Stevenage were able to walk off the field at half-time very proud of their efforts, despite not finding the back of the net, as they had been the better side for the first forty-five minutes.
No changes were made ahead of the second half for either side as Stevenage got the ball rolling ahead of the second period.
The rain began to pour before the hour mark as Stevenage continued to stay strong defensively. Derby were applying the pressure but were limited to very little chances due to Boro’s determination.
Very little action occurred in either 18-yard area as the gaffer soon made a double substitution with twenty minutes remaining. It was Finley Burns and Aaron Pressley entering the field, replacing Louis Thompson and Kane Hemmings respectively.
A chance came for Stevenage seconds after as a smart free-kick found the feet of Jordan Roberts on the left hand side of the area before his dangerous low cross was deflected out for a corner.
Derby County looked to take the lead with fifteen remaining but were denied by a delightful stop from Taye Ashby-Hammond.
Then, on came a third Boro substitution as Harvey White replaced Jordan Roberts, who had a very positive afternoon.
Ten minutes were left to play as the score-line remained goalless. Stevenage continued to work extremely hard, both in attack and defence, to ensure they got a result out of this game.
As the clock reached ninety, Derby County found a way through as Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s ball across goal was fired home by substitute Louie Sibley. A frustrating moment for Stevenage who had battled hard all afternoon.
Four minutes of added time were held up by the fourth official, but it wasn’t enough for Stevenage to find their equaliser as the referee blew his final whistle.
It was a performance Stevenage could be very proud of overall, but it just wasn’t to be as Sibley’s late winner made the difference.
Attendance: 27,055 including 1,042 away.