Sam Roy reporting from Kedleston Road
Derby thirds scored a dramatic last-minute equaliser to clinch a big but possibly undeserved draw, according to midfielder Charlie Jinks.
Home side Derby fought back from two goals down against Bedfordshire firsts, who lie top of the BUCS Midlands League 4B, to finish the match four-all.
Midfielder Jinks was delighted with the result.
He said: “Four-all against top of the league is a big result for us, there was a lot of joy at the end grabbing a last minute equaliser.
“We didn’t really deserve it, we didn’t create a lot of chances but that makes it feel better.”
“This result will hugely boost the team’s confidence, we’ve played them twice already, not got the best results so today does huge things for us.
“Four goals today is big for us, from our forward line and from set pieces, it’s huge for the boys.”
A disappointing first half saw Bedford gain a comfortable two goal advantage over Derby, with a superb free kick nestling in the top right corner from Bedfordshire’s Prato in the 18th minute.
Bedfordshire doubled their lead in the 25th minute with a penalty from Kye Mackinnon to make it 2-0, and throughout the first half Derby struggled to get near the Bedfordshire goal.
Derby started the second half in emphatic fashion, with Malcolm Gichuru launching a free kick into the box that the Bedfordshire keeper could not deal with, making it 2-1 just three minutes into the second half.
The fightback from Derby continued, with Derby’s striker Louis Mitchell heading in in the 62nd minute to make it 2-2.
The jubilation of levelling the scoreline didn’t last however, as Olly Clarke for Bedfordshire scored a stunning strike from well outside the box just five minutes later.
With the score 3-2, time was running out for Derby, and Bedfordshire extended their lead in the 75th minute through a penalty from Mackinnon, his second goal of the game.
Derby did not give up though, with Denzel Musarurwa running through one on one to make it 4-3, and the home team worked hard trying to unlock a stubborn Bedfordshire defence.
It was in the last few minutes where Derby found a way through, as there was joyous celebrations as Thomas Bai scored from a goal line scramble after a corner to level the score to four-all.
Derby scored twice from set pieces, which Jinks agreed was something the manager has had the team work on.
He said: “Yeah, it’s something we’ve been working on, it goes down to our manager in training and the set piece routines we’ve been working on.
“We tried to put their keeper under pressure, we noticed he couldn’t catch the ball much.”
