Mason Bennett’s late, late, strike proved to be enough as Derby County’s Under 23s lifted themselves out of the Premier League Division 1 bottom two with a hard earned 2-1 win at Liverpool.

After a first half of very few chances, Emil Riis Jakobsen’s fourth goal in five games gave the Rams the lead on Merseyside.They were pegged back 10 minutes later as Sven Karic, unfortunately, put through his own net from a corner – a goal that signalled the Reds’ strongest spell of the game, in which Kelle Roos made three fine stops to keep Mike Garrity’s side at bay.With time running out, though, Bennett raced on to Alex Babos’ pass, kept his head, and slotted a low shot into the back of the net as Derby secured back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.It was a true footballing battle in Kirkby and that was typified over a first half that contained very few clear-cut openings, but was full of crunching tackles.A strong start to the meeting on Merseyside saw Jakobsen nearly make the most of Corey Whelan’s loose header deep in Liverpool territory, before Timi Max Elsnik, wearing the captain’s armband, forced a corner with a shot from the edge of the area.After that, both goalkeepers were forced into a big save each as very little separated the two sides going into the interval.Roos was called into action first, denying Rhian Brewster with an instinctive stop after the Reds’ forward had been picked out by the hosts’ skipper, Matthew Virtue.After that, and shortly after the half hour mark, the highly-rated Kamil Grabara denied Bennett after he had raced clear down the left side and into the area, meeting him just inside the six-yard just before the 20-year-old forward could pull the trigger.In a much more open second half, though, Derby drew first blood as Jakobsen’s rich vein of form continued.The Rams had been at their defensive best prior to that, but after regaining some control, the ball was played out to the feet of Bennett on the left and he swung in a cross on to the head of Jakobsen, who, in turn, guided his header across goal and into the back of the net, via a nick off the inside of the post.The Reds got back level through a touch of fortune after the hour, as Derby failed to deal with a flat corner from the right and Karic’s attempted clearance went backwards, beating Roos and a defender to nestle into the far corner of the goal.That signalled Liverpool’s strongest spell of the match and the Rams were largely indebted to the outstanding form of Roos, who kept the scoreline level with three key saves.He denied Madger Gomes twice in quick succession – the first coming from range, before he also denied the Spanish midfielder from six-yards out as the Rams’ backline scrambled back into position.After that, a combination of Roos, the Dutch shot stopper, and the post prevented Jake Brimmer, the substitute, from scoring with a free kick on the edge of the area.Derby survived the onslaught and after Wassall made all three of his substitutions, they dug in to notching the game’s all-important third goal, leaving Liverpool next to no time to find an equaliser.Throwing caution to the wind, the hosts were caught short at the back and after Babos rode a challenge, he slipped Bennett in down the left. Leading the line, he kept his cool and placed a low left foot shot beyond Grabara to seal the latest standout result of 2017.With Manchester United losing 2-0 at home to Reading, it meant that Wassall’s side climbed out of the Division 1 relegation zone, with a crunch clash against Leicester City looming in early March.Grabara, Lewis (Johnston, 60), Hart, Phillips, Whelan, Williams, M Gomes, Virtue (C), T Gomes, Brewster, Alves (Brimmer, 46)Kelleher, LewisRoos, Santos, Bateman, Macdonald; Karic (Cover, 78); Bird, Elsnik, Babos; Gordon (Walker, 78), Bennett, Jakobsen (Edwards, 82)Ravas, BogleTweets by @ dcfcofficial