A late goal at Vale Park denied a spirited young Derby County side a point from the opening Checkatrade Trophy group fixture as Port Vale secured a 1-0 victory in Staffordshire.

Nathan Smith’s header with 10 minutes remaining proved to be enough for the Valliants, who were met by a young Rams side who never looked fazed by facing a Sky Bet League 1 side on their own turf.

Alefe Santos and Jamie Hanson both recorded the Rams’ best chances of the contest with the game goalless, but were unable to crown a fantastic experience in their fledgling careers with a hard earned point in their first group game of their Checkatrade Trophy campaign.

Lively from the start in Burslem, both sides were quick out of the blocks and created early chances.

Charles Vernam, the energetic and busy forward, saw an early opportunity blocked for a corner, but shortly after, Martin Paterson should have opened the scoring.

The one-time Burnley man poked a free kick agonisingly wide after beating Henrich Ravas to a teasing set play, whilst the young Slovakian goalkeeper also had to be alert to claim a dangerous cross from Anton Forrester.

Belying the status between the two sides, Derby’s young side more than held their own in the opening 20 minutes and looked bright in possession.

The chances continued to flow. Jamie Hanson attempted an ambitious drive from around 35 yards that Jak Alnwick was fully behind, whilst Ben Purkiss tried his own long range, but to no avail as it flew over the crossbar.

Like Paterson early on, Kiko should have opened the scoring on 25 minutes. From the right, Purkiss delivered a dangerous right wing cross that the Portuguese man could only tamely turn into the arms of Ravas from close range.

The pendulum swung again with Wassall’s side next to cause a threat. Vernam, after cutting inside from the left, saw a shot deflected behind for a corner, whilst Santos, after rounding Alnwick down the right, could only send his shot wide from an acute angle.

That’s how the first half ended in what had largely been a comfortable half for Wassall’s men, but Vale returned for the second 45 minutes with their tails up.

Paterson, for a second time, should have opened the scoring, but spurned another clear opportunity, by heading over Forrester’s cross.

Towards the hour mark, Ravas was forced to deny Paterson after Derby got into a defensive mix-up and with the Rams’ defence sitting further and further back, the Derby ‘keeper got down to deny Paterson again.

After surviving the onslaught, Derby had their best chance to nick a notable victory in normal time after Callum Guy won a free kick in a central position on the edge of the box.

Hanson stepped up, but could only bend his effort over the crossbar as normal service resumed for the rest of the contest in Staffordshire and Vale eventually found a way through the visitors’ stubborn and rigid backline.

The superb Calum Macdonald denied Rigino Cicila after the substitute had brought down a cross in the area and Ravas, instinctively, turned over a Smith header from a corner as the pressure intensified from the hosts.

It was from the resulting set play, however, that saw Bruno Ribeiro’s side made the breakthrough as Smith, the defender, again rose highest to crash a header into the back of the net.

Derby pushed late on for a way back into the contest, but despite the result there is no question that Wassall’s young side produced an admirable display against a seasoned League 1 outfit.

Port Vale: Alnwick, Purkiss, Streete, Smith, Hart (Ferguson, 40), Amoros, Pereira, Kiko, Mbamba (Turner, 81), Forrester (Cicilia, 58), Paterson

Substitutes not used: Macintosch, Haughton, Boot, Gibbons

Derby County: Ravas, Stabana, Cover, Rawson, Wassall (Gordon, 71), Macdonald; Hanson, Guy, Santos (Walker, 86); Babos (Jakobsen, 86), Vernam

Substitutes not used: Barnes, Bogle, Cresswell, Thomas

Attendance: 1,198 (120 Derby supporters)

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