Derby County registered their second victory of the Central Four League campaign, twice coming from behind to beat Mansfield Town Football in the Community by three goals to two.

Played on a bright afternoon at Derby University, the Rams’ had their goalkeeper to thank in a first half which largely belonged to Mansfield.

On eighteen minutes, Mansfield found their groove and should have been ahead through their number nine, however a solid double save from the Rams’ keeper kept the scores level.

Eight minutes later the custodian again denied the Stags’ number nine, but on 32 minutes was finally beaten, as Mansfield’s active front man was fouled inside the area – stepping up to tuck the ball home, despite the Rams’ keeper guessing correctly and getting a glove to the ball.

With four minutes to go before the break, Derby should have pulled level. Number 20 found himself in space on the edge of the area, but was denied by an inch perfect challenge by the visiting number 10, who nipped in just as the Rams’ man was about to pull the trigger.

The Rams’ worked hard and found the leveller on the stroke of half time, with number 4’s in-swinging corner too strong for the visiting keeper, who could only push the ball into his own net as the referee called time on the first half.

After the restart it was Mansfield who regained their lead as their number ten dropped his shoulder and curled the ball into the bottom corner.

The goal proved to be the spark of drama as Derby looked determined to fight back, seeing a few half chances come and go before pegging the Stags back on 65 minutes. Derby’s number 17 squirmed the ball beyond the keeper from a narrow angle after solid work down the left hand side from the Rams’ number 11.

With eight minutes to go, Derby struck again to edge in front for the first time in the game – soft defending from Mansfield saw player of the match Ray fire into the bottom corner from ten yards out.

The Stags had the chance to level up in the final minute as the referee awarded a free-kick in shooting range, but the Rams wall stood firm however to block the shot with the full time whistle following soon after.

Adam Jones, Education Support, heaped praise on the Rams’ goalkeeper for a sterling first half display, saying:

“He was really good first half and certainly kept us in the game, we could have been a couple down at half time, but thanks to him we managed to stay in the game and nick a goal just before half time.

“The players dug in today, stuck to the task – it looked for a while like the game was just going to fizzle out and luckily Ray was in the right place at the right time to put it away. I’m really pleased in the end that we’ve managed to get three points out of it.”