'Proud' Chorley knock Derby's kids out of FA Cup 

Chorley's Connor Hall (centre) celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game. Picture: Martin Rickett

FA Cup: Chorley 2 Derby County 0 

Non-League Chorley claimed an unlikely place in the FA Cup fourth round as they proved too strong for a youthful Derby side in an extraordinary tie.

Connor Hall and Mike Calveley were the men on target as the National League North side claimed a 2-0 victory in what was theoretically an upset on a freezing afternoon in Lancashire.

Yet with the Championship visitors decimated by a Covid-19 outbreak at their club, the four division gap between the sides was wiped out, handing the initiative to the part-timers.

Derby, with interim manager Wayne Rooney and their entire first-team squad isolating, were forced to field a team made up from their youth sides in order to fulfil the fixture.

With an average age of just 19 and not a single game of first-team experience amongst them, it was an uphill struggle.

That the game went ahead was remarkable in itself. Quite apart from the coronavirus issue, sub-zero temperatures in Chorley over the past week had forced the sixth-tier side to rent covers to try to prevent their surface from freezing. Their groundsman even camped at the ground in a tent to try to keep the pitch heated overnight.

His efforts proved worthwhile as the Magpies seized the opportunity to make history for their club and took the game to a team they ordinarily might not have been able to compete with.

Chorley manager Jamie Vermiglio praised his players, telling BT Sport: “(It is a) very proud moment for us. Credit to them, I’m sure they deserve a lot of credit for the performance.

Spectators watch the game from a nearby climbing frame. Picture: Martin Rickett

“There’s 17- and 18-year-old lads who stood up to a test for the first 20 minutes and it was going to be difficult, we got a goal at a good time and then in the second half we got a goal and it just relieved a little bit of pressure.

“But credit to our boys, they’ve been on a journey and we said it before the game, the journey can continue today and it has done.”

The winners' approach may have been direct but it repeatedly troubled the visitors and paid off as they grabbed the lead after 10 minutes.

The goal came from a corner taken by Willem Tomlinson, with his deep cross leading to a series of headers in the Derby box. The visitors struggled to clear and former Bolton striker Hall got the final touch from close range.

Derby barely got a foothold in the game and former Port Vale midfielder Calveley made victory certain six minutes from time when he volleyed in from close range.