What I.Saw: Rams Roller Coaster Ride By The Seaside
Wednesday, 9th Apr 2014 13:38 by I.Saw

Blackpool. A roller coaster. We inch towards kickoff. Slowly but surely the anticipation rises. Will Hughes is back in midfield, the players are aware they need to raise their game after the disappointment of the weekend.

We await the thrills.

The whistle, we're off!

Headlong into oblivion we scream as we hit the depths, g-force, goal force, we concede within seconds. David Goodwillie curls a shot, it's over Lee Grant, it's under the bar. A goal.

Our breath is taken away.

Almost before we can recover we hit the highs again and hit them hard. Chris Martin steers Johnny Russell's cross into the net. It's one all and one minute forty seconds on the clock. Blackpool is a Big Dipper ride.

We survive the next dip; both sides are playing exhilarating football, schoolboy stuff, attack, attack, attack. Not that any youngsters could play at this tempo.

We hit the next peak, Craig Bryson feeds Patrick Bamford, he can't miss, he doesn't, two one to the Rams.

Punch drunk The Seasiders are turning green, their defenders especially so as Bryson with a solo run isn't closed down and our Scotsman beats the keeper with a low shot to add a third.

And like all good rides we sit still and await the final coast to the buffers. The rest is all just an anticlimax after the adrenalin rush.

We could talk about the way the Tangerines showed more steel after the break, we could talk about the bookings; we could mention the referee Kevin Wright who had a good game overall despite the odd moment of madness.

We could go off pitch. The sniffer dog outside the turnstiles - there to prevent incendiaries getting into the ground. We could talk about the smoke bomb let off by the Derby idiot’s minutes into the game; we could inquire as to the woofers future.

We could talk about the craziness of selling premier seats, very nice ones too with padding to the base and back and then having a post directly in front of the view.

We could discuss the protest against owner Oysten, that on eighty five minutes saw the fans behind the goal take their “At least Dick Turpin wore a mask” banner and attempt to confront those in charge. It briefly threatened to get ugly but the stewards and police coped admirably whilst the referee kept the game going.

We could. But like any roller coaster ride it's all about the first few ups and downs. And like any good ride you just want to do it again.

Match Stats: Tangerines / Rams

Possession: 44% / 56%

Corners: 7 / 3

Shots (On Target): 10 (3) / 12 (6)

Fouls: 13 / 12

Match Info:

Referee: Kevin Wright

Attendance: 13,435 (inc. 1077 Travelling Rams)

Derby County: Grant (GK); Wisdom, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth; Thorne (Bailey 90'), Bryson, Hughes (Eustace 83'); Bamford (Sammon 77’), Russell, Martin.

Unused Subs:Legzdins (GK), Whitbread, Naylor, O’Brien.

Goals: Martin (3’), Bamford (14’), Bryson (20’)

Blackpool:Gilks (GK), McMahon, Cathcart, MacKenzie, Robinson, Angel (Basham 55'), Perkins, Grandin (Bishop 45’), Dobbie (Barkhuizen 68'), Keogh, Goodwillie.

Unused Subs: Halstead (GK), Osbourne, Halliday, Haroun.

Goals: Goodwillie (1’)