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The Weston Report: Did Orange Tampering Cause 2nd Half Stutter?
Monday, 1st Sep 2014 06:32 by Ryan Weston

What’s that saying about a game of two-halves? A classic example was served up in this one as the Rams once again failed to beat bogey side Ipswich at home.

Rumours that Mick McCarthy sabotaged the half-time oranges remain unconfirmed but the travelling fans were again sent home on their tractors with some reward.

It all started well-enough. Well, brilliantly actually. Unchanged from the last league rout against Fulham, Derby started where they left off against the Cottagers. Our passing was sharp, our movement was good and the atmosphere was, for my money, the best it had been all season.

Unsurprisingly, the first burst came from Christie, his galloping run down the right becoming as regular as sunset. After that came to nought, great play down the other flank saw Forsyth centre. The ball looked to be perfect for Hendrick, but Martin’s faint touch took the ball away from him and away to safety.

Ipswich’s defence looked fragile in the early going and happily, we didn’t find ourselves 2-0 down after five minutes this year! Instead, we made our early dominance count with the opener. A rare visiting attack was snuffed out and starting with Grant, we scored what is now the classic Derby breakaway goal.

Grant rolled to Bryson who played an excellent exchange with Forsyth before bursting forwards and finding Ward. His cross to Russell was cut-out, before a shocking clearance from Hyam spooned straight in the air.

The crowd were then up and down like Katie Price’s underwear as first Martin sprung to power goal wards, only to be denied by Gerken. His save fell to Russell, whose header was cleared off the line. It was third-time lucky though as the ball came back across the area for Martin to slide home, the big man celebrating his new deal in the best possible way.

Now was the time to really sandwich some more goals into Gerken’s net (sorry couldn’t resist!!).

Instead, arguably the critical moment came five minutes later. More good play down the right saw Hendrick released into the box. Cutting onto his left foot past the defender, it was obvious the Irishman considered going down. Instead, he stumbled into and half-past another challenge before hitting the deck.

Immediately, his arm did not move from an upright position and you knew he would be playing no further part. Play did though continue, the referee making the first of a catalogue of errors that would continue through the game. When the ball finally went out, Jeff was stretchered off, a dislocated shoulder disappointingly ruling him out of playing that small team next up.

Hughes replaced him and was immediately throwing himself into the challenge. Eustace and Bryson were controlling the midfield well. Hughes then linked up well with Martin and Christie to burst forward and find Ward, who’s shot on the inside lacked power and was straight at Gerken.

The Tractor’s Boys’ football could well be described as agricultural, with countless long balls aimlessly drifting straight to the back four and Grant. Aside from the odd corner, it was as comfortable a defensive half as you would hope to see.

There was still time for one last chance before half-time, with that man Christie again providing, a low centre that was flicked wide by Ward.

A comfortable half then, one more goal would surely be enough to seal it after the break.

As mentioned, I will be requesting CCTV from the dressing rooms with the half-time footage as I’m certain that there was some foul play. 11 players in white shirts came out for the second half. They looked like Derby, they lined-up like Derby but something had gone astray.

In truth, McCarthy, who still looks as though he has been sleeping rough all week, deserves credit for a half-time switch, which saw Mings, (not Mears as someone behind me said) come on at left-back. From the first whistle of the second-half, it was apparent that the new left-back’s job was to push on and stop Christie from doing the same. The first ten minutes were, as against Fulham, sloppy. And, just as against Fulham, we conceded out of nowhere as a result.

It is written in Football League rules that we have to concede a goal from a set-piece against Ipswich every time we play, and follow the rules we did, after a really poor set-piece that will give McClaren sleepless nights and see-off the rest of his receding locks.

Ward stupidly tried to dribble out of defence following an Ipswich corner, proceeding to shove over his man in a dangerous position. No danger though, as Ipswich took the free-kick and went backwards to the full back. Of course, Mr Ilderton (or Idioton) couldn’t be having this, needlessly having the free-kick retaken. From the hopeful ball in, Grant didn’t know whether to stick or twist and ultimately bust as Berra, possibly taking a ride on Christie’s shoulders, nodded in.

What we expected was a reaction akin to that of the previous game. What we got was ten minutes of absolute panic as Ipswich suddenly started to pass the ball to people in their own team. With everything coming down the left, Mings again got to the byline and cut back to Murphy, whose shot was stopped by the feet of Grant. With our game all over the place, Bishop was next to test our stopper, his biblical twenty-five yarder well turned over.

Our sudden lack of passing ability was alarming. Eustace was having to do all of the dirty work as our distribution from the back out was very poor as The Rams struggled to go back to their preferred possession game. Despite this - we almost found ourselves back in front when Ward found himself the beneficiary of a pocket of space thirty yards out and shifted onto his right, before side-footing an effort that was well saved.

This forward foray though was an all too rare effort. We needed a change and got one, with Best replacing Russell. Despite still not being convinced that Best is a winger, he did admittedly give us another dimension. His first involvements though were to be flagged offside and then sneeze on a defender, which obviously resulted in a free-kick awarded by Idioton.

At the other end, our defending was anything but comfortable as it had been in the first period. From defending positions, Ward was still persisting in trying to beat a man on the edge of his own box, causing me to burst several blood vessels. Buxton played a shocking ball to Keogh who did well to block Murphy’s cross-shot. All Ipswich attacks were coming down the left, with Christie certainly knowing he was in a game.

With the closing minutes approaching, we gambled, throwing on Dawkins for Eustace and playing Best down the middle. Christie then stormed forwards once more, his ball falling for Martin, whose touch and volley screwed wide.

During the final ten - both sides felt like they could nick it. Best was at his in the air, but should have done much better with a free-header from Bryson’s corner.

Finally the old McCarthy tactics were employed, as Ipswich began to kill time. The referee was showing about as much clue as an Iron Maiden fan at a One Direction concert, falling for everything, much to the annoyance of all in attendance.

In the final knockings, Ipswich had their chance, with Bishop breaking down the middle of our defence, played in by Murphy. Any type of decent contact would have condemned us to defeat but thankfully his effort was as threatening as a round of boxing with Audley Harrison.

Into added time and suddenly you felt that we might steal it. First, Dawkins did well to engineer space on the wing to cut back to Martin, only for his effort to pinball off two defenders and away. Then, a flurry of corners but nothing to show as the clown in the black decided that his show was over.

Another Saturday then where we played in fits and starts. The Derby we know and love is there, just playing in instalments instead of for the few ninety. This said, with additions this week, the squad looks as strong as ever in recent memory, providing that these Johnny Russell rumours turn out to be nonsense (please Mr Football God!).

With an international break, we can take stock and hit the training ground. Our engine is stuttering. Let’s hope it fires in the next league game…


Weston’s Player Ratings


Lee Grant — 6: Made two good saves to ensure a point but was indecisive on the goal.

Craig Forsyth — 6: Better distribution but still no-where near his best.

Cyrus Christie — 7: Toughest game since his arrival. Stuck to his task in a difficult second half.

Jake Buxton — 6: Did ok in the most part, a little sloppy in the second half but not alone.

Richard Keogh — 6 A couple of vital interceptions to prevent defeat but again sloppy at times.

Jeff Hendrick — 6:Looked ok before his injury.

Craig Bryson — 6:Buzzed around but still yet to see his best this season.

John Eustace — 7: A couple of real crunching challenges and did his task efficiently. Tired as the game progressed.

Jamie Ward — 6: Looked sharp and threatening again. Far too many risks taken in defensive positions though.

Johnny Russell — 6: Quiet again but worked hard.

Chris Martin — Weston’s Star Man 7: Well taken goal and battled hard. I’ll give him STAR MAN just for signing a new deal!

Subs:

Will Hughes — 6: Looked ok in spells but didn’t really influence the game as much as he would have wanted.

Simon Dawkins — 6: Gave us a spark.

Leon Best — 6: Won his fair share of headers but was frustratingly offside on more than one occasion.


Match Stats — Derby / Ipswich:

Possession: 53% / 47%

Shots On Target: 4 / 5

Shots Off Target: 8 / 5

Corners: 7 / 11

Fouls: 11 / 7


We Said / They Said - Match Reaction:

We Said — Steve McClaren:

I felt it was a game overall we should have won. We probably caused our own problems - after we got the first goal we seemed to stop.

"Jeff was six minutes down and it kind of killed the game in the first half. And we started the second poorly, so it was not a consistent performance throughout the 90 minutes. Jeff has gone off to hospital with a shoulder injury. Hopefully it's not a dislocation but I don't know."

They said — Mick McCarthy:

We started passing the ball to people in blue shirts in the second half. We didn't rush it and kept the ball better in the second half and we got in some good positions."


Match Highlights / Post Match Interviews:




Up Next For The Rams:

Nothingham Florists vs. Derby County

City Ground

1:15pm — 14th September 2014

COYR!!




Photo: Action Images



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