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What I.Saw: Bad Day Out Made Better By 90 Minutes In The Middle
Sunday, 22nd Feb 2015 13:21 by I.Saw

As a football fan in general and Derby County in particular, it used to be a case of a good day out spoilt by the ninety minutes in the middle.

Yesterday was the complete opposite. The beer, Dark Drake as flat as last Tuesdays pancakes, the food plastic, we even changed pubs, it wasn't looking good.

It looked even worse at the iPro when the Owls Forest reject, Lewis McGugan who had been fouled by Will Hughes picked himself up and curled the ball from the edge of the box into the net past a static Lee Grant.

It was the one bit of class in a first half that was slow and cagey, hardly the stuff dreams are made of, although Tom Ince hit the post when perhaps he should have scored and George Thorne, making his long awaited debut as a full DCFC player, drove a powerful shot wide.

We found Sheffield Wednesday hard to break down.

Second half barely underway, a Thorne corner, Jake Buxton, with his shirt almost over his head before the goal, nods the ball in to level the scores.

We press. We get caught on the break. Jeff Hendrick plays a poor pass backward and Will Keane rifles a shot under Grant, beating him at the near post, where, they say, a keeper should never be beaten. Sheffield Wednesday regain the lead.

McClaren goes for it. The ineffectual Simon Dawkins is replaced by Jesse Lingard, Jeff Hendrick, who wasn't at his best looked to be running off as the double substitution was made only for Thorne to be given a rest after getting a good hour under his belt. Craig Bryson takes over.

Eight minutes later, we score again. This time Bryson with the corner, Buxton again with his shirt being pulled is strong enough to produce a carbon copy of his first goal and the scores are level at two all.

It's all or nothing, Lingard has no fear, he just runs and runs at the opposition, he'd be in my starting line-up, having made such a difference in the last two games.

But it's Ince, played in, takes the ball round Kieren Westwood, goes down, the ball runs to Darren Bent who slots the ball home only for the referee to pull the game back for the penalty and show the Owls keeper the red.

In the stands, there appeared to be minimal contact, a bit like Wayne Rooney the other night, but you take the decision.

Bent steps up and just beats replacement Chris Kirkland to give the Rams a lead for the first time all afternoon.

A lead we hold on to, the final score 3-2 on a day when Bournemouth lost and the team we perennially hate beat the Boro. To be grateful to Leeds is a very unusual feeling, cheering the Dirties on in the Crescent earlier was almost unreal. Yet it felt good.

As did the journey home. A bad day out - made better by the ninety minutes in the middle. It's a feeling that gets better each match.


Players I Saw:

Grant 6 - Beaten at near post, errors of judgement creeping in.

Christie 6 - The Owls 4-5-1 formation restricted his forward play.

Keogh 6 - A quiet game but found big striker Atdhe Nuhiu a handful.

Buxton 7 - Two goals from corners earned his con this week.

Forsyth 6 - See Christie, we didn't create enough going forward.

Thorne 7 - Great to see George back, did the simple things well.

Hendrick 5 - Another below par performance, bad mistake for their second goal.

Hughes 8 - Premiership quality, star man.

Ince 6 - Had chances, not quite reaching the excellent standards he set in his first few matches.

Dawkins 5 - Tried hard but not his best game.

Bent 6 - We don't play to his strengths enough, we need to adapt more to gain the maximum benefit from Darren.

Substitutes:

Bryson 6 - Added impetus when he entered the fray.

Lingard 7 - Beguiling footballer, scares the sugar out of the opposition, should start on Tuesday IMO.


Match Info / Rams Team:

Ref: Darren Bond

Crowd: 31,628


Derby: Grant, Christie, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth, Thorne (Lingard 62’), Hendrick, Hughes, Ince, Dawkins (Bryson 61’), Bent.

Unused Subs: Roos, Ward, Thomas, Shotton, Mascarell.


Match Stats — Derby / Wednesday:

Goals: Buxton (47’, 68’), Bent (77’) / McGugan (20’), Keane (55’).

Possession: 68% / 32%

Shots On Target: 7 / 2

Shots Off Target: 10 / 4

Corners: 8 / 0

Fouls: 9 / 15


We Said / They Said - Match Reaction:

We Said — Steve McClaren:

"We've had spells of six or seven clean sheets but in the last four we've conceded nine goals. We can't continue with that and I thought today we are going through a spell where we make a mistake or give a free-kick away and it's a goal. But we have to eradicate mistakes otherwise conceding nine goals in the next four games will get us nowhere.”

"We said to the players at half-time that this could be a very big three points if we comeback and I think in the end we wore Wednesday down with constant pressure and the tempo of our football."


They said — Stuart Gray:

"We have been doing very well in our own box so to concede three goals from set plays was very disappointing. And then for Westwood to get sent off, I think that was a bit harsh."

“Derby are a good side and I think they will get promoted. Because they put you under so much pressure, we have got lads making decisions with tired minds. "But to get ourselves 2-1 up gave us something to build on."


Highlights / Post Match Interviews:






Up Next For The Rams:

Derby v Charlton

iPro Stadium

7:45pm - Tuesday 24th of February




Photo: Action Images



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