The Rams crashed to a fourth home defeat on Saturday, surrendering gift-wrapped goals to Doncaster Rovers.

Derby County 0 v 2 Doncaster Rovers
Coca Cola Championship – Pride Park Stadium
Saturday 19th December 2009 -  3pm

Match Statistics & Player Ratings:

Referee: Mr Kettle (5)

Attendance: 28,734

Derby County (Morty’s Markings):

S Bywater (4), P Connolly (5), 3 J McEveley (4), 6 D Leacock (5),
D Moxey (5), P Green (5), R Savage (3) (Croft 66), G Teale (3),
S Pearson (6), P Dickov (5) (Porter 56), D Campbell (5) (Hulse 56).

Substitutes: R Hulse (5), C Porter (5), S Deeney, J Buxton, L Croft (5), J Livermore, L Hendrie.

Doncaster Rovers:

N Sullivan, J O'Connor, G Roberts, J Chambers, J Shackell, J Wilson, J Oster (Hayter 82), J Coppinger, S Gillett, B Sharp (Guy 88), D Shiels (Hird 59).

Substitutes: B Smith, S Hird, B Webster, J Spicer, R Clarke, L Guy, J Hayter.

Morty's Match Report:

It was a sub-standard performance in sub-zero conditions - which sent disappointed Rams fans home shivering, bereft of any Christmas cheer.

Dean Leacock was able to return to the Rams’ defence alongside stand-in centre-half Jay McEveley and Gary Teale replaced Lee Hendrie on the left wing. Manager Nigel Clough had attacking options on the bench in Hulse, Porter, Hendrie, Croft and Livermore.

It was a crisp, freezing cold but bright afternoon; though the undersoil heating had been on since Wednesday, the pitch was firm and lively, slightly frosty on top from the biting wintry weather.

Donny had done their homework despite Derby’s brisk start, as they play well up the pitch and compressed the game, so denying Derby the space to build any early impetus. Rovers defended tightly and enthusiastically, so Derby’s on-loan strike force of Campbell and Dickov made little headway, though Green flashed a shot across goal from Teale’s delivery.

Expectations that Derby would extend their run of good form were undone after 20 minutes. Jay McEveley strode out of his penalty area only to waft the ball straight to James Coppinger, who promptly fed the razor-like Billy Sharp for Rovers to take a 1-0 lead. It was another soft goal for the Rams to concede and set the tone for a difficult afternoon. Derby monopolised possession but created little in the way of goal threat, even if Neil Sullivan was the busier goalkeeper.

Captain Savage was having a nightmare, Campbell and Dickov had been held in check, Teale frustrated again through wasteful deliveries and poor decision-making from good positions, whilst Stephen Pearson cruised back and forth promisingly without hurting Doncaster to any great degree. Possession means very little if the opposition can defend in relative comfort.

Little had been seen of Doncaster as an attacking force apart from capitalising on McEveley’s wayward play for their goal but they were quick and accurate on the break; Bywater had to tip smartly over the bar from Mark Wilson’s thumping drive. The interval arrived without joy for the home fans, as the Pride Park throng reached for their hot flasks for comfort and revival.

Derby attacked throughout the second half in a pattern of often remorseless but unproductive pressure on the Doncaster penalty area. Manager Clough however did not deem the improvement sufficient and soon swapped Campbell and Dickov for Hulse and Porter.

Then the game became frustrating for Clough and the home fans as Derby’s refreshed fire-power was wasted through poor service to the front men. All we saw was yet more wayward crossing, a total failure to move the ball into Porter and Hulse early enough to enable their greater physicality to derange the Doncaster defence, and bad distribution right through the side from goalkeeper to forwards. It betrayed the anxious play that made Derby their own worst enemies.

My normally reliable and elderly Walkman radio crackled and spluttered from a cold or faltering connection throughout the match and the Radio Derby commentary fizzed only fitfully in my ear, which echoed the haphazard, inaccurate and incomprehensible Derby County performance I was trying to assess.

Croft mercifully replaced the out-of-sorts Savage with more than half an hour to go but he was starved of service, save for one chance to put in a decent cross. Porter headed over from a rare cross in his direction and Hulse had a close-range chance stifled by Sullivan’s alertness. It was all huff and puff from Derby though and the lack of quality and paucity of chances meant that Donny could defend without great anxiety.

It was more like Halloween than Christmas as the game moved into the 94th minute when Bywater and McEveley contrived another costly, embarrassing gaffe. Bywater elected to take a throw-in to hurry things along (I cringe when goalies do that - stop it!) only managing to chuck the ball into the middle of the Rams’ half for McEveley to chase.

He was always short and the ball was intercepted; goalkeeper and defenders flapped around and ran back towards their own goal, with a great view of Coppinger steering the ball away from them all to tuck it into the net and seal the game.

Cue a rapid emptying of the stadium with a distinct lack of Christmas cheer from the stands towards the home team at the final whistle. It had been an utterly mediocre performance and a needless defeat. Derby still look nervously at the wrong end of the Championship table from 18th place. If you think my player markings are severe, they are - much better is expected and if there are to be further squad changes come January, bring it on because things must improve.

Manager Nigel Clough bemoaned a lack of the right attitude and application, saying that the Rams had reverted to getting their basics all wrong, again. He thought there was a touch of complacency in the performance and castigated his defenders for the nature of the goals conceded, both in their generosity and futile attempts to prevent danger from escalating.

I escaped the frozen scenario promptly, to endure the usual Pride Park hold-ups where police traffic controls prioritise the away fans’ buses. Gleeful coach loads of Donny fans rolled homewards, no doubt for a deserved tot or three of celebration grog to get well into the Christmas spirit. 

Myself, I had a fulsome bowl of hot porridge to purge the cold out of my bones on return to my abode, reflecting that the way that Derby contrived to give away a game that they had dominated was near-criminal - and almost deserved a spell of ‘porridge’ for the lot of ‘em!

Here’s to a better display against Blackpool on Boxing Day - in the meantime, have yourselves a very merry Christmas! We must give a hearty ‘get well soon’ message to regular reporter Old One Eye, who has been proper poorly in recent weeks. At least you were warm and snug at home, OOE!

Rams’ Man of the Match:

Stephen Pearson (but in reality, there were eleven better players on the pitch, all in Doncaster shirts).

Photo: Action Images

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