After a disappointing defeat last week at the Hawthorns, Derby County were preparing to tackle a hectic period of 7 Championship matches during March.

Monday evening saw Robbie Savage appearing again on BBC1’s Late-Kick-Off Football League magazine - he had a swipe at the publicity that referees are getting as there was a ‘day in the life’ - type of feature on the official who’d looked after Derby’s recent game at WBA.

Sav grumbled about the coverage that the ref got - and also made his fellow-guest (WBA’s Dean Kiely) admit that the ref had missed two obvious penalty shouts during the match!

I agree with Sav in that we see quite enough of referees during their inconsistent, mediocre matchday outings but cannot help thinking that his ‘bigmouth strikes again’ attitude, coupled with the high profile that Derby’s current disciplinary cases are currently receiving could backfire on Derby County.

Referees always have the chance of quietly redressing the ‘balance’ when they officiate at a Derby game - and one of them will enjoy giving Sav his 10th booking of the season!

Burton Albion announced that Derby County will be visiting the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday, 17th July for their regular local pre-season friendly. Speaking of next season, Derby County announced their 2010-11 season ticket packages under the ‘Black & White Forever’ tag-line.

The club claim it is the fifth year in succession that S/T renewal prices have been frozen. Current S/T holders have until 18th April to renew at ‘early-bird’ pricing, and from then on until 4th of May to renew to ensure they retain their own seats. Prices go up between £10-40 after the early-bird threshold. You can see the 2010-11 season ticket announcements from DCFC here:

http://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10270~1984962,00.html

Whilst there are plenty of supporters wanting to see more tangible progress and some substantial team investment - and not least, a fit squad able to compete and climb the League - I doubt if there will be a shortage of takers now that the time has come to renew. I anticipate that well over 20,000 season ticket holders will be there again come August 2010 for the big kick-off.

Striker Gregg Mills returned from his loan at Macclesfield Town and young defender Mark O’Brien was able to return to full training at Moor Farm last week. Mark had major heart surgery in November when a valve malfunction was discovered. At 17, here’s hoping the Irish youth international now has a bright future ahead of him with Derby County.

Manager Nigel Clough was finally able to run the rule over Michael Rooney in the 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday reserves; the youngster did well and might be on Clough’s summertime shopping list. Young Irish international Ryan Connolly netted the winner to put Derby reserves top of their league table and injury returnees like Dean Leacock and Steve Davies added to their match fitness by putting an hour in apiece.

The Rams had to open a busy March programme with the visit of Watford FC to Pride Park Stadium on Saturday. Derby managed their first away win at Vicarage Road in December.

Nigel Clough made only one change, Rob Hulse returning in attack to partner Chris Porter. The manager was without loanee Javan Vidal, who has already been recalled by Manchester City.

The late Keith Alexander - Macclesfield Town manager and a true football man with local links through his time with Ilkeston Town - was given a generous and deserved minute’s applause before kick-off. He collapsed and died at just 53 years of age only a few hours after Town had played at Notts County. RIP Keith, and thank you for your great contribution to English football.

Derby eased themselves to three important points with a 2-0 home win over the Hornets on Saturday. Without achieving the impetus or momentum that had swept Newcastle United and Preston North End aside, they were generally in control in the first half. Michael Tonge lashed in a 25-yard drive after 12 minutes which thrashed against the crossbar before nestling home; 1-0.

He had gambled when advancing from the right wing and did what Clough wants his midfielders to do - take a chance and hit long-range shots whenever possible. Tonge had been a virus victim and was doubtful right up until kick-off but is proving his worth to the team with strong displays.

Watford proved resolute but seldom threatening - a situation that changed after the break as the Hornets upped their attacking intent, with Derby spending spells repelling concerted pressure. They had Stephen Bywater to thank on a couple of occasions, with Lansbury and the ex-Derby loanee Danny Graham being denied when serious danger had threatened.

It was generally an unspectacular event, punctuated by the groans of 29,500 head-scratching fans, who endured yet another inconsistent refereeing performance, this time from Mr Horwood.

The Rams still lacked that final killer ball or decisive shot to seal up the game and Watford had the better of the second half. Barker and Buxton held firm however, Barker shading my man of the match for the ‘fans’ vote’ of Stephen Pearson because his did his own job that little bit better than the foraging Scot. If Barker maintains this form, he’s a strong contender for Player of the Season.

If only Pearson could shoot, head, or make better passing and crossing decisions as well as he could motor up and down the pitch, he would be world-class instead of Championship class! He is however proving more and more of an asset to the team, becoming a more reliable outlet when he takes the ball on 60-yard runs to put opponents on the back foot.

Derby’s failure to score a 2nd goal when on top in the first half made them edgy as the game wore on but Chris Porter brought relief by snatching the second goal on 76 minutes. Hornet’s defender deMerit allowed Porter to steal the ball off him, to run on strongly and strike home from just inside the area.

Again, the striker had gambled and pressed the Watford player - seemingly under little pressure - into committing his error and Chris gained his reward by scoring a crucial goal for his team. The Rams had broken Watford’s resolve and looked relatively safe from then on.

Teams make their own luck - and both Tonge and Porter became “Mr Lucky” this week. Tonge took a lucky dip and struck a great goal with his unfavoured foot, and then Porter forced an error out of an efficient Watford defence by pressing his defender, winning the ball off him to set up his own scoring chance. He took that chance clinically and set Derby’s ‘March to safety’ off on the good foot!

It was a vital win too, as even though Derby moved up to 14th in the Championship table they are no further away from the relegation zone due to the day’s other results, the Rams being still just 5 points clear of the bottom three. Grinding out some more wins as they did on Saturday will see them to safety. The target has to be at least 50 points by the end of this month.

The Rams visit Reading FC on Wednesday; the Royals just got smashed out of the FA Cup 4-2 by Aston Villa, having led 2-0 at the interval. Villa’s powerhouse second half saw them through to the Semis.

Villa will hope that Phil Dowd is not the referee on duty again at Wembley, after his red-tinted officiating against Manchester United in the Carling Cup Final.....the Royals will be looking to bounce back from their FA Cup exit in the League against Derby, as West Brom had managed - just after Reading had eliminated the Baggies from the FA Cup last month to clinch their quarter final tie with Villa!

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RamsWeek 10 last year saw Derby gaining points towards their previous struggle for survival ‘the hard way’. After taking a 2-0 lead through Savage and Porter at home to Swansea City in a midweek match, they were pulled back to 2-2 after a determined Swans’ fightback.

Derby had played well and Rob Hulse found a promising new strike partner in Chris Porter, who made his full debut for Derby. Manager Nigel Clough felt it was perhaps the Rams’ best performance since his arrival, though was aware that only one point was not enough to give him comfort with his side at the wrong end of the Championship table.

Derby set about gathering survival points against Bristol City the following weekend. They took an immediate lead when Chris Porter fired home from Sterjovski’s pass, though the striker went off injured at half time. Bristol proved tough opponents though and equalised with only 7 minutes to go.

It was becoming hard to clinch precious Championship victories but the Rams managed it at the death, Rob Hulse sweeping home a low Gary Teale cross to bring relief to the 30,000 Pride Park crowd.

Paul Green suffered a broken bone in his foot and was ruled out for the rest of the season. Perhaps that occurrence, along with Chris Porter’s hip injury plus Kris Commons and Miles Addison recovering slowly from their respective injuries, were the beginnings of Derby’s seemingly perpetual injury crisis.

Photo: Action Images

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