Derby County 0 Ipswich Town 1

Derby’s performance in December has been quite ropey having only beaten Watford 1-0 at home but losing most our away games so a game on home turf was in much need, hopefully giving the Rams some much needed Pride Park support against Ipswich.

Unfortunately, the game didn’t start too well.

Within 9 minutes, Nathan Ellington went off with an injury to his leg forcing Paul Jewell to replace him with Luke Varney.

Things went from bad to worse just seven minutes later when Ipswich’s Jonathan Walters managed to head in a goal for the Tractor Boys giving Ipswich the only goal of the game.

There were many long range attempts from Derby with Miles Addison, Jordan Stewart and Kris Commons all taking shots at Richard Wright but none were good enough to meet the back of the net.

This was Paul Jewell’s 50th league game as manager at Derby and probably not what he was hoping for at such a milestone. Speculation of Jewell leaving the club will really hit Derby hard with such big games coming up in the Carling Cup and FA Cup and while we’re sitting so low in the Championship table. Any manager who gives up at this stage is just not up to the job.

Here’s hoping it’s just rumours…

Tags

• 2008/9
• Championship
• home
• ipswich town
• jonathan walters
• jordan stewart
• kris commons
• loss
• luke varney
• miles addison
• nathan ellington
• paul jewell

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Preston NE 2 Derby County 0

Beating Watford last weekend was a great boost to Derby after a string of successive draws home and away (with the occasional loss thrown in the mix as well). Travelling to Preston was bound to be a difficult game for us but Derby weren’t giving up that easily.

The first half was quite a tense battle. Derby showed good determination although there were few opportunities to up the ante from away goals. Preston were also a strong side who looked extremely comfortable.

It was in the 30th minute when Sean St Ledger knocked in a goal for Preston, giving the home side the lead.

Plenty of opportunities arose for Derby with shots from Paul Green, Kris Commons and Rob Hulse challenging Preston keeper Andy Lonergan but nothing was strong enough to beat him.

Jon Parkin was the man to hit the nail in the coffin for Derby after a smash from 18 yards gave the home side two goals over Derby and, in the end, all three points.

Tags

• 2008/9
• andy lonergan
• away
• Championship
• jon parkin
• kris commons
• loss
• paul green
• preston
• preston northend
• rob hulse
• sean st ledger

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Derby County 1 Watford 0

After the drama at Charlton earlier in the week, Derby were keen to restore some confidence on home turf with a few wins. It wasn’t going to a stroll in the park with Watford but they certainly were ready to give it a try.

Unfortunately, both teams were deadlocked for the majority of the game. Derby and Watford were creating mediocre chances but neither team were capable of hitting the back of the net.

It was only after 83 minutes when Rob Hulse managed to connect with Nacer Barazite’s cross, heading in his seventh goal of the season.

After a week of sickness and wary season previous, it was a huge boost for Derby’s striker and Hulse will certainly be working hard to regain his regular position up front after today’s game.

Tags

• 2008/9
• Championship
• home
• nacer barazite
• rob hulse
• watford
• win

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Charlton Athletic 2 Derby County 2

Charlton Athletic have had quite a bad run of late without a win at home in 13 games and were determined to at least get a point out of today’s game, if not all three. But Derby were also willing to make that quite difficult.

It was Charlton striker Andy Gray who commenced scoring with a neat goal in the 34th minute and that was all to be seen in the first hour.

After 64 minutes though, Jose Vitor Semedo couldn’t help but handball in the box giving Nathan Ellington the opportunity to take Derby level. As expected, he converted the penalty.

It wasn’t long before Charlton’s Martin Waghorn gave the home side another lead when he whacked in another goal after just two minutes.

Derby looked to have been beaten with the final whistle approaching but Mr Ellington grabbed a late 94th minute opportunity to take the scores level, snatching a point from Charlton and another point to Derby’s campaign.

Tags

• 2008/9
• andy gray
• away
• Championship
• charlton athletic
• draw
• jose vitor semedo
• martin waghorn
• nathan ellington

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Wolverhampton Wanders 3 Derby County 0

After Saturday’s poor result against Crystal Palace, Derby had to do something to restore their Championship performance. Visiting current leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers probably wasn’t the best opportunity for this but needs must when half way through the season and those hopes are fading.

With Roy Carroll suspended for two weeks, it was Stephen Bywater who had to keep out any shots from Wolves front line. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for his chances to be squandered when Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was given the responsibility of a spot kick which he easily converted for the home side after 2 minutes after an aledged handball from Darren Powell.

Five minutes before the break, Ebanks-Blake struck the post but David Edwards hit the rebound with a fine strike, taking the home side two goals up.

Ebanks-Blake finished his night off with yet another goal, connecting with a cross from Andy Keogh in the 58th minute.

It was a dismal performance from Derby, even if the penalty was a controversial decision. There is no excuse for going three goals down after such a great performance at Stoke last week. Derby need to book their ideas up and concentrate on what matters - the league.

Tags

• 2008/9
• andy keogh
• away
• Championship
• darren powell
• david edwards
• loss
• stephen bywater
• sylvan ebanks-blake
• wolverhampton wanderers
• wolves

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Derby County 1 Crystal Palace 2

Still on a high from the League Cup win over Stoke in the week, Derby had to come back to reality quickly with a clash against Crystal Palace on home turf. As mentioned previously, our home run was quite impressive but away performances not as much. Derby had to maintain that streak.

Things didn’t really pan out that way though.

Crystal Palace took the lead when Paddy McCarthy whacked in a blinding shot from 40 yards, giving Palace the edge.

Controversy came though when Luke Varney was rewarded an equaliser after Palace keeper Julian Speroni appealed to have kept the ball over the line. The referee didn’t agree - it was 1-1.

After much protesting, Palace managed to squander Derby’s chances when Shefki Kuqi connected with Craig Beattie’s cross, putting the travellers ahead 2-1 and taking all three points.

Tags

• 2008/9
• Championship
• craig beattie
• crystal palace
• home
• julian speroni
• loss
• luke varney
• paddy mccarthy
• shefki kuqi

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