Jonathan Walters heads in for Ipswich at Derby

December 28, 2008 | Fixtures

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…

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Rob Hulse secures Derby’s first win in seven against Watford

December 20, 2008 | Fixtures

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.

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Derby face Man Utd in Carling Cup Semi-Final

December 8, 2008 | Fixtures

Derby’s League Cup destiny lies in the hands of one of the finest football clubs in the World…

After beating Stoke at the Britannia Stadium in a gruelling yet rewarding quarter-final last week, Derby were on a high. They have not reached the semi-final stages of the League Cup since 1968 - 40 years ago - you can imagine the elation from the squad after such a nail-biting finish.

So when the draw for the Semi Finals were announced on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday this weekend, you can imagine the exhilieration from Pride Park when they saw Manchester United picked to travel to Pride Park for the first leg.

The first clash will happen on the week commencing January 5th, 2009, dependent on other fixtures but having the upper hand of starting at home will certainly give Derby that much needed support. Thousands and thousands of Ram fans will be packing out Pride Park to see their heroes take on Alex Ferguson’s mighty United, in vein hope of a worthy result.

Ticket information will be announced soon so keep your eyes and ears open for the big sale.

Update: the fixtures have been finalised today: the first leg will be at 7.45pm on Wednesday 7th January 2009 and the return leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday 20th January 2009, kicking off at the slightly later 8pm. The League Cup Final will be held at Wembley on Sunday 1st March 2009.

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Crystal Palace snatch late winner at Pride Park

December 6, 2008 | Fixtures

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.

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Two goals and a point each for Derby and Preston

November 25, 2008 | Fixtures

Derby 2 Preston 2

With Ipswich stunting their progress in the Championship at the weekend, Derby were keen to get back on track with their successful campaign.

Rob Hulse was first on the score sheet after smashing in a belter to give Derby the lead.

Preston were quick to respond though when Callum Davidson converted a penalty after Emanuel Villa took Ross Wallace down in the box.

Preston managed to get another past Carroll when Neil Mellor struck from 18 yards but Derby’s Jordan Stewart went one up on him with a huge long-distance volley, taking the scores level.

After the break, Derby seemed to be the stronger side for the first 25 minutes with plenty of opportunities being thrown at Andy Lonergan but struggled to break the deadlock.

End result - two goals and a point each.

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Commons first home goal helps thrash Sheffield Wednesday

November 15, 2008 | Fixtures

Derby County 3 Sheffield Wednesday 0

Still on a high from the fantastic result against Leeds in the Carling Cup earlier in the week, Derby were full of enthusiasm and motivation to concentrate on their Championship campaign with their clash against Sheffield Wednesday. Both teams are hovering around mid-table so were keen to outplay the other.

Kris Commons started the ball rolling with his first home goal since the transfer from F*rest at the start of the season. Commons has been assisting shedloads of goals this season and unfortunately missed the target early on in the game when a header went wide. But, the opportunity came when Commons struck from 12 yards, beating Owls’ goalkeeper and ex-Ram Lee Grant, netting his first goal for Derby on home turf.

The goals didn’ stop there neither.

After the break, another ex-Ram Marcus Tudgay couldn’t beat Derby’s Roy Carroll with a lame heading effort but Commons assisted yet again, this time allowing Miles Addison to head home a second for a dominating Derby.

It was Jordan Stewart who wrapped things up for Derby with a clinical left foot strike in the 67th minute, ensuring Derby all three points from three fine goals.

Derby are travelling across the country to face the Tractor Boys next Saturday so here’s hoping to another storming result from our Rams.

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