There are few matches in the modern game that are anticipated with such intensity by the fans as the East Midland’s Derby.  This encounter was no exception.

The game got off to an electric start, unfortunately for the Rams it was more of an electric shock.  With in a minute of kick off Forest’s Polish midfielder Radolsaw Majewski scored an absolute peach of goal from the edge of the box.

With any game plan completely out of the window, Derby were understandably shaky; and in a ‘lesser’ game Gary Teale would have been expected to make the most of all opportunities; but instead when Stephen Pearson played the Scot through Teale was unable to bury the ball, and instead scuffed his shot wide.

The day got worse for the Rams just before the half hour mark, as a Cohen free-kick curled into the box was met by the head of Rob Hulse and found its way into the back of the Derby net.

Derby were now no worse off than in last seasons F.A. Cup clash; so time for a comeback, right? Well almost.  Hulse eager to cancel out his earlier mistake did find the back of the Forest net, but the goal was harshly ruled out after it was judged that Hulse had pushed Wes Morgan as he went for the ball.

A poor half time result for the Rams quickly turned into a complete disaster when just minutes before the break Kris Commons capped his poor performance against his old club, by losing the ball to ex-Ram Dexter Blackstock.  Blackstock timed a perfect pass through the Derby defence into the path of the charging Tyson who rounded Bywater to finish with embarrassing ease.  The Derby defence were left watching helplessly after the offside trap had suffered complete and utter breakdown.

Thankfully the Rams side which appeared after the half time break had completely ridden itself of its earlier jitters; Croft came on to replace the poor Commons and Derby looked much better for the change.

It took just six minutes for the Rams to get back into the game.  Miles Addison attempted a bicycle kick off Jake Buxton’s flick on, rather than fly spectacularly into the Forest net the ball took a huge deflection off Wes Morgan and rolled past the helpless Lee Camp.  Whilst not the most spectacular goal, it introduce the whiff of a comeback into the air and the atmosphere within the ground changed accordingly.

Just over ten minutes later and the Rams had pulled back another one. The Forest defence failed to deal with Lee Croft’s cross in a timely manner and the ball fell to perfectly positioned Livermore whose low shot deflected off Murphey to give the Spurs loanee his first Rams goal.

The final half hour was fought like any self respecting local rivalry should be.  Derby continued to push ferociously for the equaliser and even brought veteran striker Paul Dickov out for his Derby debut, but even he could not grab that elusive goal.

The game itself ended in disarray when firstly Savage and Majewski ended up in a heap on the ground, whilst the pair helped each other up, argy bargy ensued as Savage was shoved by several Forset players.  Shenanigans continued after the final whistle as Derby players reacted to Nathan Tyson’s gloating directly in front of the travelling Derby masses.

Following on from the much-needed clean sheet at Blackpool, Derby hosted Plymouth at Pride Park, a side who had failed to beat the Rams in their previous 6 attempts.  With the return of key players Commons and Hulse, the outlook for Derby was bright.  However, concerns about the fitness of both Commons and Hulse meant Steve Davies lead the line, the starting 11 the same as the previous home match to Peterborough with the exception of Tottenham loanee Jake Livermore who replaced the unfit Paul Green.

Plymouth started the brightest, dominating possession but crucially lacking in the final third.  It took a lunge from new signing Jake Buxton for Plymouth to make the breakthrough, chopping down Alain Judge on the edge of the area.  Whilst the penalty itself was debatable, Clough highlighting the proximity to the edge of the box in his post-game interview, the finish was resolute.

The first goal seemed to spark Derby into life.  The Rams began to create numerous openings, Miles Addison making the most of a Teale Corner only to be denied by some shrewd goal line defending.  It wasn’t until just before the break they finally drew level, Jake Buxton making amends for conceding the penalty with an astute finish from just outside the 6-yard box following a scrappy goalmouth scramble.

The second half began with a concerning leg injury to Steve Davies.  Following a promising pre-season it’s a bitter blow to lose Davies, especially given injury plagued his debutant season with the Rams.  His replacement Hulse performed well as lone striker and set up numerous chances that Derby failed to capitalise on.  The game seemed destined for a draw until the final stages.  Alain Judge missed a gilt-edged chance for Plymouth, firing over following a fast counter attack. In the final seconds Derby responded with an incredible Miles Addison header from a Gary Teale corner, yet another well worked set piece

Derby finish the opening 4 games with an impressive 7 points from a possible 12.  However, the promising start must be taken with a pinch of salt as all the opposition so far are heavily touted as relegation candidates and undoubtedly Derby face much more difficult ties ahead; none other than a trip to the City Ground next weekend.

Matches between these old rivals require little in the way of introduction at the best of times, but add Derby’s FA cup comeback just a fortnight ago into the mix and the intensity is taken up a notch.  This fixture is as much about pride as it is three points. 

The Rams, keen not to let the occasion spoil their recent winning streak were first out of the blocks, and in less than five minutes Lewin Nyatanga was able to put the Rams one up volleying Kris Commons’ free kick into the bottom corner. 

Derby were dealt yet another injury blow to accompany those picked up at Coventry midweek as Nacer Barazite was replaced by Sterjovski on 15 minutes after being forced off with a dislocated shoulder.    

Despite going behind early it was Forest who were to have the better chances for the remainder of the first half, with Earnshaw twice lifting the ball over Bywater’s bar. 

Having used half time to regroup the Rams came out fired up and with barely a minute of the second half on the clock had doubled their lead.  Once again the goal came from a set-piece; this time crossed in by Robbie Savage and glanced goalwards by Hulse with a deft header on the edge of the six yard box. 

If a state of euphoria had not already been reached amongst the hordes of travelling Derby supporters then it certainly was by the 62^nd minute when Rob Hulse was pushed in the box by Forest captain James Perch.  The resulting penalty was tucked away by Steve Davies to make it three to the Rams. 

Having already used all three substitutions Derby were forced to finish the game with ten men as Jay McEveley like Barazite suffered with his shoulder. 

With the extra man Forest again applied the pressure, eventually pulling one back through Earnshaw who headed down into the Derby net.  

This proved to be only a consolation as Derby walked away with their heads held high.  It had been over thirty years since a Derby victory at the City Ground and with two now in as many weeks things are certainly looking on to be on the up!

Derby’s FA Cup first leg against F*rest at Pride Park resulted in a 1-1 draw, giving Nigel Clough the opportunity of returning to his old City Ground to show the Reds exactly what Derby are capable of.

However, George Burley Billy Davies had other plans and within the minute, Chris Cohen thrashed in a left foot shot to give F*rest the early lead.

It didn’t take long for F*rest to get a second opportunity when Derby keeper Stephen Bywater brought down Nathan Tyson in the goal after beating our offside trap. Tyson’s needed little effort to give F*rest an early 2-0 lead and a foot hold over Derby.

Thankfully, Derby were quick to retaliate, pushing forward against F*rest’s defence and creating plenty of opportunities. Robbie Savage was on form in the centre of the field, giving Derby plenty of confidence as well as opening up F*rest’s defence for Rob Hulse, Paul Green and Kris Commons to break though.

After just ten minutes, Gary Teale managed to deliver a fine cross for Rob Hulse to meet and nod in to give Derby that much-needed goal, lifting Derby’s spirits for the remaining minutes of the first half

The second half was where the excitement was at. Both teams fought hard with plenty of chances at both ends of the pitch, but it was Derby who seemed to be dominating.

Deadlock was broken though In the 60th minute when Teale knocked another fine ball in for Paul Green to convert for Derby – it was 2-2 and there was everything to play for.

Remarkably, F*rest struggled to overpower Derby on their home turf through the rest of the second half. Kris Commons was determined to get the winning shot, rattling the up-right with one shot and narrowly mising with another.

His dreams came true though in the 74th minute when his shot took a slight deflection, beating F*rest’s keeper Paul Smith and meeting the back of the net. After all the booing from his old team’s supporters, it must have felt fantastic to get the winning goal in such a prestigous Cup tie.

It was an emotional game for many, with George Burley Billy Davies being beaten by his old side, Nigel Clough beating his old side and Kris Commons, once again, scoring the vital goal.

Derby will now face Man Utd (yet again) in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday 15th February back at Pride Park. If we can repeat what happened in the Carling Cup, there’s no reason why Derby can’t progress to the quarter finals.

Now, back to the league…

Derby had a difficult week ahead of them this week with two very important Cup fixtures lined up. After Man Utd knocked Derby out of the Carling Cup on Tuesday night, Derby had to concentrate on beating arch rivals Nottingham Forest to progress to the 5th round of the FA Cup.

Both sides fought hard though it was Derby who took the lead in the first half. Paul Green smartly dummied a shot on goal, instead passing to Paul Connolly who crossed for Rob Hulse to fire home.

The tense match continued in the second half, both Derby and Forest working hard to beat the others. After 63 minutes though, Forest pretty much mimicked Derby’s maneouvres from the first half when Nathan Tyson‘s dummied Derby’s defence, allowing Robert Earnshaw the chance to finish from eight yards.

The game finished 1-1 forcing the return replay the other end of Brian Clough Way at the City Ground, scheduled for Wednesday 4th February 2009. Nigel Clough will be looking forward to his travels, visiting his old team and, hopefully, putting one over them.

Since the start of the season, this was one of the biggest fixtures on Derby’s schedule – facing up against arch rivals Nottingham Forest, both joining the Championship this season from either end of the Football League.

The nerves were obviously taking over at the start of the game as neither team were able to break the deadlock with uninspiring performances from both sides and a 0-0 scoreline to show for it.

It was in the second half when the drama unfolded.

Emanuel Villa clumsily knocked in an own goal for Forest after Stephen Bywater managed to save a shot from Luke Chambers.

Villa was quick to restore himself though as he connected with a free kick from Jordan Stewart to take the scores level.

The referee and linesmen had the last laugh though as Forest’s Lewis McGugan was sent off after a nasty tackle, eight players were booked, a penalty was rewarded and missed by Nacer Barazite and a last second goal by Miles Addison was disallowed.

Many will say Derby were robbed of three points this time round. The harsh reality is we were unable to beat Forest on home turf so have to step up the gear for the return leg on 21st Feburary.