Derby’s midweek visit to Ninian Park was the result of the previous tie being postponed due to the weather; after ninety minutes many Derby were left hoping once again for some divine intervention. 

Out of the blocks it was the Rams who created the best chances, with John Eustace twice making a nuisance of himself amongst the Bluebirds’ defence, but as Derby’s luck goes this season it was Cardiff who struck first. On 16 minutes Roger Johnson rose to head Peter Whittingham’s free-kick past a helpless Bywater. 

With a goal behind them Cardiff finally began to pick up the pace and challenged Derby on effort.  Throughout the rest of the half both sides posed threats, but both were able to soak up the others pressure. 

Like the first half it took Cardiff 16 minutes from the restart to find the net again. Gavin Rae was able to roll the ball home after latching on to the perfectly weighted through ball of Stephen McPhail.

With Derby’s defence now crumbling badly it took only two minutes before Jay Boothroyd reacted quickest from a Whittingham corner to made it 3 for the Bluebirds and effectively sealed up the three points. 

In a telling substitution Clough acted swiftly to replace Albrechtsen with Todd, whilst the Dane may have offered the Rams a rock on which to build their defence in earlier parts of the season in recent games he has increasingly become a liability. 

The presence of Todd however was not enough to stop the rot, and with eleven minutes left on the clock former Derby target and Kansas City Wizard Eddie Johnson stole the ball from the experienced Derby defender before tucking the ball neatly into the net. 

An Eddie Johnson own goal late into injury time offered little consolation for a Rams side who had once again had its defensive frailties ripped open for all to see.