Derby beat Forest Green in FA Cup 3rd Round

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Forest Green Rovers 3 Derby County 4

With Derby County making excellent progress in the less popular Carling Cup - facing Manchester United in the semi-final later in the week - any success in the FA Cup was just the icing on the cake. Nonetheless, facing non-league Forest Green shouldn’t have been a huge problem.

Unfortunately, things didn’t start out as well as expected.

Forest Green’s Jonathan Smith and Alex Lawless managed to give the home side a two goal lead within 20 minutes, indicating early signs of a shock win for the underdogs.

It took until the 40th minute for Derby to retaliate when Rob Hulse headed in Kris Commons‘ cross as well as a leveller from Martin Albrechtsen before the half time whistle.

The second half was just as exciting, if a little tense.

Forest Green took another lead when Paul Stonehurst took them ahead again in the 72nd minute but, thankfully, it only four minutes for Derby’s Paul Green to equalise again.

It wasn’t until the dying 87th minute when Steve Davies was rewarded a penalty which he quickly converted past Darren Jones, taking Derby into the 4th round of the FA Cup.

Let’s hope Derby don’t play such a stressful game against Man Utd in the week - this could kill some Derby fans!

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

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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.

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Derby beat Stoke in League Cup Quarter Final

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Stoke City 0 Derby County 1

While Derby’s league campaign has had mixed results, the League Cup was a completely different affair. Derby haven’t reached the quarter finals of the league cup in 20 odd years so they had already exceeded expectations. It was now time to step it up a gear against Premiership side, Stoke City - and on away turf as well.

The first half had little to talk about. The only highlight was a disallowed goal from Richard Creswell due to a handball.

Both teams stepped it up a gear after the break though.

Kris Commons and Miles Addison both rattled the woodwork while Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller was denied the other end of the pitch thanks to an amazing save from Roy Carroll.

It was in the fourth minute of injury time when Andy Griffin handballed Przemyslaw Kazmierczak’s cross, forcing referee Rob Styles to reward Derby a penalty. Nathan Ellington accepted duty and smoothly rolled the ball past Stoke’s Steve Simonsen, progressing Derby through to the semi-finals.

Derby haven’t beaten a Premiership team in 25 games since Paul Jewell took the management post, so you can imagine the adilation he was feeling.

Derby are now in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, the furthest they have ever been in the League Cup in 40 years.

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Commons first home goal helps thrash Sheffield Wednesday

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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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Derby progress to Carling Cup quarters by beating Leeds

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Derby County 2 Leeds United 1

Derby’s Carling Cup campaign has gone from strength to strength this season - getting to the 4th round was their best performance in the League Cup since 1998. So, facing Leeds United on home turf was bound to be an intense game.

Thankfully, Emanuel Villa gave Derby an early lead in the 6th minute sending in a beautiful left-foot shot after beating Lubomir Michalik.

Nathan Ellington doubled Derby’s lead 12 minutes later with a simple touch in after Kris Commons did all the hard work beating off Leeds’ defence.

Luciano Becchio managed to head in a consolation goal before the break but that was all Leeds had in them. They dominated the second half but struggled to convert any chances, allowing Derby to qualify for the quarter finals.

The Quarter Final Draw of the Carling Cup will take place during Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports this Saturday 12-1pm GMT.

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Emmanuel Villa hits hat-trick to beat Brighton

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Brighton Hove Albion 1 Derby County 4

Derby’s Carling Cup campaign has gone from strength to strength after a delayed schedule the other month so the long awaited journey to Brighton certainly had high expectations.

After 28 minutes, Emmanuel Villa commenced his show-stopping performance with the opening goal after John Sullivan struggled to hold Przemyslaw Kazmierczak’s cross.

Nathan Ellington followed up with another after 6 minutes, connecting with Dean Leacock’s cross.

Brighton restored some confidence before the break though when Tommy Elphick headed in a consolation goal taking the half-time score to 1-2.

Brighton showed a lot of confidence throughout the second half but struggled to find an equaliser.

Instead, man of the match Emmanuel Villa took Derby 3-1 up in the 73rd minute before sealing the deal 3 minutes from time with a tidy little 6-yarder.

Derby will now host the 4th round tie against Leeds on Tuesday 11th November at Pride Park, intending on progressing to the 5th round for the first time in decades.

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