As Pride Park is only about 25 minutes from my doorstep, I could not really miss our trip to Derby could I?

Okay for me and three of my youngsters, the bill came to nearly 75 quid! But having been stuck in front of the telly pissed-off-bored-silly on Christmas Day drinking myself into oblivion it was a good excuse to get out in the fresh air and shake off a few cobwebs.

Setting off just before 11ish, the weather was unseasonably mild, overcast grey but no wind. A colleague who supports the Rams had advised me to the Cattle Market was a good place to park, just a fiver and a 20 minute walk to the ground. I know the Pride Park/Wyvern area reasonably well having worked there in 2009 and being an adopted Yorkshireman, paying for parking is something alien to me (In 22 years attending matches at Elland Road I have not handed away as much as a penny)- so we parked the car opposite the Navigation Pub (which was full of Leeds fans and Police vans) on London Road and the ground was just 10 minutes away.

Having been to the Rams old stomping ground the Baseball Ground many, many times, I still think of Pride Park as being a nice, new stadium when in fact it is 15 years old next year, It was only about half 11 so me and my lads wandered around the car-park celebrity spotting...we saw Peter Lorimer arrive! Then the Leeds team-coach pulled in and a small gathering of zsurprisingly subdued Leeds fans clustered round. The team gradually emerged, Ramon Nunez sporting a pair of I-Pod headphones that were probably twice the size of him, only Michael Brown stopped to sign autographs - I took this as a good sign of the team being totally focused in arresting an alarming slide of form against Derby when in the good old days, we beat them for fun - for example thrice in the 1995/96 season if you include a pre-season friendly alongside both cups.

We then wandered over to the Brian Clough/Peter Taylor memorial (more of them later). It was manned by two female stewards and a solitary Rams shirt was placed at the foot of it with "RIP Gary Speed" on it which I thought was a nice touch given the antipathy Derby generally hold us in dating back to events when Clough and Taylor drew swords with Don Revie.

We found our seats, a good view of the goal and got chatting to a middle-aged couple and their daughter in the row behind. Unfortunately relations soured during the game when the old-man took exception to me joining in the "anti-Bates" songbook! All I will say is it is a free-country and I am as much entitled to my opinion that we will never return to the Premiership with him at the helm as they are that if it was not for him there would be no Leeds United!

With the pre-match warm-up complete, Ian Miller the coach raised a pair to clenched fists to stir the 4000+ Leeds fans into songs. Gradually the natives began to fill the ground, a 33,000 sell-out crowd and still tickets available for their clash with more glamourous West Ham on New Years Eve! "We're not famous anymore?" - that was soon aired in response to the Derby fans perception that we are not indeed now famous. I suppose they will argue that Boxing Day games traditionally draw bigger crowds despite the opposition. However given the number of "We all hate Leeds and Leeds and Leeds..." songs coming from the corner to our right, I think this is one of the games they look forward too.

With their anthem "Steve Bloomer's watchin'" sung by Robert Lindsay ("Wolfie Smith") booming in our eardrums, a huge Derby flag was unfurled however it was upset down - dozy sods, which caused much mirth in the Leeds end.

On the subject of flags, the Nottingham Whites one predictably stoked up the locals, whilst I spotted someone a couple of rows in front with a St George's cross making reference to Scabs eg: the Miners Strike in 1984/85. More than quarter of a century on, it still rankles many Yorkshire folk that the collieries in the East Midlands, notably Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire largely broke the strike.

After a noisy exchange of insults, including respective disrespect dished out to Revie and Clough, the crowd seemed to quieten down as the game ground out a goalless first forty-five minutes. Nipping for a wee at half-time, through a hue of fag smoke Leeds own-celebrity fan cum painter and decorator Gary Edwards emerged to lock in an embrace with the bloke queing in front of me.

As the second-half started, Derby looked the most likely to score and I told my eldest lad Lucas I just sensed they would nick it 1-0. Alas a prophet of doom, I was right, The winner came on 67 minutes from Jamie Ward, who was booed roundly following a dive in the box in the first half.

I thought we were too one-dimensional, over reliant on humping high balls up to Becchio - who again worryingly looked a yard or so off the pace and devoid of any idea how to out-muscle Shaun Barker who barely legally kept him out of the game. Eventually Andy Keogh replaced Luciano, like selecting Alex McCarthy over Lonergan, I wonder if Grayson know's that Keogh will not be with us for much longer?

I was not over inspired with the introduction of Ramon Nunez, but to be fair the little Honduran caused problems for the muscle in the Derby defence and midfield - so often bundled off the ball, he was spraying some useful little one-touch passes which finally brought our one-time loanee keeper Frank Fielding out of his slumber and into some action.

When John Brayford hooked Kisnorbo's effort off the line, I just knew that it was not going to be our day - "Cheerio! Cheerio!" boomed the smug Derby fans as some of our supporters made for the exits, the majority however stayed to the final whistle and clapped the boys off the pitch. Fielding was dancing about in front of us like he was Jim Montgomery in the 1973 Cup Final, obviously packing him off back to Blackburn really rankled him. 

A far better performance than against Reading but still not good enough I'm afraid.

Back to the car and my local knowledge navigated us through the back streets of Derby and back home within an hour, avoiding the traffic and even stopping at the Chippy on the way home. Unfortunately no Minster FM and no wise words from Eddie Gray and reaction from Simon Grayson. Nice to get out of the house, nice to see that Derby fans still work themselves up to almost cardiac-arrest frenzy in reminding us how much they hate us but I am more depressed about what is happening on the pitch and I hate to say it, I am begining to lose faith with Grayson. 

Photo: Action Images via Reuters