 Monday, 5th Mar 2012 14:39 by I.Saw The Rams looked set for another big defeat until something clicked and they found their fighting spirit – something that has been sorely lacking for far too long.
Birmingham 2 vs. 2 DerbySt. Andrews GroundSaturday March 4thAttendance:17,996 (1415 Travelling Rams)
Referee: Paul Tierney
The Teams:
Derby County: Fielding (GK); Green, Barker, Shackell, Roberts; Hendrick, Bryson, Carroll (Buxton 85); Tyson (B.Davies 59), Robinson, S. Davies (Ball 80). Unused Substitutes: Legzdins (GK), Naylor.
Birmingham City: Myhill (GK); Spector, Caldwell, C. Davies, Ramage; Burke (Redmond 85), N'Daw, Mutch, Townsend; Huseklepp (Zigic 71), King. Unused Substitutes: Ibanez, Gomis, Elliott.
Match Stats: Blues - Rams Possession: 50% - 50% Shots On Target: 6 - 3 Shots Off Target: 8 – 4 Corners: 10 - 3 Fouls: 9 – 12 Most Fouls: Mutch 4 - Robinson 3
I. Saw’s Match Report: If you think the bottoms dropped out of your world, drink at the Forge Tavern and the world will drop out of your bottom. At least mine has. Never change your mind, stick with a plan and go for it. Good advice, if only I’d followed it. Brummagen, park next to Halford’s as usual, a guaranteed quick getaway. Trip Advisor and Google Maps, looking for a pre match snack, find the Old Rose nearly a mile away and start walking. On the route march, the Forge Tavern appears out of nowhere, there’s an A Board outside promising food and Sky Sports, a quick glance through the window reveals hand pumps. Mind changed, you go in. No real ale, the pumps empty and rather than walk out you order a pint of Stella. Can men walk into and out of a bar without ordering especially when you’re asked what you want as soon as you reach the bar? I seem honour bound to have a drink but maybe that’s just me. There’s no food yet, they’ve gone to get it. As you sup the whiff hits you, more Chlorine than a swimming pool, or perhaps, it’s Ammonia. Liverpool and Arsenal fight it out on the big screens. Sitting in clear view of the kitchen doesn’t inspire confidence; open dried dog food on top of the fridge freezer tells a story. Eventually an army of frozen food arrives with a plethora of helpers who nice as they appear to be I’m not sure I’d trust any of them with a sharp implement let alone a match. The “chefs” tongue sticks out as he concentrates on opening the bags. At least the crisps are in date. You should move. Now. But it’s over half a mile in the wrong direction to the Old Rose and there won’t be time for food and so you stay. And order a second pint. A toilet break reveals signs explaining about the use of “sniffer dogs” in the establishment and there’s no angle of less than 45 degrees on any surface in the loos. A quality gaff we stumbled into for sure then. Half time in the footie, a brief shower stopped, signs taken of time to go. St Andrews, on a hill top, the long way round, searched after the turnstiles, concourse TV’s turned to EPSN and Scottish football, it’s not feeling a good day and it’s not getting better. Team news. Green at right back, wonder kid (we wonder why) Carroll preferred to Bailey, and three up front with Tyson, Robinson and Davies of the S variety. Ball benched along with Ben D, point saver Buxton and Naylor. Game under way, we stand to attention as always. A brief flurry of white Derby shirts attacking then it turns Blue. Bluer still just before the twenty mark as a corner is not cleared and the ball ricochets into the Rams net, a big screen makes it no clearer until Erik Huseklepp in announced to have stolen the goal. It stays the same till half time when the police make their obligatory arrests and throw out a couple of fans. They could have had a go at the ones next to me, two pie-eyed Neanderthals whose hand gesture repertoire of one finger, two fingers, a circle (with full use of the wrist) and at least one other deserved some sort of attention. Hardly little to excite them though, we haven’t had a single shot on target, and whilst singing songs about Marlon King is all well and good it doesn’t really float my boat. That man, the one you love to hate is given an acre of space to play in, our notional left full back isn’t here, King is. Control, low shot under Fielding and we are two down. Roberts comes trotting back reaching the penalty area just as the ball is booted out of the net. Our manager hauls off the ineffectual Tyson who got a knock in the first half and makes a substitution. It sparks a fantastic fight back from the Rams, trailing by two goals, Ben Davies with his first touch of the game floats in an invitation to treat. It’s a gift gleefully accepted by namesake Steve’s snap of the neck, the net billows, and the contact’s sealed. Congratulations all round, a quality ball in and a quality finish. One becomes two. Paul Green, advanced position, is fed by Jeff Hendrick. Our midfielder, come right back, runs square across the penalty box and shows complete composure with an exquisite pass to Theo Robinson. What follows is perfect control by Robinson; he takes one deft touch, before he fires the ball under the Blues Boz Myhill and into the far corner of the net. In the stands, an ovation as we welcome Theo’s run the length of the pitch to celebrate with us, his fans. Two polished pearls of goals then. Add in some Derbyshire grit with last ditch defending, factor in Frank Fielding’s saves, grin as Green gains favour in the eyes of the referee and then smile as we take an unexpected point back up the A38. Bizarrely, our manager, on the radio, afterwards claimed the substitutions had little to do with the result, to my mind that’s akin to saying the building of the M1 had little to do with the flow of traffic from London to Derby.
Man Of The Match: Paul Green, created the second goal, cleared one off the line and put in a “here, there and everywhere” performance. Oh and didn’t concede a penalty either.
Referee: Paul Tierney from Wigan missed “one up and under” as man mountain Nikola Zigic was booked for simulation, in hindsight the wrong decision but apart from that he controlled the game well, kept it flowing and was even handed throughout. Well done referee.
Manager’s Reaction: Nigel Clough praised his teams fighting spirit: "It was a great Championship game. I didn't think we deserved to go 2-0 down - their first goal was cruel as it took a deflection off Theo and then Huseklepp, and I thought at that stage it summed up our luck recently.” "But it was important we stayed positive and I don't think the team's spirit has been in question this season; we showed great character to pull it back from two goals down.” "Even after getting back in the game at 2-2, we had chances and situations to win the game. I told the lads not to -settle for a 2-2; and even in the 94th minute we tried to breakaway and score, and we were very close to doing that." "The supporters were unbelievable and I hope we gave them something to cheer about. Even when we went behind, we were positive, trying to create stuff and I thought they recognised the effort and the endeavour of the team, which has been pretty much there all season.” "We have just been searching for that consistency to put it together for 90 minutes. But the nice thing is that we have been playing with confidence, as it could have been difficult to get the players doing that having lost a few games."
Next Match:Derby vs. BlackpoolPride Park Stadium7:45pm – Tuesday March 6thPhoto: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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