Rovers fluffed the chance to sneak into the playoffs on goal-difference, on Sunday afternoon as Derby County’s youthful side strolled to their tenth home victory of the campaign, courtesy of a resounding 3-0 scoreline.
With Rovers having an eight-day break prior to this game, there was only one change to the well-rested side that drew 2-2 with Swansea City, at Ewood Park, last Saturday. Ben Brereton was rewarded for his impressive cameos off the bench, in recent weeks, with only his third league start of the campaign – all of which have come away from home. There were two big omissions from the Derby County team which caught the eye, as former Rover Tom Lawrence was ruled out following an injury he picked up on Thursday, in the Rams’ FA Cup defeat to Manchester United. The second, rather more profile omission, was that of Wayne Rooney, who missed his first game for the Rams since his eligibility kicked in, in January.
As the travelling Rovers fans made themselves comfortable in the away end, it was Adam Armstrong who got the game underway for the Blues, as they arrived at Pride Park hoping they can capitalise on the dropped points throughout the Saturday fixtures.
The first chance of the game fell to Rovers inside the first 90 seconds of the game, as a corner was whipped in from the left-hand side by Stewart Downing. The cross was a deep one, which Tosin Adarabioyo connected with, however the defender was unable to keep his nod on target, as it flew over the bar.
Rovers continued their pressure during the early stages of the game and received another corner on the eighth minute which Downing again took. This time the delivery was angled towards the penalty spot, before it was flicked on, into the feet of Ben Brereton, who was unmarked at the back-post. The former Nottingham Forest man did well to bring it down, however his shot was fired over from close-range.
Derby’s first half-chance of the game came after 11 minutes as Craig Forsyth’s first-time cross-cum-shot looped over Christian Walton and the back-post as Rovers were awarded a goal-kick.
The game had petered out until the 18th minute, where the first save of the game was made. Rovers had lost possession deep in their own half, before the ball was played into the path of veteran forward, Chris Martin. The former Norwich City forward lined up a curling effort from the top of the box and managed to test Walton, who did enough to palm it behind for a corner, which Rovers dealt with.
Derby were feeling themselves into the game by the 20th minute, which was shown by their second attempt at goal, which came through Max Bird. The midfielder picked the ball up on the edge of the box and released a shot that deflected off Ryan Nyambe and was easily claimed by Walton.
Moments later, Martyn Waghorn saw his penalty appeal waved away by referee John Brooks. The former Rangers forward did well to tiptoe past Nyambe and Adarabioyo, before falling to the floor under pressure from the Rovers backline. Mr. Brooks however felt he went down to easily and waved away the home side’s protests.
The game evolved into an end-to-end tie, as Rovers soon made their way up the other end of the field and nearly broke the deadlock. Sam Gallagher and Ben Brereton combined well, as the former tried to tee up the latter, but Brereton saw the ball roll away from his control, before it was cleared. From the clearance, which saw Rovers pick up a throw-in, a cross into the box saw Gallagher nod towards goal, which Derby ‘keeper, Ben Hamer was equal to.
The 25th minute saw the first card of the game shown as Lewis Travis was booked for a foul on Louis Sibley.
Sibley made sure that, that foul didn’t affect his mindset or his technique as he stepped up, less than a minute later, to fire the home side ahead from distance with a strike that Wayne Rooney himself would have been proud of. The 18-year old, who was making his first league start for the Rams, picked the ball up from deep and drove towards goal before releasing an thunderbolt from around 25 yards out that flew past Walton and nestled perfectly into the top left-hand corner of the goal to put Derby 1-0 up, making Sibley’s first professional goal one to remember.
Derby continued their dominance of into the 36th minute where Waghorn was denied by a superb stop by Walton. Forsyth delivered in an inviting low ball, that Waghorn ran onto. The forward did well to get beyond Nyambe before releasing a low left-footed effort that Walton did well to save with his legs, before the defence cleared.
The home side’s spell of dominance continued as they continued pulling Rovers apart with their crisp passing. The Rams built play out from the back as Sibley and Graeme Shinnie interchanged passes, before Shinnie tried his luck from range. Walton did well to get down and deny Bird from distance, however he couldn’t hold onto the ball as he palmed it straight into the path of Martin who only had to tap the ball home, into an empty net, to give the home side a 2-0 lead, 10 minutes before half-time.
The 43rd minute nearly saw Waghorn treble the Derby lead as he was played in behind the Rovers defence but squandered his chance. The forward got beyond the visiting defenders and despite only being faced with Walton, he did brilliantly to sidestep the on-rushing ‘keeper before releasing a tame effort towards goal. Unluckily for the 30-year old, his effort, although reached the goalline, lacked the accuracy to take it over, as it bounced off the post and back into play, allowing Rovers to hastily clear.
As half-time approached, referee John Brooks again went to his pocket, as he booked Joe Rothwell in the 45th minute for a foul on halfway. That booking proved to be the last action of the half as Brooks wasted no time in letting the first-half continuing, as he called for the break after only one minute of time was added.
The half-time emotions would have been contrasting in the respective dressing rooms, given the circumstances that both sides were in.
Phillip Cocu and his coaching staff would have been delighted with how his young and relatively inexperienced side had orchestrated themselves, especially after their midweek defeat in the FA Cup against Manchester United. Although the Rams had only had three days rest, it looked as if they were the fitter and sharper team, as they tore Rovers apart from the 20th minute onwards, as they grew into the tie. Cocu would have been overjoyed with how his side had grabbed two quick goals but would have been disappointed that they hadn’t come into the dressing room, 3-0 up. Furthermore, the former Barcelona midfielder would have been pleased that his young side had managed to produce such a performance without Wayne Rooney in the team, which proved to the doubters that his side could perform without England’s highest goalscorer in the team.
In contrast, Tony Mowbray in the away dressing room would have been forgiven for being ruthless and aggressive with his side after such a dismal performance in the first-half. Although the Blues had started brightly, they had been unable to capitalise on some decent goalscoring opportunities, before seemingly collapsing at the sight of the marauding Rams. Although the home side had a decent home record this season, having only lost two games at Pride Park all season, it looked as if Rovers were the team that had played on Thursday night, and Derby had the weeks rest. As the Rovers side grew into the game, they became more lethargic and unable to retain possession, which would have no doubt irked Mowbray.
As the players returned for the second-half, it was Derby who got the game back underway in the hope that they could see out the victory and potentially make a late surge for the playoff places, in the nine games of the season that remained.
The first chance of the second-half fell to the Rams from around 20-yards out, as Jason Knight was fouled on the edge of the area. Waghorn stood up to take the set-piece which produced a fine save from Walton, as he conceded a corner. From the corner, Derby saw pinball played inside the Rovers box before it fell to Forsyth whose shot from a tight angle was held by Walton.
Sibley again tried his luck from outside the box on the 52nd minute, but he was unable to replicate his first-half heroics, as Walton held the strike with ease.
On the 56th minute, Stewart Downing played a high ball into the box towards Gallagher, which saw the forward become the ‘meat in the Derby County sandwich’ as Hamer and Andre Wisdom both clattered into the forward. The loose ball bounced out towards Brereton, who touched the ball into Armstrong who was fouled on the edge of the area, as Rovers were awarded a free-kick, that Armstrong drilled low into the wall.
Just before the set-piece was taken, however, Rovers made their first change of the game. Bradley Johnson returned to a warm Pride Park welcome, as he replaced Lewis Travis in the centre of the park for the visitors.
Downing saw his cross cleared out towards Amari’i Bell on the 62nd minute, however the full-back’s strike towards goal deflected towards the bottom left-hand corner, which saw Hamer spring into life in order to palm it past the post and behind for a corner that the young Derby side dealt with.
Max Bird had another attempt at goal on the 66th minute, which again, Walton was equal to, as he got behind the strike well, to smother the ball.
Bird remained part of the action come the 71st minute as he was booked for a foul on Joe Rothwell midway inside the Derby half.
A minute later, Tony Mowbray played his cards in terms of his substitutions as he introduced Danny Graham and John Buckley in-place of Sam Gallagher and Ben Brereton.
The ball stuck up top for Rovers after the free-kick was only half-cleared. Graham managed to bring the ball down to Rothwell who shimmied himself an angle to lay off Bradley Johnson who was unable to replicate his Ewood Park heroics from last weekend, as the first-time shot ballooned over the bar.
Louie Sibley soon found himself in the book for bringing down Johnson.
On the 75th minute, Derby’s formation evolved into a five-at-the-back as Martyn Waghorn and Louie Sibley departed the field and were replaced by Curtis Davies and Jack Marriott, as the home side reverted to a 5-4-1 to try and see out the victory.
The 85th minute saw Rovers’ misery compounded as Elliott Bennett conceded Rovers’ ninth penalty of the season as he brought down Jason Knight in the box, which gave Chris Martin the opportunity to grab a brace from the spot. With the forward and ‘keeper in position, after Bennett received a booking for the challenge, Martin stepped up confidently to convert against the on-loan shot-stopper as he coolly slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal to seal the victory for the home side.
Derby’s final chance of the game came on the 88th minute as Morgan Whittaker replaced Jayden Bogle.
As the 90th minute approached, four added minutes of time was indicated by the official, John Brooks.
Brooks himself – who refereed Rovers’ 2-0 away win against Bristol City in December – came into this tie having not handed out a red card all season. In true Murphy’s Law fashion, Brooks’ first red card of the season fell to Rovers’ youngster, John Buckley, which rounded off what was an afternoon to forget for the visitors. In a game that was all about the youngsters, Buckley saw the red mist descend after a poor challenge on Davies led to a melee which resulted in the dismissal.
That proved to be the final act of the game as the final whistle was soon blown on an afternoon that dampened Rovers’ playoff push.
In complete contrast to last week’s game, this tie ended with whimper that befits the dire performance. Although Rovers never really got out of the blocks, Derby’s youngsters have to be commended for a brilliant performance, especially without their talisman in the aforementioned Rooney and Lawrence. Whilst Rovers’ under-18s got into the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup in the week, this game almost delivered some ‘poetic irony’ in that Rovers themselves were beaten by a team made up mostly of teenagers.
One positive that can be taken out of this game, is the fact that Darragh Lenihan will be back for next weekend, after serving the last game of his two-match suspension. Although there were some glimpses of hope during the opening 20 minutes of the game, no player in the navy third kit really looked up for the game, barring probably Walton, who made some fine stops throughout the 90 minutes.
With Rovers having missed their chance to go into the playoffs with results yesterday going in their favour, they now find themselves 10th in the table, with 53 points and a positive goal difference of seven, after 37 games.
As the games can now be counted down on one’s fingers, next week’s crucial tie against Bristol City, sees Rovers return home on Saturday 14th March at 3pm, in a game that will probably decide whether Rovers will seriously contend for the playoffs in the final straight of the campaign, or not. Following that home game, Rovers have back-to-back away games, against relegation-threatened due Wigan Athletic and Barnsley. The first clash, against the Latics takes place on Wednesday 18th March at 7:45pm, whilst the second clash, against the Tykes is on Saturday 21st March at 3pm.
