Unbeaten Run Continues

QPR 0 Derby County 2

Albrechtsen 80'

Villa 89'

Attendance: 14,311

Derby's unbeaten run and climb up the Championship table continued with a 2-0 win over QPR. The win was Derby's first league away win since the Playoff semi-final at Southampton in 2007, and Derby's first clean sheet in league play this year. The Rams dominated from start to finish in an all around performance that shows the team is starting to gel and believe they can win. Only 11 minutes in Nacer Barazite put a cross in that was tipped wide for a corner and showed Derby were here to play. Derby began to gain confidence and had two good opportunities to open the scoring right before the half when QPR Keeper Radek Cerney made a great save to stop Stephen Pearson, and a last ditch effort by Damien Stewart prevented Rob Hulse from netting right before half.

The second half started out with QPR coming out on the attack and saw a shot saved by the post and then Derby once again went on the attack. Damien Stewart once again had to make a last ditch tackle to prevent Hulse from netting and then Miles Addison, a revelation this season hit a 30 yarder that just went over the crossbar. In the 75th minute Tito Villa came on for Duke Ellington. On the 80th minute Martin Albrechtsen fired home the opener in almost a carbon copy of the goal he scored last week, rifled the ball into the back of the net giving Derby a 1-0 lead. Then Tito Villa got his first league goal and put the match to rest when he headed home a cross from Steven Davies in the 89th minute. Derby had thier first away win in over a year, thier first clean sheet of the season and continued to build confidence and momentum.

With this win, Derby climbed to 17th position in the Championship with 9 points. They are also on a 4 match unbeaten run and have taken 5 points out of 12 in the past 4 matches. Next up Birmingham City comes to Pride Park on the 30th of September. Can Derby keep up the momentum or will the high flying Blues take all the spoils?

Derby Take Another Point Off The Welsh

Derby County 1 Cardiff City 1

Albrechtsen 30;
McCormack 69 (pen)

Attendance:28,007

Derby picked up another point against Welsh opposition this Saturday with a draw against Cardiff at Pride Park. It is another step in gaining confidence by this side but also showed that this team has a long way to go. Martin Albrechtsen opened the scoring for Derby on the 30th minute with a clinical strike that opened his Derby account. However Cardiff would equalize in the 69th minute when Miles Addison make an ill advised lundge that gave Cardiff a penalty. Ross McCormack stepped up and sent Roy Carroll the opposite way leveling things. Unlike previous Derby sides, they battled for the point and did not collapse when Cardiff equalized. The ill advised tackle by Addison just shows that the 19 CM, while looking one for the future and playing well since he was given his shot, is still a bit aways from a finished product. However he is definitely one for the future and things like this will go away with more experience.

It would have been nice to get all three points, after the horrid start to the season, a point against an unbeaten club is a good start. In a span of one week, Derby claimed 5 points and moved up to 20th in the CCC table. However they are quickly losing touch with the leaders. Up next is a trip to Loftus Road against QPR and the ticked gouging they are trying to commit against the fans.

Derby Takes Point At Swansea

Derby County 1 Swansea City 1
Pearson (63) Williams (76)
Attendance: 14,003

Coming off there first win in almost a year, Derby traveled to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea City in this mid-week Championship fixture. With two key players out from the Sheffield United match, Kris Commons and Rob Hulse, Jewell opted for a 4-4-1-1 formation but quickly to a 4-4-2 that brought about more attacking options for Derby. Both sides had chances in the first half but failed to make any of them count. At half time it was 0-0.

The second half started off with no changes on either side and it was Paul Jewell who made the first change bringing on Nathan Ellington for Kaz in the 56th minute. In less then 7 minutes that substitution payed off when Ellington played a nice 1-2 ball to Stephen Pearson who slotted it home from 12 yards giving Derby a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute. Play was back and forth until Swansea got the equalizer on 76 minutes. The equalizer came off a corner that was headed in by Williams after some typical poor Derby defending. Jewell made two more changes to try and get the winner bringing on Steve Davies for Tito Villa in the 80th minute and Jay McEveley for Stephen Pearson in the 84th minute. Derby had one more chance to snatch all three points when Davies sliced a shot just wide on a Derby break. At the end of the 90 minutes it ended 1-1 with both sides taking a share of the spoils.

This is a good point for Derby, it is away from home and Derby didn't crumble after letting the equalizer in like they did last season. For Derby it was a haul of 4 points in 4 days getting Derby out of the drop zone, and an added bonus was notts florist losing again today. Next up is Cardiff City at Pride Park.

The Streak Is Over!

Derby County fans, players and management tasted victory in league play for the first time in 361 days or 36 league matches. The 2-1 victory over Sheffield United at Pride Park brought an end to the longest losing streak in Derby County history.

Rob Hulse fired in the winner on 71 minutes against his old side to secure the long awaited victory. Derby went ahead on 24 minutes when Paul Green headed in a cross from Kris Commons making 1-0 to Derby. Two minutes later Sheffield United pegged Derby back when Darius Henderson headed home the equalizer after poor defending let Derby down once again. The second half saw Paul Jewell bring on loan midfielder Nacer Barazite for another player on loan Kaz. That substitution was a crucial one as Barazite made a huge impact on the match in the second half, getting the assist to the winning goal. The winner that sent Pride Park and all Derby fans around the world into raptures was lashed home by Rob Hulse on 71 minutes. His 8 yard strike gave United Keeper Paddy Kenny no chance to save it . The goal was also Hulse's first goal for Derby and how sweet it was. Jewell made two more substitutions bringing on Nathan Ellington for the hero of the day Hulse on 85 minutes and Stephen Pearson came on for Kris Commons on 88 minutes. It was a nervy last 30 minutes after the winner was scored but Derby held on to claim its first 3 points of the Championship campaign, first win in 36 league matches and finally giving the loyal fans of Derby something to smile about in so long. It also made it better when Notts Florist and Fester both lost as well.

Derby had 18 shots with 6 on goal and two finding the back of the net. They had 9 corners, 54% of the possession and the attendance was 28,473, most very happy Rams fans. Next up is Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium this Tuesday 16 September.