“Tell me mam, me mam
To put the champagne on ice,
We’re gonna beat Forest twice,
Tell me mam, me mam.”
Of the many songs that emanated from the away end of the City Ground, it was, in the end, a little stanza sung to the tune of ‘Que Sera Sera’ that summed up the day (which was, by the way, a beautiful day for a game of football). During the pauses between lines, as 4,000 Derby supporters drew breath, the silence seemed almost eerie; the atmosphere in the ground funereal.
Lewin Nyatanga’s early goal, stabbed home from 12 yards after he was allowed a second bite of the cherry following Commons’ free kick, flattened the Forest fans, who only really stirred themselves when their men won a few corners, or to pour forth scorn every time
Kris Commons neared the touchline. Commons had to take plenty of abuse from some charming gentlemen who occupy the small stand to the away fans’ left - the one that wouldn’t look out of place at Swindon Town’s ground. It seems, however, to be water off Commons’ back now. The stocky number 7 has certainly had plenty of opportunity to get used to it in the past four months.
In the first half, Forest had more of the ball and passed it patiently, without ever looking likely to breach the Derby defence. On the one occasion that
Nathan Tyson did manage to release
Rob ‘The Alien’ Earnshaw with a flick between the two centre backs,
Stephen Bywater raced off his line quickly enough to force The Alien into an attempted lob, which cleared the roof of the net.
I felt fairly confident at half time, but knew that Derby needed a second. It duly and speedily arrived. I was busy asking my dad why
Robbie Savage was standing over a left-wing free kick when he curled it to the near stick, where big
Rob Hulse dived in to guide it across
Paul Smith and send us into raptures. Nottingham was indeed full of fun.
A raw, youthful Forest team didn’t have the guile or muscle to force their way back into the match, for all their probing passes. Ultimately, the Rams got the third and put themselves out of sight.
Paul Connolly overlapped
Mile Sterjovski on the right, getting round the back to give himself time to look up and pick out Hulse at the back post. The cross was accurate, cut out Smith and left Forest captain
James Perch feeling he had no choice but to shove the striker before he nodded it home, which he surely would have done. A booking for Perch, who had the temerity to protest his innocence.
Steve Davies, a player I rate very highly indeed, stepped up to place the penalty beyond the despairing dive of Smith.
Cruise control for Derby now - and cue a spectacular emotional meltdown for one of our Red friends, above us in the upper tier of the Bridgford End. Unable to cope with what he was witnessing, this slightly overweight young gentleman had what can only be described as a ‘massive paddy’. He raced to the balcony to scream abuse at the Derby faithful, his chins wobbling in time with the uncouth expressions of his uncontrollable, volcanic rage. As three stewards battled to subdue him, he continued to rain down his wrath on the by-now thoroughly amused black-and-white-clad fans below. I’m not 100% convinced that if left to his own devices, he wouldn’t have jumped over the balcony. As tantrums go, it was the most total, the most startling, the sorriest loss of temper I have ever seen.
‘Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio…’
To their credit, even at 3-0, Forest refused to let their heads drop and continued to attack. Had The Alien brought his shooting boots, it might have been a closer-run thing, but he managed to place a shot over the bar, then plant a header straight at Bywater when well positioned, only finally accepting an opportunity with 87 minutes on the clock - by which time, the Rams had been reduced to ten men, due to an injury to
Jay McEveley. With Derby stretched at the back after Martin Albrechtsen’s ill-judged foray forward,
Garath McCleary found room to cross for the smallest man on the pitch to nod home. There was still time for Perch to blaze over from close range, but it was too little too late for our beleaguered hosts, who face a real battle to stay up.
As for us, just a fantastic day. With 17 goals in the last six games, four straight league wins, an intelligent, sensible and clearly talented new manager, we went back up Brian Clough Way savouring Derby’s first league win at the City Ground since 1971.
Guess who was manager that day...
STEPHEN BYWATER – Dealt with everything Forest threw at him (and a couple of injudicious backpasses) very competently. 8
PAUL CONNOLLY – The skipper defended well and his overlapping run produced the perfect cross, from which Hulse earned the penalty. 8
MARTIN ALBRECHTSEN – Loses a point for romping off up the pitch with the ball at his feet when we were down to ten men. Lost the ball and consequently couldn’t get back in time to stop The Alien heading in Forest’s consolation goal. 7
LEWIN NYATANGA – ‘Doo doo doo / Lewin Nyatanga’ to the tune of ‘Do the Conga’ is my new favourite chant. Scored and defended sensibly until his enforced withdrawal with double vision, following a clash of heads. 8
JAY McEVELEY – One of the players brought back from the wilderness by Young Nigel, Jay did nothing wrong, as far as I can remember. Defended first, but got up to support the attackers when possible. Unfortunately, had to come off with a recurrence of his shoulder problem, leaving the Rams to play out the last few minutes with ten men. 8
NACER BARAZITE – Was replaced early doors holding his arm – ended up in hospital with a dislocated shoulder. One awful attempted clearance aside, I can’t remember too much of a contribution from the young Dutchman. 6
PAUL GREEN – Played well. Covered every blade of grass, as his wont. Greeny and Savage won the majority of the battles in the centre of midfield. 8
ROBBIE SAVAGE – I never, ever thought I would find myself singing ‘there’s only one Robbie Savage’. Tackled, headed, closed down, mopped up, played simple passes. One dicky backpass aside, a good display. Free kick delivery for the second goal was spot on. He will be the subject of a future blog… 8
STEVE DAVIES – MAN OF THE MATCH. I think that Davies could develop into a quality Premier League player. An elegant runner on the ball, he has a bit of pace and an eye for goal. He strikes me as a proper footballer – and showed he has an appetite for the scrap too, delighting the faithful with some satisfyingly meaty (and absolutely clean) challenges. Fully deserved his goal and hit the bar with a header, too. Ended the game playing as an emergency left back, after McEveley went off injured. 9
KRIS COMMONS – Not his most electrifying display, but the little fella is linking ever so well with big Hulsey, and is always likely to make something happen. Took all sorts of abuse from the Forest fans, as you can imagine. 8
ROB HULSE – Was pushing Davies hard for Man of the Match, but had to come off as a precaution after the third goal. Put in a real shift, scored a good header, is integral to the team. Once he’d gone off, we looked half as effective as we had when he was leading the line. 9
SUBS
MILE STERJOVSKI – Was given his chance when Barazite was forced off – for me, he did a job, without particularly standing out. Tended to sit quite deep, on Clough’s instruction (to stop Liverpool-loanee Paul Anderson from marauding down the left, I believe). 7
ANDY TODD - Slotted in at centre back in place of Nyatanga. No problems. 7
EMANUEL VILLA – Was utterly ineffectual after replacing Hulse. Looked lost and was miles off the pace. 5
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