For Those Who Did Not Attend

30,280 spectators on an afternoon which was at first spring-like and then cold and wintery. (I guess) 1000 from Barnsley watched this game. And those who did not come missed a really exciting game with a lot of talent on display. Barnsley started very brightly and it looked as if they would easily beat us. For half an hour they were by far the better side. Then Derby started to pick up their game and the new formation started to look effective. This was thanks to Russell, Vydra and Nugent and then Tom Ince as all worked hard and showed some good penetrative stuff. Vydra played as though his season was just begun as a serious contender for a place in the side. He played mostly on the left whilst Ince was in the middle.

The half ended at 0-0 but Barnsley were quick and direct and came close to scoring 3 or 4 times, whereas Derby played many sideways and backwards passes. I remarked to my mate that it was a surprise Derby could not learn from Barnsley’s example when - lo and behold - all of a sudden they did. At least they started to attack more directly and made use of their more numerous (than of late) forward players. De Sart looked like a thoughtful player but he made many inaccurate passes and was our weakest link.

During the interval he was replaced by Butterfield. This seemed not to auger too well given Butters' tendency to slow the game down by his ineffective passes. However instructions from somebody to go forward more often seem to have had an effect and he was much better in this respect. Therefore Derby had more bite, what with the new formation, and a deal more urgency. We started to look much more likely to score.

More or less against the run of play Barnsley scored. And it was from another dead ball situation. This time from a huge Roberts throw in with a high trajectory that landed right on the penalty spot. Carson could not get it and our defence just did not pick up Jones and he scored an easy header into the corner. Poor defending - again. I don’t know who should have been marling him.

At the time of their scoring Derby were looking really dangerous and three minutes later Tom Ince equalised with his 13th goal of the season to provide much relief for the Derby crowd. From then on Derby were superior with occasional Barnsley excursions - all of which needed stout defending and great goalkeeping. At the other end, shots from Russell, Nugent and Ince were saved and their goalie kept them in the game by some really fine saves. Eventually though, after a number of penetrating attacks, Nugent collected the ball and used all his strength to force a shot past Rhys-Davies. The shot was deflected but it was on target and would have gone in anyway.
I had a good line of sight.

There followed much excitement as Barnsley pressed and Derby defended and almost scored again by exploiting the increased space left by their attempt to restore the balance.

Positives for me were. A likely successful new formation and Nugent settling with really intelligent attacking. Johnny Russell coming back to his better form and as always no lack of effort. Johnson having a good game and the defence as rock-like as it used to be against really quick and direct Barnsley attack. Olsson proving his worth as an attacker and a defender. A still solid back 4 in spite of injuries to Keogh and Shackell. No doubt there are others but that will do for now.