For Those Who Could not Attend

PLAY-OFF SEMI FINAL - FIRST LEG.

For Those who Could Not Attend. Friday 11th May
Visitors - Fulham
Referee Roger East
Crowd. 27,163
Weather/Conditions. Dry and mild but wet later
Pitch Condition - Immaculate, as ever.

Team. Carson, Wisdom, Keogh, Davis, Forsyth
Huddlestone, Weimann, Johnson, Lawrence, Vydra, Weimann, Jerome

Subs. Palmer, Pearce, Roos, Vydra, Hanson, Ledley, Nugent,

There is a situational similarity between these two teams. At Christmas, Derby were in automatic promotion position and are now just recovering from the disappointment of missing out. However Derby must have largely put this behind them and have picked up form in the last few weeks. Fulham also have experienced a huge disappointment. As close as last week they were in automatic promotion contention. Lowly Birmingham put a big hole in their plans. Their disappointment will be both very recent and very bitter. The question is which side will be mentally ready for this game.

And the anewer was that Fulham appeared not to suffer from it, at least not for the first 30 minutes, during which they must have had 80% possession. Derby however kept their shape and defended well keeping Fullam to just a few half chances, with Derby beginning to seriously threaten the Fulham goal from a number of slick breakaways created by great passing by Huddz, Keogh and Johnson. Then from a lovely Huddlestone pass to Forsyth his subsequent perfect cross, saw Jerome, by sheer power and strength, head the ball between the goalie and his left post. A beautiful goal that silenced the increasingly quiet away section, allowed a huge crescendo of cheering from the Derby fans. Whilst it came against the run of play, Derby’s quick breaks should have been a warning. The half continued with Derby now beginning to dominate and with half-time coming a bit too soon for Derby.

Fulham came out again controlling play almost totally but with Derby keeping their shape and defending solidly, restricting Fulham to just a few chances from distance - one a beautiful dipping strike by MacDonald from about 20 yards that had Carson beaten until it hit the crossbar with great thump. Ayite then had a super chance from 6 yards which somehow he blasted over the bar. Cairney then got in a great shot with GOAL written all over it, only for Carson to flip it over the bar. Derby continued to threaten on quick breaks using the speed of Lawrence, Vydra, and Wisdom but despite going close they failed to add to their lead. As a fan, one doubted The Rams’ ability to withstand the constant Fulham pressure for 45 minutes, but withstand it we did.

All Derby players were truly great. I gave them all 8 with perhaps a 9 for Curtis Davis. Keogh too, was outstanding. Wisdom deserves a mention as do Lawrence and Forsyth. A special mention also for Weimann who totally marked out of the game wing back Fredericks. It was a good performance against a very talented Fulham side boasting a number of players destinyed for the PL next season - hopefully not with Fulham but with other PL clubs now hoping for Fulham to falter.

The ref seemed to favour Fulham to me, but it’s a change for the second half and the score is Derby 1 - Fulham 0 - with all players quite a bit knackered and needing recovery time and treatment until Monday night. I hope we can win it without extra-time and penalties.