I groaned when the board went up with four additional minutes of stoppage time, because I never imagined in a million years witnessing the incredible few minutes of football that was dished up in that period, handing us the most unlikely point and providing an unbelievable end to the game.
But let’s not beat around the bush here, because for 90 minutes we were pretty poor and never looked like scoring. We didn’t seem to really want the game and were second best in so many areas. It wasn’t that we were terrible, it was just a poor team performance and collectively we just didn’t get going.
The quality of our passing was poor, particularly to our forward players, so we struggled to get them on the ball and involved and that meant we couldn’t build up any rhythm or momentum because we kept giving it away cheaply. I didn’t think Derby had to work hard at all as it was our own mistakes that allowed them to capitalise.
We showed little intelligence when we had good possession and more often than not, we just went for long hopeful balls forward rather than passing and moving with intent and understanding. So in that sense, it was reminiscent of a Neil Warnock percentage style approach to the match.
But it wasn’t just that, it was how poor we were when we challenged for the ball. We made so many good interceptions and won plenty of tackles, but usually you’re able to direct some of those clearances a little better to help retain possession, or put the ball in an area where another player can get it under control and build from it. But most of these situations led to us either putting the ball out of play or giving it straight back to the opposition, because we adopted a total safety first approach to our clearances.
We didn’t do a good enough job of pressing the play either and allowed The Rams time and space to control the ball, turn on it, or generally do whatever they liked. Whenever they ran at us, they caused havoc and we seemed a lot more lightweight than normal with lots of our key men losing their individual battles. We were losing 50-50 tackles and getting shrugged off the ball with relative ease.
The full-backs yet again had very little protection and before Kris Commons opening the scoring in the 40th minute, it was obvious the amount of possession and time we were letting them have was going to cause problems. They doubled up on the full-backs at every opportunity and we always looked in a state of panic at the back as a result.
And we couldn’t complain when the goal did come, having already escaped a few other hairy moments where we made several last ditch clearances from crosses or corners. Any one of those may have landed at the feet of a Derby player and when Bradley Orr’s poor clearance allowed the hosts to double up and break free into the box, and the cross found its way to Commons at the back post, who cleverly scooped his effort over Paddy Kenny and into the net.
Commons is a good player, but even here, we allowed him so much time to get on the ball and turn and do whatever he liked with it. It was no surprise to me that he scored, but when he went off injured a few minutes later, I expected us to do much better and was optimistic about our chances in the second-half.
But we remained second best to the ball on a lot of occasions, losing second balls or many 50-50 challenges where the likes of Alejandro Faurlin and many others, were bundled or hustled off the ball. I thought we were a little bullied out there, with none of our players really rolling up their sleeves and winning their tackles or being tough.
Darren Leacock had Heidar Helguson pretty much in his pocket and dominated our strikers in the air and on the deck. I was a bit disappointed we didn’t work their defence a lot more, because they were there for the taking but we didn’t seem to have enough belief to get at them and do damage.
And then they doubled their lead. Jamie Mackie was trying to get through on goal, and complaining that Leacock had obstructed him and spent far too long down the wrong end of the pitch as Derby went forward and won a free-kick. Mackie eventually got back as it was taken but didn’t mark his man, and again, a two-on-one situation materialised and Orr was left isolated as The Rams worked the ball across the box to James Bailey who finished superbly from the edge of the area.
There was still 30 minutes to play and we pretty much went through the motions, trying to muster something but getting very little reward. Patrick Agyemang, Leon Clarke and Akos Buzsaky were all introduced for Adel Taarabt, Heidar Helguson and Shaun Derry. But nothing really went right for them until we hit stoppage time.
The disappointing thing about the match was Derby weren’t that good either. They held possession well and tried to play from the back, but we allowed them too much of the ball when we didn’t need to and their passing a lot of the times, was just as bad as ours.
But then everything changed. For all those who criticise Patrick Agyemang – he showed what we lacked for most of the game, because as soon as he got the ball he had one thing on his mind and that was to take on his man and go directly towards goal. It was this intent and belief that he might get something that led to his goal and it was an excellent solo effort.
He got the ball from Leon Clarke, assessed quickly that he was in a one-on-one situation with Shaun Barker and while he still had plenty to do, he shifted the ball and played it forward, bursting past Barker and opening his angle to give him a chance of a shot on goal. It was a super finish, even if it did bobble into the corner of the net, but he had Bywater beaten the moment it left his foot.
Had we had any of this earlier in the game, we would have had success, because the Derby defence were there for the taking and I personally don’t rate Stephen Bywater, so I was disappointed we didn’t test him more. The two proper strikes we had on target beat him and were goals.
Suddenly there was renewed optimism, even though we all expected it was Agyemang’s strike was just a consolation goal. But there was a feeling we would get another chance and Derby made a substitution to add another 30 seconds or so to proceedings.
Then we won a corner and you sensed that a big chance would come out of it, but it wasn’t going to be for us. Akos Buzsaky swung the ball in but it was cleared and suddenly Derby broke, with three or four players bursting forward and only Alejandro Faurlin scrambling back. It looked a nailed on certainty that they’d finish the game off and a through ball saw Bailey put through one-on-one with Paddy Kenny.
As this unfolded, the fans were not moaning. There was more of a collective feeling of “oh well, we had to throw everybody forward to try” but Kenny did what good goalkeepers are supposed to do. He stood and stood and stood up for as long as possible and made himself as big as target as he could and saved Bailey’s strike. It was somewhat unconventional as it pretty much just hit him, but nonetheless, it was a brilliant save.
And for some reason, I just knew at that point, we were going to grab an equaliser. It was almost as if we decided that we’d been let off the hook, so we’d make the most of that and send the last kick of the game down the pitch to score. And we did.
Actually Derby had the ball and pathetically kicked it off for a throw as they attempted to see the game out. The ball was retrieved and played back to Kenny who launched one final punt down the pitch. It landed just outside the edge of the box, where Leacock bundled all over Agyemang and fouled him.
I was up off my seat screaming for a free-kick that would have been ideal for Buzsaky and the referee put the whistle to his mouth, but the ball dropped to Jamie Mackie and he waited to see what would happen next…
And wow…you know, I thought Mackie didn’t give Orr anywhere near enough protection throughout the match, but you have to admire how he just keeps at it. I suppose he was a little bit fortunate when he twisted and turned his way past two players under pressure, but it was the composure he showed in front of goal that was most impressive. The way he shaped his body and remained cool gave me the feeling he was going to score before he shot and it was a fine, fine finish and sent everybody in the away end into raptures.
I don’t recall going as wild as that for many, many years. I was completely delirious and jumping up and down, screaming and throwing my arms around, high-fiving and hugging every random Ranger around me who were doing equally the same. It was just absolutely fantastic and such an adrenaline shot that had everybody on the biggest high you could imagine. Just how did we do it and where did that come from?
It was a very special moment and one those small set of events that make football so, so beautiful. In the space of three minutes, I went from groaning at another four minutes of added time, to thinking to myself that I wouldn’t be bothering with Ipswich or Leicester away if this is what we’d get for all the cost of tickets, trains and time to wanting to book as soon as the match was over.
And while it’s clear that based on this performance, we still need additions to the side and more gelling time between the existing players, it didn’t matter. While we looked short of striking options and lacked width and shape at times, sometimes through indiscipline in terms of holding positions, honestly, who cares?
Football’s a funny old game. I’m still on a high now and something tells me that ending is not going to be topped for a very long time. Brilliant.
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