City 0 Derby 0
Expectations were high for the faithful at the Walkers as the highest attendance of the season so far, swelled by a large Derby County following, the Foxes took on the lowly Rams, whose one point from 5 previous away games made it seem as if a home banker was assured, especially after good away points were bagged at Middlesborough and Coventry after the reverse against Preston in the last home game.
Team selection was eagerly anticipated as Nigel Pearson “went for the points” at Coventry after going behind and bringing on 3 strikers as substitutes and it nearly paid off. Steve Howard kept his place up front with Matt Fryatt, Howard replacing Yann Kermorgant and Richie Wellens coming in for Paul Gallagher. DJ Campbell retained his place on the bench. Andy King was in the centre of mid-field, probably to extinguish any threat from former Foxes player Robbie Savage who received a mixed welcome, probably the boos out weighing the cheers (were there any?).
With the League probably expecting a “Firey” local derby encounter, Premiership Referee Mike Dean and his Assistants were in the middle with their, how can I put it, bright pink tops on, so thank you Rams for wearing black shirts, where were your traditional white shirts? In the wash?….
City started well and a good move involving Howard, Fryatt and Oakley ended in Howard heading over, desparately trying to open his account for the season. Shortly afterwards a Kris Commons shot from 25 yards was easily dealt with by Chris Weale, but it was all City now and several intricate passing movements kept City in the Rams half.
After 10 minutes, Fryatt found space and raced through on goal, only to see his low shot well saved by the Rams keeper Stephen Bywater from 12 yards. The City crowd got behind their team and rival chanting between the 2 sets of fans made it a good atmosphere in the ground.
Five minutes later, good work by Lloyd Dyer on the left ended with his cross being headed over by Fryatt. City kept pressing forward as Derby encamped in their own half, with skipper Robbie Savage seemingly everywhere on the pitch, shouting his instructions to his team mates, as if they could understand them! The Rams offered little in the way of attacking play and seemed content with their spoiling tactics.
After 23 minutes, Oakley flicked on a Berner throw in to Wellens who advanced on goal, but from a narrow angle fired into the side netting, sections of the crowd thinking it had hit the back of the net. Ten minutes later, City won a free kick 20 yards out after some desparate Derby defending, Oakley passing to Andy King, but his shot just missed the right post. Minutes later King had another shot that ended up in Row Z.
No Medics required in the first half so only one minute of injury time, Chris Weale had to be reminded of the half time whistle as by now he was probably nodding off! City had played the best football but without really creating clear cut chances. King and Oakley both had good halves with Morrison looking comfortable at right back and infact he had plenty of space going forward with a couple of good runs, Hobbs and Brown dealing with what little threat the Rams had from Hulse and Commons.
The second half started as the first ended with the City pushing forward looking for the opening goal, Derby’s only threat coming from long throw-ins. After 55 minutes, good work by Dyer ended with Fryatt shooting over from 20 yards. Then an Oakley cross from the right found Howard going up with keeper Bywater with the keeper holding on to the ball well under pressure.
With half an hour to go, Derby made their first substitution with former City loanee Lee Hendrie coming on for Lee Croft, to shouts of derision from the Foxes fans.
Then a scare for the City as Commons pushed forward unchallenged in the middle of the park, shooting from 20 yards out, his shot skimming the top of the cross bar, much to the City fans relief. Then Fryatt found “out of the game” Dyer on the left, he cut into the box, beating 2 players, but his angled shot hit the wrong side of the netting. Hulse went down in the City penalty area but his vociferous claims for a penalty kick were quickly turned down by Referee Dean, Savage having his usual “comments” running away with the Official.
Out of sorts Fryatt left the action with manager Pearson bringing on Martyn Waghorn upfront to partner Howard with 25 minutes to go. Then Derby had their first real go of the game forcing 3 corners in a row, but the reliable Hobbs was everywhere with some excellent defensive work.
A cross from the left found Howard who headed wide despite his claims for a corner. Shots from Oakley and Howard were both blocked in a packed penalty box. With just over 10 minutes to go Kermorgant replaced Dyer in mid-field, with the Foxes mid-field players seemingly playing where they wanted to in attempt to force an opening, but Oakley and Wellen’s passes were not succeeding and Derby had a couple of rare breakaways.
Weale then saved an easy header as City played consistly down the right with no width on the left after Dyer’s departure. Crosses and passes into the Derby box were generally poor as Hendrie was replaced by McEverley with 5 minutes to go.
The City crowd, or the ones who didn’t see the assistant referees flag go up, went wild as they thought Oakleys close range shot from a Howard knock down counted, but Howard was adjudged offside. An Oakley cross went staight into Bywater’s hands and then Howard saw the yellow card after disagreeing with a Referee Dean’s decision.
As the 4 minutes of additional time arrived, the Foxes fans had a couple of very nervous minutes. The reliable Hobbs lost the ball to Commons 40 yards out, and as Commons ran through on goal, Hobbs recovered to send in an excellent, well-timed tackle in the box, with the ball breaking free, City gave away a direct free kick on the edge of the box. As Savage, it had to be, lined himself up for the kick, hands over eyes were seen, but his shot, after a rebound, found its way into Weale’s hands. Phew!!!
The final whistle blew and a point was gained amongst the general feeling it should have been 3 for the City. Derby players and fans, and no doubt manager Nigel Clough, were ecstatic with a share of the spoils, doubling their away points for the season.
City keep themselves in touch, but converting the 6 draws so far obtained this season into victories is now essential if a play-off place or better is to be obtained, and home wins against the likes of lowly Peterborough and Derby must start coming along.
Manager Pearson was disappointed reflecting that a win was deserved against a negative Rams side and City didn’t ask enough questions of the Rams. The Championship is a hard league to get a run going with banker results far from certain. Later, on the way home, hearing Forest had beaten the the Geordies and had gone above us in the table with the highest crowd of the day in the Championship made it a disappointing day.
Bring on Mr. Warnock!!!!
City: Weale, Morrison, Hobbs, Brown, Berger, Wellens, Oakley, King, Dyer, Howard, Fryatt. Subs: Logan, Kermorgant (for Dyer), Gallagher, Adams, Campbell, Waghorn (For Fryatt), McGivern.
Derby: Bywater, Stoor, Barker, Leacock, Moxey, Croft, Savage, Livermore, Teale, Commons, Hulse. Subs: Connolly (for Stoor), Hendrie (for Croft), McEveley (for Hendrie), Deeney, Buxton, Mills.
Referee: M. Dean Crowd: 28,875
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation