On an unusually hot day in the heart of East Anglia, Town scored twice in the second half to make Derby’s early strike count for nothing. A 24,000 strong crowd was in vocal mood as Town made three home wins from three.
The game started at fast tempo and showed no signs of calming down as Town controlled play with Francis Jeffers twice going close for Town from long-range strikes. Then the Town faithful were stunned by an exquisite volley struck by Matt Oakley leaving Shane Supple in the Town goal no chance. Steve Howard nodded on to Oakley to hit home from fully 25 yards out.
Then the game took an ugly turn as Alex Bruce and Stephen Bywater were sent off by referee Ian Williamson. Both these players were supposed to have had a ‘scuffle’. Portman road were sent into shock when Williamson revealed the two red cards and was definitely a harsh decision at best. This decision definitely took the gloss of a game that could have been more contested.
Town continued to dominate the game as more chances went wasted for Town with a good chance coming from Garvan who unleashed a 30 yard volley which narrowly missed the post.
The second half was a bit more of a ‘stop start’ affair which nearly started with a breathtaking strike from the impressive Francis Jeffers from long range, only to be denied by the crossbar.
The goal finally came for Town when Francis Jeffers was put through the Derby Defence by Fabian Wilnis and he showed his premiership class by slotting home coolly past the Sub keeper Grant and into the Rams net.
Town then took advantage of this momentum as ‘Super-Sub’ Danny Haynes, brought on for Francis Jeffers, was cynically brought down by former Blue Jay McEveley in the area. Haynes took and converted the spot kick himself with confidence and carried on his fine form recently.
Town held out for the remaining few minutes of the game including the five minutes injury time to claim an excellent victory over the top side in the championship. It was a game in which Town showed great grit and dtermination to come back after going down to an early Rams goal to take all the spoils.
This game left Magilton particularly happy with Town’s performance and character to come back as they did. He was also very pleased with Jeffers’ performance and said that he would really like him to stay on at Town.
Magilton told the BBC website ‘We started very well, passed the ball well and kept believing after we fell behind. We got our just rewards in the end.
‘I don’t want the sending offs in the game to detract from our performance.
‘We stuck at it and Francis Jeffers produced a great finish. Danny Haynes’ introduction injected a bit of pace that’s proved vital.’
Derby manager, Billy Davies, felt disapointed with his team’s performance and sloppy play. He felt the decisions made by the referee severely affected the balance of the game.
Billy Davies told the BBC website ‘Two individual errors cost us dearly.
‘Two of three clubs can now gain automatic promotion and I am delighted that we are one of those.
‘I think that perhaps the sending off affected us more than Ipswich. A good football match was spoilt by the decisions.’
Player Ratings
Shane Supple
Could do nothing about the Derby goal and made some neat saves.
rating:7
David Wright
Unusually sloppy performance.
rating:6
Jason De Vos
Commanding presence in the Town defence once again.
rating:7
Alex Bruce
Perhaps unlucky with sending off.
rating:6
Fabian Wilnis
Great performance from the veteran defender, once again defying his age.
rating:8
Gary Roberts
Substituted early to cover for the sending off.
rating:6
Gavin Williams
Wasteful at times in his distributuion of the ball, although he did make good penetrative runs at times.
rating:6
Owen Garvan
Bright first half including a great long-range effort which shaved the post. Unlucky to have got injured and had to be substituted at half time.
rating:8
Jaime Peters
Showed great pace throughout the game and was a constant danger for the Derby defence.
rating:8
Francis Jeffers
Man of the match. Displayed his all-round ability in a Fine performance rounded off with a fantastic goal.
rating:9
Jon Walters
Worked tirelessly for Town and linked up very well with Jeffers.
rating:8
Dan Harding
Okay performance considering it was his comeback game from injury.
rating:6
George O’Callaghan
Decent performance. He held the ball up well in midfield and showed his silky skills by creating some fine moves.
rating:7
Typically explosive performance and showed his worth once again. Took his spot kick very well and deserved the goal with his performance.
rating:8
