DERBY COUNTY 2 (Barnes 71, 75) BARNSLEY 1 (Hassell 13)</p> OUT-FOUGHT, out-battled and outplayed by a brilliant Barnsley for virtually the whole 90 minutes, DerbyCounty stole all three points at PridePark after a real smash and grab raid in the second half.</p> Reds boss Andy Ritchie freshened up his starting eleven as he looked to end a run of seven games without a win. Tommy Wright and Paul Heckingbottom came into the side with Paul Hayes and Robbie Williams dropping to the bench. Brian Howard passed a two o'clock fitness test to take his place in the team. For the second game running Ritchie made the bold move of going without a goalkeeper on the bench.</p> Wright made a real nuisance of himself on five minutes to win a corner after putting the Derby defence under pressure and from Michael McIndoe's kick Bobby Hassell rose highest but did not really trouble Stephen Bywater.</p> The Reds grabbed the lead on 13 minutes as McIndoe's corner caught Bywater flapping and Hassell was in the right place to rifle the ball home from 12 yards out.</p> Two minutes later it was almost two as Marc Richards found a fine pass to send Martin Devaney clean through but Bywater was quickly out to make a great low save.</p> Again the Reds pushed Derby back on 19 minutes as Wright did wonderfully well to barge his way past Darren Moore onto McIndoe's hopeful ball forward but again was denied by Bywater's brilliant low save.</p> Barnsley caught Derby napping again on 22 minutes as Hassell's deep cross found Richards at the back post but the Reds striker could not put his header on target.</p> Derby were ragged and just could not live with the Reds strong, physical approach which they combined with some wonderful football although Giles Barnes smashed a free kick high over the top on 25 minutes.</p> Another McIndoe corner caused more problems on 29 minutes as first Wright saw a header cleared away off the line before Hassell smacked another volley against a Derby defender before the Rams finally cleared.</p> Nick Colgan was finally called into some sort of meaningful action on 32 minutes as he grabbed Steve Howard's drive at the second attempt. Arturo Lupoli then almost got in two minutes later but his shot harmlessly bounced through to Colgan.</p> The Reds number one got his angles right on 37 minutes as Adam Bolder's deflected effort flew wide of the target. Lupoli almost got in on 43 minutes as he reacted quickly to a loose ball in the area but Colgan was even sharper and smothered the danger at the feet of the Arsenal loanee. </p> Barnsley started the second half in the same strong fashion with Richards flashing a header over the top from a McIndoe free kick with just seconds on the clock after the restart. Wright then almost grabbed the goal his outstanding display deserved on 48 minutes as he put a free header straight at Bywater from 14 yards.</p> The Reds almost grabbed a second on 53 minutes as Martin Devaney took advantage of some sloppy defending to race down the right flank before crossing well but Richards could only smash the ball against the advertising boards when well placed in the middle.</p> Seth Johnson then showed a real moment of quality on 56 minutes as he twisted and turned on the edge of the area before shooting goalward but Colgan was in the right place to parry the ball clear.</p> Derby thought they had the equaliser on 66 minutes as Ryan Smith crossed well for Lupoli to striker but Colgan got down quickly and turned his effort away off the post. Barnes then drilled a high effort well over the top two minutes later as Derby finally showed a little bit of form going forward.</p> At the other end Togwell brought the best from Bywater on 71 minutes with a fine strike which was just too hot to handle for the former West Ham keeper although he recovered well to deny Howard a tap in.</p> Derby's equaliser came totally against the run of play on 72 minutes and it was nothing like what the home side deserved. The Reds were undone by a cross from the right and Barnes was in the right place to fire home from the edge of the area.</p> The home side stole the lead just four minutes later as again Barnes was in the right place and first to a loose ball on the edge of the area. The Derby midfielder smashed his shot into the roof of the net.</p> Barnsley should have had a penalty on 81 minutes as substitute Hayes turned well in the area before being hauled down by Moore's clumsy defending only to have a free kick awarded against him.</p> The Reds had the ball in the back of the net on 86 minutes as Nardiello reacted quickest after Bywater had parried McIndoe's shot. The Reds striker was denied by a ridiculous offside flag from a linesman who had previously let play go on even though a Richards shot had bounced back into play from the advertising boards.</p> Hayes flashed a shot wide on 89 minutes as the relentless Barnsley onslaught continued in the closing minutes but they just could not find a way through.</p> DERBY COUNTY: Bywater, Edworthy (Jackson 90), Camara, Bolder (Bisgaard 58), Leacock, Howard, Stead (Smith 45), Lupoli, Johnson, Moore, Barnes. Subs: Grant, Boertien, Jackson. </p> BARNSLEY: Colgan, Hassell (Austin 45), Heckingbottom, Reid, Togwell, McIndoe, Howard, Kay, Richards (Nardiello 83), Devaney, Wright (Hayes 79). Sub: Healy, Williams.</p>
Funny how team has changed in 4 months ! BARNSLEY: Colgan, Hassell (Austin 45), Heckingbottom, Reid, Togwell, McIndoe, Howard, Kay, Richards (Nardiello 83), Devaney, Wright (Hayes 79). Sub: Healy, Williams.</p>
Chatting to a life-long Derby fan at the weekend. He said it was the most outplayed he'd seen his team ever and still won. However he also said that their main tormentor that day was Macindoe!
I hope not, but I suspect that we might see this again after the weekend </p> Someone willl be pointing out the differences</p> Hopefully the reds will repeat the performance, but with a better result.</p> I just have a feeling that they wont, and the result wil be the same or worse.</p> </p> Now if we had Mcindoe and the Hungarian boys [+AR] ... i'd be more confident.</p> hope I'm wrong</p>
