After a grueling round of matches, it all boiled down to the playoffs final at the new wembley stadium. Derby and West Brom dished out a hard fought battle to determine who would play at the English Premiership next season.
Which manager will smile at the final whistle?Koumas constant threat
Jason Koumas with his pace and skills troubled derby’s defence for most of the first half. And the rams had Tyrone Mears’s well timed tackle on Koumas to thank for, after another mazy run by the latter into the danger area.
But the only real chance only came when established Albion striker Kevin Phillips hit the crossbar after his teammate Gera put the ball onto his path two minutes before the half time whistle.
West brom had the better chances in the first half but they failed to capitalized on any of them.
Half Time : Derby County 0 - 0 West Brom
Derby fightback
The second half was a different story as Derby fought back and Barnes was brought on for Peschisolido after 58 minutes.
This proved to be a pivotal decision as Barnes set up the opener for Stephen Pearson after 61 minutes. It was Pearson’s first goal for Derby County. Barnes after beating the offside trap, made a superb low cross and Pearson shaked off McShane to poke the ball past Kiely.
The resulting onslaught by West Brom as Derby looked to conserve their lead was dealt with almost single-handedly by Bywater , denying Jonathan Greening and Robinson in the process.
The rams held on till the final whistle and it signified a wonderful change of destiny as only a year ago, they finished 20th in the Championship and were flirting with relegation.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment