Town fell to their second home defeat of the season as Derby weathered a second half Blues storm. A deflected first half Rory Delap goal was enough to give the Rams the three points which moved them out of the bottom three.
George Burley chose to bring back John McGreal, Mark Venus, Jim Magilton and Marcus Stewart from the side that started on Tuesday. Out went James Scowcroft, John Scales, Martijn Reuser and Titus Bramble. The big surprise was a start for David Johnson up front.
Derby played the game much like Coventry did at Highfield Road. They defended in depth and closed players down quickly while trying to catch Town on the break. This they did effectively and the first half saw Town rarely threaten. The passing which has worked so well for most of the season just didn't get going.
Derby went ahead in the 28th minute through Rory Delap. A ball out of defence caught Town short at the back. Delap cut inside and ran into the area. He hit a shot which struck a defender on the way through and into the net past Keith Branagan. It had been attacks like this which had been Derby's main threat through the half. Malcolm Christie made a similar run, but as so often on the afternoon it ended when he theatrically threw himself to the ground. As with so much else referee Mark Halsey was far too lenient.
The half ended with a Town corner, but its failure to come to anything was typical of a frustrating half for Town.
The second half saw Town bring James Scowcroft on for David Johnson within the first five minutes. Johnson didn't have the best of afternoons and still seems to be lacking confidence despite his goal in midweek. Titus Bramble had replaced Fabian Wilnis at half-time after he had received a fifth booking of the season. Wilnis will now be suspended for a game.
Town finally managed to get going, but by now Derby were playing an unattractive 9-0-1 formation and the luck just wasn't with the Blues. The best chance of the half fell to John McGreal, but the man who has only scored one career goal hammered the ball into the sidenetting.
Crosses came in from Venus and Clapham, but they either hit the first defender, went behind any Town players or went well over the bar. The game was reminiscent of some of the less pretty Nationwide clashes of recent seasons, think Tranmere, Bury or the Norwich game last season. In fact there were a lot of similarlities between Derby's first half performance and Norwich's that day. Both sides defended in depth, tried to catch Town on the break and unfortunately succeeded.
Time gradually ran out for the Blues. Not least as it was taking more than a minute for each goalkick, freekick or throw-in to be taken. Each time Mart Poom received the ball sections of the North Stand began counting and on one occasion reached eleven before he got rid of the ball. Mark Halsey, however, failed to see anything in this and even allowed the ball to be hammered back deep into the North Stand by a defender after the ball had rebounded from a hoarding.
Despite being ahead Derby didn't seem to be the happiest bunch. Twice two of their players were on the verge of blows. In the first half Taribo West and Seth Johnson had a barney in the centre circle while Poom and Carbonari were nose to nose after Titus Bramble had almost been let in late on.
Bramble didn't have the best of games. He started at right back, but some woeful passes and a couple of dreadful crosses had him move into the centre with McGreal going wide. Late on he was pushed up front as a makeshift striker along with Stewart and Scowcroft.
Finally Halsey blew the whistle on a thoroughly disappointing afternoon for Town. We were never at our best, but dominated the second half as completely as we had the whole game against Charlton. Derby are not a pretty side to watch, but they are determined and defended well. If they play like this away every week then they may keep their Premiership place, although like Tranmere, Bury and other sides with this approach, they will gain few friends.