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LINES FROM LONDON V DERBY

This wasn’t pretty but three points are three points and we deserved them, especially after the decision to disallow what appeared to be a perfectly good second goal.


BEFORE

Derby are just one point above a relegation spot before tonight and have lost five out of their last six league games and that would suggest that we’ll win this game. However, as we often seem to struggle against sides near the bottom of the league, I’m not over-confident. I still think we’ll get the three points, though, but it might not be pretty to watch. Despite the mixed feelings over the draw at Burnley, we showed that we can equal the best in the league and if we could just convert some of the chances we create, we’ll get one of the two automatic places. Mepham has recovered from his injury and will be available. Like most of us I was very impressed by Enzo and I think he’ll soon be scoring goals and making assists. Maybe he’ll be switched to a central role this evening? I’ll be watching the game once more with other members of the London Branch and my match prediction is a 2-1 win for us.


I got to the venue just after 7.00 and saw from the team-news that the only change in the starting line-up from Friday’s match was that Mayenda was in for Roberts, who’d dropped to the bench. I immediately thought of what trouble Mayenda and Le Fee could cause the Derby defence and I felt more confident that we’d win (as long as someone could knock those chances in, of course). Mepham was starting as expected. Several other members of the Faithful had come in by the time we kicked off.


THE MATCH

We had a bit of trouble getting the stream on the pub telly but one of the lads had the game on his phone so we could always crowd around that. Anyway, in the seventh minute the picture appeared and we had sound too, which was a bit posh. I was pleased to see that we were playing in red and white. The first move I saw was a tasty one involving Enzo moving into the left of their box and feeding Cirkin who stroked the ball a little too high and it went over the bar. We were awarded a free-kick on the right in the twelfth but it was easily cleared by the Derby defence. Hopefully with the arrival of Enzo we’ll do better from set pieces – we could hardly do worse actually. The pitch looked pretty rough and slippery. One of the Faithful came into the bar with his dog, Norman by name, and he was yawning. Well, not a great deal was happening on the screen to be fair. In the twentieth Patto had to snatch the ball off the feet of an attacker after a nifty Derby probe. A minute later Isidor had a powerful shot on target but Widell Zetterstrom (hereafter WZ) in goal managed to block it and the ball was booted to safety.


We won a corner in the twenty-fifth and we took it short but a weak shot from Rigg went straight to WZ. Derby promptly won a corner up the other end but it was headed well over. Next thing we were one-up and Jobe was the creator as he burst through their half and fed Mayenda in the right side of the box. He hit a powerful low shot that was always going in and the Faithful in the bar erupted. Jobe was yellow-carded in the thirty-third for a foul. Enzo did a lovely turn in their box before supplying a low pass but it was intercepted; it was very nice to watch all the same. We were awarded a free-kick near the left angle of their box in the thirty-eighth and Enzo’s shot was a beaut, forcing WZ into a great save to stop it going into the top left corner. Derby hadn’t done much in the way of attacking for a while but three minutes before the break they won a corner on their left and Patto had to make a rare save from a bouncing header. There was only one minute of added-time and it remained 1-0 as the whistle went. So far, so good but I couldn’t wait for a second goal from us.


As usual there were no changes for either side as we started the second period. Five minutes in, we were awarded a free-kick at a good distance from the left angle of their box but it was easily blocked. It was good to see Enzo making the odd telling tackle too. Our defence was all over the place in the fifty-sixth but we manged to get it away for a corner. From the corner we had a great chance for a second as Isidor did one of his characteristic bursts into the opposition half but his effort was blocked when he would have done better to pass it to his left in the first place. We won a corner just after the hour-mark and it immediately led to another but that one came to nothing. In the sixty-fourth Patto had to make a great save for substitute Salvesen and just after that he came out of his box to head it clear as we were looking a bit wobbly at the back.


Derby put the pressure on for a while with Patto fisting one attempt away and then we conceded a corner that led to another corner and then another and soon another. The pressure was eased by Wilson apparently pulling a hamstring and Derby reacted by making a couple of changes. In the bar we agreed that we needed some fresh legs on too and Ballard is usually a good man when our arses are against the wall. In the seventy-third we brought on Ballard and Roberts for Cirkin and Mayenda but the Derby pressure continued. In the seventy-seventh it looked like we’d gone 2-0 up when Isidor hit it home after a speedy break but to everyone, including the commentators’, surprise it was ruled out and we were left perplexed. That would have put the result beyond doubt really but as it was we’d have to sweat it out till the whistle went. We conceded a free-kick in a dodgy position in the eighty-third but we got it clear and then we replaced Rigg with Samed.


In the closing minutes we put a lot of pressure on without really threatening their goal but as long as we were up their end I was happy. We brought on Hjelde for Enzo and then seven minutes of added-time were announced, a bit more than I’d expected. The time ticked away quickly enough and despite a few hairy moments at the back we survived as it ended 0-1.


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