Thursday 4 October 2012

Middlesbrough 2-2 Derby

Derby came away from the Riverside Stadium with a point last night in a forgettable game in Teeside.

Manager was forced into one change from Sundays game at Nottingham Forest with Jamie Ward injured and also decided to put Conor Sammon on the bench. Starting upfront Nathan Tyson and last seasons top scorer Theo Robinson.

The early chances fell to the home side. After five minutes, Leadbitter saw his 25 yard effort held by Fielding and two minutes later Bailey put a shot wide from 20 yards out.

The Rams then began to get into the game and when a Hendrick pass found Bryson in the box and Bikey's clumsy challenge brought Bryson down, the referee had no choice but to award a penalty. Theo Robinson duly obliged from the spot to put the Rams ahead.

The lead lasted for a total of four minutes. A McEachran free kick was stopped but not held by Fielding and Jutkiewicz was on hand to knock in the rebound.

Luke Williams missed a chance for 'Boro just before the break as did Robinson for Derby.

The second half produced very little in the way of entertainment and the game looked like it was going to fizzle out without any further additions to the scoreboard, but nine minutes before the end, a Zemmama cross was met perfectly by Jutkiewicz to head past Fielding.

Derby haven't been successful in their trips to Teeside in recent years and the few Rams fans who made the trip were perhaps having a feeling of déjà-vous. However, this time their patience paid off as substitute Conor Sammon laid a ball on in the box for Paul Coutts to knock home and ensure Derby weren't going to go home empty handed.

Seconds from the end, Theo Robinson could and should have scored and steal another two points when he put a golden opportunity to score wide.

So four points from two away games is what The Rams secured in the space of four days and to be honest is a good return for their efforts.

On to Saturday and Derby are up against one of the form teams in this early stage of the season in Brighton and Hove Albion. They will need to be fully alert for this tough looking fixture.

Middlesbrough - Steele, Hoyte, Hines, Bikey, Friend, McEachran (Ledesma 66), Thomson (Zemmama 66) (Haroun 83), Bailey, Leadbitter, Williams, Jutkiewicz. Subs not used - McManus, Leutwiler, Parnaby, Smallwood.

Derby - Fielding, Brayford, Keogh, Buxton, Roberts (O'Connor 83), Coutts, Bryson, Hendrick (Jacobs 83), Hughes, Tyson (Sammon 58), Robinson. Subs not used - Legzdins, Freeman, Gjokaj, Bennett.

Man of the Match - Will Hughes, worked tirelessly in midfield.

Attendance - 13,377 (279 away fans)




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