As usual me and junior set out early in the hope of a trouble free and relaxed journey to Derby and our first ever visit to Pride Park; a ground I’d been looking forward to visiting.
Thankfully we avoided the usual problems I tend to encounter on journey's.....I have a habit of attracting all disasters known to mankind once I head for a motorway but today the journey was becalmed apart from us following a open trailer complete with a plastic life sized cow on the back. For a minute I thought I'd gone the wrong way and arrived in Milton Keynes (one for our older members there).
We found ourselves driving down Brian Clough Way at which point I regaled junior with stories of the great man and my classic impression....."Young man...you're a bloooody disgrace." Junior looked unimpressed and commented ‘was he a bit like Jose Mourinho?" and I agreed it was a fair comparison except Cloughie was better and didn't need the posh coat.
Not knowing the lie of the land and the parking etc I pulled onto the nearest car park I could see with the ground clearly visible and was stung for £6!
Arriving at the ground at 1.30pm there was already plenty of Baggies there and there was a quite confidence among the massing throng following last week's demolition of Wednesday and our recent good form.
Team news however brought the first disappointment of the day. No Jerome Thomas due to injury and I thought this would prove a big miss.
Mattock in at left-back with Cech taking Thomas' place were the only changes so we looked fairly settled if a little one paced on the left for my tastes.
Derby announced "Chavage" in the centre of midfield with ex-Viler Hendrie on the bench......then again Christmas is the time for pantomime and here were the pantomime Dame and Villian (no pun intended) in all their glory.
With Hulse also in their line-up and the Wembley play-off final scorer Pearson there were plenty of potential Bogeymen in their line-up and I felt a tad uneasy...then again I usually do.
The match
Derby made a bright start and in the first five minutes Teale and Croft on the wings looked lively and crosses were wasted from wide positions with Albion still in the starting blocks. Derby were clearly a better side than Wednesday and were working hard in front of their fans; today's match was no gimee and we needed to wake up fast.
As many of you know, I have a doll at home made in the likeness of Joe Mattock that I stick pins in on a daily basis. I'm less than his greatest fan but it's fair to say he started in excellent form and put in a couple of fantastic interceptions and linked well with the forwards as we gradually sprang into life.
We started driving forward and as usual Dorrans and Jara were excellent but the annoying tendency of Brunt to come off the wing and play too narrow along with Cech's lack of pace meant we were forced to plough through central midfield which gave Savage the perfect opportunity to annoy, infuriate and wind-up any passing player. Who would be first to fall into his trap? Graham Dorrans! “He's behind you..........boo, hiss" cried the Albion fans. Too late as Dorrans snaps and is mighty lucky to get just a yellow for a wild kick out whilst ‘The Chav’ feigns mock disbelief at being given an identical yellow card. Laughable if it hadn't been so pitiful.
Little to be seen of Derby as an attacking force with Meite, Olsson, Mattock and Zuiverloon looking comfortable at the back and the game was in stalemate mode as our forwards struggled to make an impact on a robust and competitive Derby backline – although Cox could have done better by unloading a shot earlier that was well blocked by a Derby defender. We seemed a little short of physical presence upfront and Bednar would already be sniffing his opportunity no doubt!
Almost out of nothing a Derby shot from inside the box took a wicked deflection and another of my perennial bones of contention, Scott Carson, pulled off a save of truly world class standards by somehow tipping it up and over. Almost Gordon Banks vs Pele style! For those like me who were behind that goal I would guess everyone thought it was a nailed on goal and for me it's the save of the season in any match I’ve seen so far.
During the same wave of attack Meite got himself into a real pickle out on the touchline, and instead of just clearing it to safety up the pitch, as he should have done, he did a great impression of a scout leader trying to stamp out a small camp fire as he dallied around a bouncing ball which allowed him to be robbed. As the ball reached the edge of our box the 103-year-old Paul Dickov was given enough room in which to manoeuvre his Zimmer frame and unleash a shot which struck Olsson, I believe, before going in off the underside of the bar.
It didn't feel like we deserved to be losing but this tends to be the default setting whenever we play the Rams.........Albion dominates possession but Derby score!
Half-time arrives and on the concourse the vibe is still good and there's an inevitability type of feeling that we'll get a chance or two sooner or later if we move the ball a bit quicker.
After the break
Second-half for me was a joy to behold from an Albion sense as we passed and moved at high pace and showed great intensity and I unusually never really felt threatened by Derby as an attacking force with wave after wave of Albion attacking, albeit with the end pass lacking still.
Jara and Dorrans totally ran Derby ragged and Jara's technical ability leaves me expecting him to leave at the end of the season if we fail to go up.
Mattock leaves the field to be replaced by Cech going to full-back with Tex taking over out wide. A much better option as Cech had been lacking potency in a forward capacity in my view.
Bednar on for Moore was also the right move. Moore had worked hard (again!) but just doesn't look like scoring I'm sorry to say.
Albion are now hammering down constantly on the Derby door and a superb Brunt cross from the right side was chested (yes chested, Derby fans) into the net by Simon Cox. A poacher’s goal of Kevin Phillips’ type.
Derby protest, the very annoying Nigel Clough springs out of his box (again) to berate the officials whilst his own defenders should shoulder the blame.........at this point I’ll take the draw thanks!
Not the Albion though folks! They absolutely piled it on looking for the winner.....no thoughts of the draw for RDM and his players.....how refreshing!
A slick, pacy and intelligent move fed the ball to Dorrans haring down the left side of the box and he skilfully straightened up the defender before going left and smashing a pile driver into the roof of the net!
Mayhem ensues in the away section. The sweetest of paybacks for our Wembley heartache as Derby fans throw themselves like Lemmings towards the exits........have a piece of that I thought.
But wait...a final twist as a long ball is launched towards one of England's biggest ever wasted talents, Lee Hendrie, who exposes a naivety of defending in the left-back channel by Albion and his cross is well headed home by DJ Campbell..........talk about gutted!
At the final whistle
The antics of Hendrie after the whistle showed exactly why he is so disliked by a great number of opposing fans. A lack of class and professionalism of breathtaking proportions, and to be able to outdo Savage in the hate stakes takes some effort, well done Lee, you achieved just that.
Savage then sent himself back on to the pitch to get a personal standing ovation from all sections of the remaining 2000 Derby fans who had stayed to watch once we went 2-1 up........a nice touch Robbie.....remember to remind your wife to buy that EGO 1 number-plate to put on the white Lamborghini at Xmas.
A note to Nigel Clough............do you think either of those two would have played for Dad...........thought not.
In conclusion
On the board I see Derby fans saying how lucky they thought we were!?
Anybody who reads this will know how critical I am of Albion at times and how honest I am about our opposition so believe this.
Albion played superb, pacy, intelligent attacking football for much of the match but certainly in the second-half, we were a joy to watch.
Derby were a credit to their manager and fans in terms of the effort and sheer hard tackling desire they put into the game.
A draw was not a fair result on the balance of quality attacking, free-flowing football played by Albion and because we went 2-1 up with 30 seconds to go. But it WAS a fair result based on Derby's sheer will-power and effort and a refusal to fold after such a late blow and after 80 minutes any Baggies fan would have taken the draw.
Make no mistake, if we can keep these players fit and the machine nicely oiled this is a Baggies side destined for promotion. From the last two away games I’ve just witnessed this lot believe in themselves totally and I think that'll see us through.
Man-of-the-Match
Hard call this one. I'd go for Jara with Dorrans mighty close.
The one bad thing today?
Stopped at MacDonald's Junc. 4 of the M42 on the way back. Why oh why can't Macs make me a special order of Quarter Pounders without CHEESE without messing it up?
Thanks to Donny for asking me to do today's report and best wishes to all my regular friends on the site.