 Sunday, 21st Feb 2010 15:14 It was a tale of ten men for both teams as Rams and Swans had players sent from the field in a scrappy and at times ill tempered clash.
Derby County 0 v 1 Swansea City
Attendance: 31, 024 (1,407 Swans).
Referee: Mr. S Tanner.
Goals: Kuqi (Swansea) 66'.
Bywater, Hunt, Barker, Buxton, McEveley, Tonge, Savage, Green, Pearson (Moxey 90), Commons (Sunu 24 - Porter 85), Hulse. Unused Subs: Deeney, Anderson, Pringle, Martin Player Sent Off: McEveley
De Vries, Williams, Tate, Pratley, Orlandi (Gower 15), Dyer (Butler 87), Rangel, Allen (Pintado 62), Kuqi, Cotterill, Richard Unused Subs: Cornell, Bodde, Idrizaj, Trundle Player Sent Off: Pintado
Match Report:
Although there was energy and endeavour from all involved, the first half was a tame and mostly uneventful 45 minutes. If you had to pick a winner on points, it was the Rams who slightly edged ahead due to the work of a menacing Kris Commons. Showing more of his recent sparkling form he was involved in some dangerous attacking moves and combined with Hulse early for an effort on goal that required Swans keeper DeVries, to tip the ball around the post. Commons himself managed a well struck effort from 25 yards but it was deflected wide of the target. Then immediately after his shot, disaster struck for Derby. In the 25th minute Commons was forced from the field with a suspected hamstring injury. As has been the story for much of the season it would be injury that would again rob the Rams of much needed inspiration when faced with a stubborn foe. The forward leaving the field proved to be the beginning of a downward spiral for the home team. The week’s last minute loan signing from Arsenal Gilles Sunu was selected to try and fill the void up front and entered the fray. Having not even met his team mates on the training field it was always going to be a big ask for him to slot in effectively and overall proved to be the case. Besides McEveley picking up a yellow card for an overly rough challenge on Joe Allen, the rest of the half was devoid of significant incidents for either side. Jay was probably lucky the referee did not reach for a straight red card as the tackle definitely was walking the line.Orange was probably the card it deserved but as it turned out it was only a matter of time until the referee pushed the red button. Swansea was playing some good football but were not troubling the Rams defence. Neither team looked like scoring and neither looked like conceding. As they headed for the rooms at the break the odds on a nil all draw must have been near un-backable. HT: 0 – 0 10 minutes into the second half the game was still struggling to find a pulse when McEveley was garnered with his second yellow card. He stormed to the rooms cursing, kicking innocent drink bottles and perhaps he had a case to complain. His contact on Nathan Dyer looked like it was more a case of the Swans player running straight into Jay but the referee didn’t see it that way so it was an early shower for the left back. The free kick that was awarded from the soft sending off paid dividends immediately for the Welsh warriors as Kuqi nodded home Rangels cross. Derby were down and looking out. A goal from nothing in a game that very rarely looked like producing one. Hard on the Rams but generous to the visitors. Football is a cruel mistress at times. The numerical player advantage was gone five minutes after the goal when Pintado, studs up and sliding, cannoned through Robbie Savage and was immediately red carded. 10 all and game on! The tackle and the resulting card saw Rams players and officials also seeing red as a melee broke out on the pitch with players and those on the sidelines clashing over the incident. Expect some of the Rams currently suspended fines to be released from their suspension very soon. Once the boiling had simmered, the Rams stepped up the pace to try and find a way back into the game. Barker and Hulse had chances but neither managed to seriously trouble De Vries. Tonge went the closest with a superb free kick that beat everyone and left fans in despair as it cannoned firmly off the bottom of the cross bar and away, instead of in. With that last slice of misfortune the day was lost and the Rams bubble had burst. FT: 0 – 1 Swansea are a good team and play well as a unit. They made things tough for the Rams and strangled their game plan till it was nearly invisible. It was a case of Swansea playing Derby at their own game with the Rams not having the room or time to make life tough for their opposition. Considering it was 'the Swans 18th clean sheet of the campaign the loss was nothing to be ashamed of even if a disappointing end to a good run. The loss of Commons was the decisive factor as at the time both teams were jabbing and trying to lay a killer blow. Before leaving the pitch he looked more than capable of unlocking the Swans defence and tipping the balance towards the home side. Derby are not a one man band as some wags suggested after the match but sadly against this type of outfit his withdrawal was felt more heavily than perhaps it would be on another day. Fingers crossed the injury isn’t serious. If it is the rest of the season suddenly becomes a little tougher. The recent highs were always going to level out and although beaten, the Rams were not disgraced. The real answers will come in their response at WBA next weekend especially if Kris is missing from their attack.
Man of the match: Shaun Barker – As always consistent and reliable. Shaun will be feeling aggrieved that his team conceded in a game that didn’t deserve a goal. But his defence paid the price for letting their heads drop when Jay was giving his marching orders. I'm sure Nigel will make sure they learn from their mistake.
Managers Reaction:
"When Michael Tonge hit the underside of the bar with two minutes left it summed things up that it wasn't quite our day. It was a defeat today, but it certainly wasn't for the lack of trying and if that level is maintained, as it has been over the last month or so, we won't lose too many”. "It was hard for either side to create anything in open play out there, but if there was going to be a chance it was going to be from a dead ball. Set-pieces played a big part in our victory over Preston in midweek but one today was our downfall which is disappointing."
On Jay McEveley being sent off: "I didn't really see it; it was almost off the ball, Jay says the lad just ran at him, perhaps being a bit cute knowing he was on a yellow card”. "After that we saw the incident where Pintado was sent off and the scenes that followed. It was certainly a red card and we saw passion from both sets of players."
On Sunu and his premature injection into the match: "I was pleased with Sunu, it was always going to be hard coming from reserve football and having not even trained with us, he did ok in the hour he was on, it was a good introduction for him."
Clough speaking to ‘sportinglife.com’ on the Rams involvement in the on field melee: "Our players did nothing out of order. The officials were right there in the corner when it all kicked off and didn't show one yellow card to any other player”. "They are right there and didn't see anything at all and they are the ones who are meant to be in control of it. We don't want our players to walk away from that situation, we expect them to support their team-mate in the manner they did". "No-one wants punches thrown or anything like that but they are entitled to be there to support a player, especially after a tackle like that."
Next Match: WBA v Derby County February 27th - 3pm
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