For Those who Could not Attend

For Those Who Could Not Attend.
Charlton Athletic 30th December 2019


Team.
Hamer, Wisdom, Davies, Clarke, Lowe,
Bielik, Waghorn, Knight,
Holmes, Marriott
Substitutes
Forsyth, Dowell, Martin, Roos, Sibley, Malone, Whittaker
Referee, Jeremy Simpson
Attendance : 26,058

Philip Cocu needs to justify his position by getting us a win tonight. He has to select the right team and motivate the team better than of late. We have to get away from the danger zone and three points would make us comfortable whilst a defeat will put us in real danger. Next time we play, Wayne Rooney will be making his PP debut for whatever that will be worth. And tonight we meet Charlton, just one point better than Derby and having scored 11 goals more. We need to concentrate 100% tonight.

And in the event. …… Philip Cocu made the right selections and inspired his team to make a huge effort with great ability all-round. Derby started really well, plenty of energy and a lot of skill. Knight put Waghorn through on the goalkeeper after less than a minute. Waggy just couldn’t beat the Charlton goalie but very nearly did. After just 10 minutes and a few attacks on the Charlton goal Knight headed both the ball and a defender’s boot into the net for a well deserved lead. He was temporarily poleaxed but very happy with his first league goal. Derby were lively and were making some good runs especially down the right until Bielik for some reason felt he had to put in a really wicked tackle on Gallagher right under the nose of the referee who had no doubts about showing a red card to Bielik with only 18 minutes played. I think it was a deserved punishment though the officials seemed to have a vested interest in getting Charlton over the line in this game. They committed far more fouls and more serious misdemeanours, but there were so many occasions when the decisions went in their favour. Derby and the fans were happy to go in at half time with their lead intact.

Second half and Derby continued to get their full complement of 10 men behind the ball with Waggy prominent in helping our defence. They made some breaks mainly thanks to Holmes breaking at speed and his close control creating some chances and raising hopes. Bird too enlivened our midfield to great effect. From one of these breakaways, Holmes got the ball out to Bird (or Lowe) on the left and he put in a low cross which beat a crowded defence to find an unmarked Knight who was able to slot home to double Derby’s lead. Hamer had a quiet night (you might say) thanks to great defending by the whole team. He had few saves to make until in the final minutes when he saved a blinder at his left post with several sets of legs obscuring his vision. He then had to make another super save to gather the rebound. He saved two points for the team at that moment. Unbelievably, 5 minutes were added but Derby just hung on - to the bitter disappointment of Bowyer and the huge delight of Cocu and the fans.

There many good things about this game, though it was a pity we could learn little from PC’s experimental selections due the need for emergency measure to accommodate a 10 man side. But Jason Knight and Max Bird were huge positives and the defence was much more solid with Clarke and Davies and both Lowe and Wisdom played well. Wisdom brought a welcome calm to left back and made some telling and well weighted passes to his team-mates. Bielik’s red card is a blow but Holmes and Bird and Lowe all played well. Waggy was just a bigger version of himself. Always in the centre of action with his usual strength and vigour. Altogether, it was tense but satisfactory night and the three points gained are of golden value. I enjoyed the game enormously and I am very proud of the lads and the manager but I fear there will be some very tired legs today and it’s not long until the next game.