[madsteve]

A Good Performance, A Poor Result!

CC went with the expected team with Palmer replacing Hunt. Fletcher was fit enough for the bench but Westwood & Loovens didn't make it.

We dominated right from the start and had three good chances in the opening ten minutes, Lee's shot well saved by Carson's legs, Fessi missing from six yards and Keogh palming away a Reach shot on the line. Unfortunately the referee failed to see this, which would have given us a penalty and Keogh a red card. Strange that I saw it from over a hundred yards away.

Young Padawan said that we would pay for these misses & sure enough, he was right when we didn't mark up at a corner & Christie had a free header to put Derby in front.

We continued to dominate play with Palmer making several great runs down the right but we lacked that cutting edge in front of goal. Fessi & Hooper worked hard but Carson was outstanding in the Derby goal.

The second half was more of the same with Wednesday dominating possession but missing the chances when they came. Palmer went closest when his 20 yard shot was deflected on to the post. Inevitably, Derby got a chance and took it when Pearce fired a loose ball home from 8 yards.

Fletcher came & went pretty quickly with another head injury after CC gambled by putting him on for Pudil after an hour. Wallace & Nuhiu also added little when they came on.

Couldn't help thinking that we could have scored four or five goals if we had our shooting boots on but instead it was another blank day.

Dawson - 6
Palmer - 8
Lees - 7
Hutchinson - 8
Pudil - 5
Bannan - 7
Lee - 7
Jones - 6
Reach - 6
Fessi - 7
Hooper - 6
...........................
Fletcher - 6
Wallace - 6
Nuhiu - 6

Stat Attack:

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Touches: 121 - Bannan, 91 - Hutchinson, 87 - Jones, 68 - Fessi, 67 - Lee, 66 - Reach, 62 - Palmer, 55 - Lees, 50 - Pudil, 40 - Dawson, 39 - Hooper, 11 - Wallace, 9 - Nuhiu, 7 - Fletcher

Tackles: 6 - Lee, 5 - Fessi, 3 - Palmer, 1 - Hutchinson, Bannan

Interceptions: 4 - Jones, 3 - Hutchinson, 1 - Palmer, Pudil, Reach, Fessi

Clearances: 7 - Hutchinson, 6 - Lees, 3 - Palmer, 2 - Hooper, Fletcher, 1 - Lee, Jones, Nuhiu

Attempts: 6 - Fessi, 4 - Reach, 2 - Lees, Bannan, 1 - Palmer, Pudil, Lee, Nuhiu

Attempts On Target: 3 - Fessi, 2 - Reach, 1 - Palmer, Bannan, Lee

Key Passes: 6 - Jones, 3 - Fessi, 2 - Bannan, Reach, 1 - Palmer, Pudil, Hooper, Nuhiu

Dribbles: 2 - Reach, 1 - Bannan

Dispossessed: 4 - Fessi, 3 - Reach, 2 - Nuhiu, 1 - Lee, Fletcher

Bad Control: 4 - Fessi, 3 - Lee, 2 - Pudil, Bannan, Hooper, 1 - Wallace

Crosses (Accurate in brackets): 6 - Jones (3), 4 - Palmer (0), 3 - Pudil (0), Wallace (0), 1 - Hutchinson (1), Bannan (0), Lee (0), Reach (0), Hooper (1)

Passing Accuracy (Total Passes in Brackets):

100% - Fletcher (4), 94% - Hutchinson (77), 93% - Jones (75), 92% - Lees (47), 91% - Bannan (109), 88% - Lee (51), Reach (48), 85% - Hooper (33), 84% - Palmer (44), 83% - Fessi (40), 80% - Nuhiu (5), 78% - Pudil (36), 74% - Dawson (27), 67% - Wallace (6)

On one hand, it was disappointing to get no points against a side we clearly outplayed. On the other, it was pleasing that we played such enterprising & entertaining football.