[Statesideowl]

A lovely sunny day at S6 with the added surprise of Lee's inclusion in the starting XI. Two different halves in my opinion. we were the better team in the first half but couldn't create too much in the terms of finishing. The second half I don't know what we were doing as Derby ran us in circles for 10 minutes then scored from a corner of all things when we failed to mark bent efficiently, we just can't seem to defend set pieces. We nearly replied straight away with Fletcher heading on to the bar but still sat back in our own half far too much considering we were losing 1-0.
We kept pressing and managed to scatter their defence, a debatable header keeping the ball in play it seemed on the line to me then Fletcher headed in with plenty of open net. After this we pushed further up and Derby dropped back. It was frustrating to see us not use the width on the left side, and when we finally did Reach put a cross in that we ended up scoring from after Carson flapped at the ball. After Lee went off Rhodes came on and we switched to 433 which stretched them a bit.

Westwood 7. Didn't have anything to do in the first half but made a few crucial saves in the second stopping Derby equalising

Hunt 6. Did his job most of the time didn't think he was good or bad though he and Fletcher allowed Bent to get between them for the goal.

Lees 6. Seemed to have a few mistakes but also got stuck in when it mattered.

Loovens 6. Guilty of ball watching again, he's looking past it a bit and needs to be replaced with a younger version of himself. he wasn't poor but didn't shine either.

Pudil 7. Thought he had another good game shut down his man when necessary.

Wallace 7. never stopped trying and doesn't seem to take as many snap shots as he did, kept the ball moving nicely at times.

Lee 7. For a player out for so long he looked quite sharp, made good runs and cheeky passes leaving Derby flat footed, you could tell he was knackered though early n the second half. This bodes well if we get in to the playoff we have missed him.

Bannan 6. Still a shadow of his former self, lost possession a few times and was caught napping, mostly did his job though.

Reach 6. Not overly involved until we scored our first, frustrating to see him not use the space Derby left down the flank, when he finally did we scored.

Fletcher 7. Had a good game was unlucky to hit the bar with a header before scoring, there wasn't a lot of service for the strikers yesterday and he was in the right position at the right time.

Hooper 7. Again without much to go on upfront he had a decent games, his header back into play created the goal for Fletcher and he also took his chance well also being in the right place at the right time when Carson flapped.

Subs..
Rhodes 6. Didn't do a great deal however, he did stretch Derby's defence when he came on being the 3rd striker, put himself about a bit.

Fessi 6. Seemed a bit off the pace like he was running through sand a bit. had a great opportunity to make it 3-1 but for some reason slowed down to look around and threw himself on the ground a bit too easily when the defenders caught up with him.

Semedo 6. Did what he does best, came on to shut up shop but we do need to replace him with an improved version.

All in all despite not being fluid or pretty we did the business and now stand 5pts ahead of L**ds with 2 games to. One point from our last two should seal it, but where do we want to finish? I don't fancy Fulham over two legs I'd sooner take the village as their form is currently pants.