"What time does the coach leave tomorrow?" Smithy asked me on Friday night. "Ten to twelve I think, so get to ours about half ten ish" I responded. Despite a late night out on the town for both of us, Smithy turns up right on time and neither of us were too badly hungover. A good start to the day. With the coach not leaving until just before twelve, we were killing time watching Soccer AM when I decided to check the coach tickets one final time just to be sure I had the time right. "Shit!" It did indeed say 11.50, but unfortunately that was the price of the ticket, and the departure time was 10.10. It was now just coming up to 11, which meant we had a problem. There was the remote possibility that the coach would be held up at Priory Road for a while, but despite the best efforts of my dear old mum to get us there, all the coaches had long since departed for Derbyshire, which meant we had to pray that there was a train running that would get us there in time.
We got to Lime Street just in time to catch a train to Sheffield, where we could get a connecting one to Derby, which all being well would get there at 2.40, just about gietting us into the ground in time for kick off. It was my incredibly stupid mistake which had forced us into this course of action, so obviously I paid for both of our tickets, which when added to the cost of the coach we never got, plus the match tickets made this a pretty expensive day. "We'd better fucking win after all this" I commented.
The journey there was quite a good one, with my old man making regular phone calls to provide updates on the mancs' latest humiliation. You've got to laugh haven't you? What wouldn't they give right now for a few 'Liverpool type' boring one nils?
But enough about them, the only relevenace they have for us at the moment is the comedy value they offer, so for those reds at Pride Park who repeatedly tried to get "who the fuck are Man United" going, pack it in, it's unecessary and brings us down to their level of sadness.
Anyway, as we waited at the platform in Sheffield, there were a few Derby fans there so we asked them how far the ground was from the train station and would we get there in time for kick off. The answer was "not far, and yes" Nice one. Mind you, the lad who told us this was also predicting a 4-1 to Derby, so his judgement had to be questioned. Doesn't he know that there's no side in the Premiership that can score four past us? (not since we got rid of Ziege anyway)
Still, he was right about us getting there for kick off. We got to our seats with about five minutes to spare, which was a big relief considering our situation just a few hours earlier.
The most pleasing aspect of this trip was that Michael Owen's name was the first one sung. That was something which I was slightly worried about. I half expected some dickheads to be chanting for Fowler, which would have been a disgraceful snub for Mickey. Thankfully, those fears were unfounded and the vocal support for Owen was probably the best it's ever been. Long may this continue.
It didn't take the lad long to make a statement either, just six minutes in fact. We'd started great, and the goal wasn't a surprise when it arrived. Paddy hit a good shot with his RIGHT foot (!) which Poom spilled, but when Michael didn't hit it first time I thought he'd wasted the chance, but he knew exactly what he was doing, and even though it was essentially just a tap in, the cool way in which he took it spoke volumes about the quality of the lad.
For the next fifteen minutes or so, Derby were chasing shadows. Murphy was pulling the strings and looked in great form, until he gave away a couple of silly passes and seemed to lose confidence after that. Paddy had a good first half (disappeared in the second though), but Stevie G - after looking back to his best last week against the Mackems - was very lethargic once more. Luckily, as usual, Hamann was at his destructive best, and held the midffield together superbly. If I had to vote for our best player so far, he'd be the biggest challenger to Michael that's for sure.
There's really not much more to say about the game, because after about twenty five minutes or so we just stopped playing, possibly due to keeping something in the tank for the Roma game. Derby played very well in the second half, and deserved to get something out of the game. Ravanelli was outstanding, and missing the penalty was harsh on him. Carbone however, (a player who I've always rated) was just resorting to diving for free kicks, and contributed little else.
The other Derby player who caught the eye was Chris Riggott. Obviously I was watching him closely as we've been regularly linked with him of late, and in the first half he did very well I thought, producing two brilliant tackles to deny Heskey. The second half he was a spectator as we hardly left our own half, but he's definitely worth keeping an eye on. Whether he can play n a back four or not though remains to be seen.
Jerzy had to be at his best in the second half, and he was. "We've got a Big Pole in our goal" was given several airings, as were the other Jerzy songs, and he spent most of the second half giving us the thumbs up as he defended the goal right in front of the travelling reds. Everyone else seems to think the penalty was blatant, but I saw nothing at the time, and the replays I've seen since suggest that it was ball to arm. Heskey could do nothing about it, and actually tried pulling his arm out fo the way, and in my view it was a harsh decision.
Mind you, referee Barber was giving us nothing all afternoon, and made a name for himself by booking Owen and Heskey for dissent. No doubt he went home bragging to his friends and family about how he showed Michael Owen who is the boss. Jobsworth.
So in short, we got three points which we probably didn't deserve, and we were absolutely awful in the second half. Even so, we increased our lead at the top, and this is exactly the type of game where championships are won and lost. Too often in the past we'd have drawn or lost this one, but today we won, and there are a lot of signs which sugest the tide has turned our way this year.
If we don't win the title this season, it will be our own doing, because it's there for the taking. Next week will provide a further insight into whether we have what it takes. Middlesboro are shite, yet we always struggle against them. It's time to lay that bogey to rest.
On a final note, top marks to whoever it was who came up with "You're going down with United" in response to the Derby fans "there's only one Robbie Fowler." Highly amusing that was.
TEAM: Jerzy Dudek; Jamie Carragher, Stephane Henchoz, Sami Hyypia, John Arne Riise; Steven Gerrard, Danny Murphy, Didi Hamann, Patrik Berger (Gary McAllister); Michael Owen (Jari Litmanen), Emile Heskey:
