Rams Win Nine Goal Encounter

Derby County came out winners against Chesterfield in a topsy-turvy afternoon that saw nine goals, a penalty save and Saul Deeney playing in midfield to officially open The Spireites new b2net Stadium. The Rams found themselves 3-1 down in the first half but fought back to eventually come out on top at 5-4 with two goals from Kris Commons and strikes form Chris Porter, John Brayford and Conor Doyle. Stephen Bywater also saved a penalty shortly after his side had levelled the game at 3-3 in an end-to-end game. Nigel Clough`s side played some neat football at times but will be concerned at the number of goals conceded and will be desperate for the return of their central defenders with Russell Anderson the only recognised first-teamer available on the day.

A healthy crowd at the newly opened b2net Stadium greeted the sides and they both came out of the blocks quickly showing their intent to attack. It was the home site who struck first on thirteen minutes when Craig Davies` pace was too hot to handle for The Rams backline as he got on the end of a ball over the top and he neatly slotted home across Bywater for the opening goal. Derby continued to play some neat football and Kris Commons twice came close with long range efforts as he found space in the 4-2-3-1 formation that saw another outing in this friendly. It was no surprise then that the Scottish international was the scorer when The Rams equalised on 24 minutes as he combined well with Chris Porter to fire a right foot effort into the net at the near post.

The scores weren`t level for long though as Chesterfield retook the lead two minutes later as Simon Ford rose to meet a corner and powerfully headed home from ten yards. Kris Commons again threatened after a run down the right and he cut inside and whipped neat ball to the back post that was only just beyond a sliding Robbie Savage. The home side then went further ahead on 33 minutes as Mark Allott thumped home from thirty yards after Davies and Whitaker combined to set him up. The goals were coming thick and fast and Conor Doyle pulled one back almost immediately for Derby when he turned home a Commons ball from a set piece that took a deflection before reaching him for a 3-2 score line at the break.

Neither side made any changes during the interval and The Rams were back on level terms four minutes into the second period when a sweeping move from the back culminated in Brayford and Green combining to feed Chris Porter who kept his composure and side footed home the equaliser. Within minutes Gareth Roberts was adjudged to have handled inside the Derby area giving the home side the chance to immediately retake the lead but Bywater went to his left to save Davies` penalty and maintain the status quo.

Just after the hour mark Derby looked to have killed the game off when they scored twice in quick succession as their quality began to tell. John Brayford scored his first goal in a Rams` shirt when he swept home a Commons corner from close range and ninety seconds later Paul Green was brought down in the area and Commons converted the spot kick for his second goal of the afternoon.

Tomasz Cywka had been introduced just before the hour mark and Nigel Clough made further changes with Dean Moxey, Mark O`Brien, David Martin and Luke Varney all being given a run-out. With Chesterfield also making a number of changes the game petered out somewhat in the last fifteen minutes but Derek Niven pulled one back for the home side when his effort from distance deceived Bywater whose save only spooned the ball over his head and over the line before he could get back to it. Saul Deeney came on to play in the midfield with two minutes to go and there was nearly a tenth goal when Ford`s header came back off the post but it was not to be for the home side and they went down to a 5-4 defeat.

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