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The Weston Report: I Should Have Kept My Mouth Shut About His Timber
Monday, 16th Feb 2015 07:15 by Ryan Weston

Take May 30th out of your diary folks. The ten-man Rams bravely exited this year competition after a pulsating cup-tie.

It was a day where George Thorne returned to the squad, the referee ground all of my gears and Stephen Warnock had a debut which he will never forget.

With McClaren choosing to make seven changes to the side which performed excellently at Bournemouth, the Rams starting eleven still made for positive reading.

The likes of Bryson returned, with debuts for Lingard and the aforementioned Warnock. A real chance to make the last eight, with us having already beating the same opposition twice this season. There were however some rumblings during my pre-match orange juice that McClaren might have shuffled the pack too much.

In the first minute, the critics were nearly choking on their fresh humble pie. A superb, lightening quick move including Dawkins, Bent, Hendrick and lastly Bryson, found the Scot’s shot well pushed away by Federici. A start which set the tone for an exciting encounter.

Also setting the tone for his overall display was Mr. Pawson the referee. You know the type; a ‘Premier League’ official who loves his whistle. He must think it’s Christmas every week, such are the amount of cards he loves to brandish. His booking on Mascarell for a slight tug just outside the Reading box served as a warning for his afternoon’s work.

Mascarell however came a lick of paint away from opening the scoring. His superb, dipping free-kick just evaded Keogh’ big toe and then the far-post. Soon after, a free-kick at the other end nearly saw the Rams behind.

A blatant push in the back of a Rams defender went unpunished, before we struggled to clear our lines. Going against the Sunday morning adage of, ‘don’t dribble out of your own box,’ Bryson and Hendrick conspired to lose the ball, resulting in Warnock taking out the attacker and collecting a card for his trouble.

From the free-kick, our visitors showed that they were Reading from the same hymn-sheet, as a clever routine saw Cox released down the side of our wall. Thankfully, Roos had also read the script, coming out quacking to narrow the angle as Cox shot wide.

Half-chances kept coming as Hendrick blazed over for the Rams. Lingard was showing some neat touches and a turn of pace, while Dawkins was also good on the other flank.

Around half-an-hour had been played before a frantic fifteen materialised before half-time. First, Lingard dropped a shoulder in from the left, before letting fly a shot which was well beaten away. Next, a better save after good work from Christie down the right saw his cut-back find Bent, whose snap-shot on the turn was excellently kept out low to Federeci’s right.

Back up the other end, and thankfully Cox’s radar was about as good as it was during his time with our near - neighbours. A long cross found him unmarked at the back-stick. With time to control and then strike, Cox did so, high and wide into the North Stand.

And then the decisive moment of the match. Warnock over-ran a ball down the left and inexcusably, left his foot in on Mackie. The referee, who you can imagine books people in his sleep, had no hesitation and in fairness, little choice but to show Warnock another yellow and then red.

Some may say that his Leeds traits have still yet to leave him…

A sending off. Probably stupid. Yes. But Mackie’s glance at the referee before another cartwheel and pike on the ground was nothing short of a disgrace. Perhaps he picked that up down the road in Nottingham…

Now it would be hard-work and it almost become harder immediately. A clearance to the edge of box resulted in strike back towards the goal by Williams. Throwing himself at the ball, Keogh appeared the handle. Put it in the, ‘seen them given,’ category. For me, no. For the ref, surprisingly not either.

Forsyth was introduced before the break for Mascarell. One couldn’t see us sitting back however. Dawkins’ late burst into the area showed as much. Half-time and a big task to keep the dream of walking up ‘Wembley Way’ (again) alive.

The dream was almost extinguished early in the second period as the Royals took the lead. A move down the right was patient and looked covered, but Cox found Robson-Kanu (sadly not the lovechild of Bryan and Nwankwo) who steadied himself and curled into the far corner.

We could have put our heads down and accepted defeat. Instead, we went on to be absolutely superb in the face of our man deficit. Led by the midfield and Lingard, the Rams went on to play some fine football, and were rewarded with an equaliser.

A cross from Christie was just too-high for Bent. However, the ball went all the way through to Forsyth. Looking up, the left-back played a great ball across the box to the on-rushing Lingard. Shooting goalwards, the ball deflected off Bent and into the net. Everything Darren touches turns to goals. Game on.

Anyone arriving late at the ground would have had a hard time picking the side with 10 players. The Rams were working their proverbials off but it was Reading who next threatened. Forsyth could only find Cox with a poor defensive header, although perhaps it was clever thinking. Yet again, Cox picked out someone in the stand with his finish.

Gambling, McClaren threw on Ward with a replay far from our thoughts. After he had been flattened in the centre-circle and the ref had decided that UFC style play was acceptable, Reading should have been in front.

A cross from the left found Pogrebnyak unmarked, but his header was straight at Roos, who kicked away. This time, it was the other Forest-reject Mackie who shot the rebound wide.

Still, Derby pushed and an excellent through ball from Lingard found Ward free of his man on the angle. Doing everything right, Jamie’s low strike across the goalkeeper was well saved and the rebound agonisingly wouldn’t run for Bent. Unfortunately though, the tie would be settled by another sub.

I know I should have kept my mouth shut as I saw Yakubu enter and proclaimed that, ‘he has put on a bit of timber.’ The sort of comment that normally comes back to bite, like he had obviously done to a burger or two. Sure enough, with eight minutes to go, our brave efforts were to be in vain.

Fortunately gaining the break of the ball in the middle, Reading pushed forwards and Robson-Kanu slipped through to Yakubu. Using his considerable frame, he held off Forsyth and showed he still has a touch of class by cooling slotting into the far corner.

For the last knockings, we huffed and puffed and continued to work our socks off but there was to be no fairytale ending. Full-time and an excellent chance of progression had gone. Mr Warnock has a lot to answer for.

But let’s focus on the positives. We were excellent, even with ten. Lingard showed a lot of promise on his debut. And now we can focus on the league. We can’t afford to go to Wembley twice anyway…


Weston’s Player Ratings:

Kelle Roos — 7: Showed promise again.

Cyrus Christie — 7: Good game, attacked well.

Richard Keogh — 7: Battled well with backs against the wall.

Ryan Shotton — 7: Another good display.

Stephen Warnock — 4: Very silly dismissal for a man of his experience.

Omar Mascarell — 6: Did ok before being sacrificed.

Jeff Hendrick — 8: Seems to have regained form.

Craig Bryson — 8: Worked his haggis off.

Jesse Lingard — 8: A bright debut. Promising.

Simon Dawkins — 8:Best player on park in first half.

Darren Bent — 7: Scored….again.

Subs:

Craig Forysth — 7: Very good.

Jamie Ward — 7: Looked good for his cameo.

Kwame Thomas — 6: No impact.



Match Info / Rams Team:

Ref: Craig Pawson

Crowd: 21,337


Derby: Grant, Christie, Shotton, Keogh, Warnock (Red Card 39’), Mascarell (Forsyth 44’), Hendrick, Bryson (Thomas 83’), Dawkins (Ward 67’), Lingard, Bent

Unused Subs: Buxton, Hughes, Thorne, Mitchell


Match Stats — Derby / Reading:

Goals: Bent (61’) / Robson-Kanu (53’) / Aiyegbeni (82’)

Possession: 55% - 45%

Shots On Target: 6 - 2

Shots Off Target: 12 - 3

Corners: 5 - 7

Fouls: 6 - 19


We Said / They Said - Match Reaction:

We Said — Steve McClaren:

"We went for the win, we didn't want a replay. The quality of football, even with 10 men, was great and that was the important thing.”

"I couldn't argue with Stephen Warnock's two yellow cards. He wanted to prove something; it gave us a mountain to climb."


They said — Steve Clarke:

"We knew what we were getting with him (Yakuba). He's a goal scorer and when he goes through one against one you expect him to sure. He's very good at doing the business in that sort of situation and that makes him a great asset.”

"All credit to Derby for the way they played with 10. We knew they would still come at us but we handled the situation well."


Highlights / Post Match Interviews:





Up Next For The Rams:

Rotherham vs. Derby

7:45pm — Tuesday 17th February




Photo: Action Images



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