Halloween it may have been but there was precious little in the way of frights in store for the Rams in this one as we convincingly cast the beleaguered Millers under our spell.

In truth, there should have been ghouls galore, with a supporter dressed as the grim reaper sending more of a chill down our spines than Rotherham’s strike-force.

There was however a clown in the visitors net…

With Tom Ince still haunted by his knock from the game at Huddersfield, it was left up to Weimann to strike fear into the opposition defence. And he did just that as with our first meaningful foray forwards, we found our way through Rotherham’s spiders’ web.

A hopeful pass was cut out by Shackell and found Butterfield, who subsequently provided an absolute treat (or is that trick?) of a ball behind the right-back for Forsyth. Showing good pace, Craig not only reached the ball but produced a superb cross, which evaded Martin but found Weimann, who ghosted in at the far-post to poke home.

Of course, the South Stand didn’t give Lee Camp a hard time about it… much.

A witch hunt, you might say…

Soon after, Jordan Clarke-Harris saw his snap shot whistle just wide of Carson’s near-post. It was unfortunate that no-one could have told the visiting supporters that they may as well go trick-or-treating there and then, as this would be the closest thing to excitement for the yellows all afternoon.

The Rams though were looking to secure a better haul, knocking on some more doors to try and secure more candy. First, Butterfield let fly with a screamer left-footed, which saw the clown save well two-handed.

Next, a better move saw Christie, who seems to have broken the spell cast upon him at the back end of last season, do brilliantly to fashion a cut-back from the right. The arriving Russell however could only smash over the top.

It was soon becoming a cauldron for Rotherham, with the Rams starting to stir the steaming pot. The impressive Weimann was giving the opposing back-four a living nightmare, cutting in from the right to shoot just wide. Bradley Johnson would also be kept awake during the night, but for different reasons. Following a corner, Russell’s delightful cross was somehow nodded wide.

There followed the loudest cheer ever received for a yellow card. Thorne clumsily up-ended his man, with the subsequent card meaning he is out of the visit of QPR on Tuesday but back for that small team on Friday… in theory.

More of that later…

With the free-kick coming to nothing, the game slowed towards the interval. That was until a minute to go before the break, as arguably our best strike of the season effectively ended the contest.

A superb move, consisting of 18 passes, culminated with Thorne finding Butterfield, with one true wave of his wand, the ball arrowed into the corner.

An absolute thriller!

After the break, the game was slow to spark. That was until Forsyth’s hopeful ball over the top saw the clown rooted like a zombie to his line. Weimann used his pace to reach and clip the ball over the finally advancing keeper and was unlucky to see his effort cleared off the line.

With the threat of 11 black cats (the animal, not Sunderland) more frightening than Rotherham, the largest scare of the day for the Rams came when Thorne, already out of Tuesday, appeared unable to shake off a knock and was replaced by Hendrick.

The Rams, though in total control, looked in energy-saving mode until twenty minutes to go. After Weimann was felled, Martin took aim from the dead ball, around twenty-five yards out. With Camp again zombified, the big man was desperately unlucky to see his effort crash against the bar.

No matter though, as within a minute, someone scored their first goal for nigh on two years.

A Russell corner found Hendrick totally unmarked at the back post. His volley was kept out by a clowns foot, but broke gloriously for Keogh, who slayed his own ghosts by side-footing home. Immediately, 29,000 were singing his name.

How times change!

That signaled the end for Martin but the loudest reception of the day was saved for the returning Bryson, who encouragingly got fifteen minutes. By and large, they were uneventful, save for Shackell almost joining Keogh on the score sheet by heading against the bar from another quality Russell corner.

With that, Carson folded away his deckchair and the game was done. An absolute horror show from Rotherham, who were probably the worst side to visit the iPro so far this campaign.

That said, the Rams were excellent in spells and it was the perfect start to a devilish looking week.

If we can make it two victories from our next two matches, it will be the rest of the Championship left feeling frightened.

Weston’s Player Ratings:

Scott Carson — 6:Didn’t have anything of real note to do.

Cyrus Christie — Weston’s Star Man — 9: An excellent performance, back to his best for sure.

Richard Keogh — 8: Brilliant to see him score!

Jason Shackell — 7: Unlucky not to score himself.

Craig Forsyth — 7:Great cross for first goal.

George Thorne — 6:Not vintage. Hope he isn’t badly injured.

Bradley Johnson — 7: Usual self.

Jacob Butterfield — 8:Excellent pass for first goal and brilliantly taken one himself.

Andreas Weimann — 8:Great first half, faded a bit second.

Johnny Russell — 7: Hustle and bustle as you would expect.

Chris Martin — 6:Workmanlike.

Subs

Jeff Hendrick — 6:Decent cameo.

Darren Bent — 6:Didn’t touch it hardly.

Craig Bryson — 6:Great to see him back!

We said / They Said:

Derby head coach Paul Clement:

"I am learning about my players all the time. They are showing so many different qualities now, whether it be the team spirit or dealing with different styles of football.”

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