Pride Park, home of Derby County who play their football in the Championship. 4th February 2020 and Derby are up against Northampton Town of League 2 at home in an FA Cup fourth round replay. I got home from work and with no concrete plans for the night so I decided to attend this match. £8 return to Derby! Thank you Railcard!
Arrival at Pride Park and with time to kill, I checked out McFarland’s bar, named after club legend Roy McFarland and The Yard restaurant which were 2 very nice facilities. £15 to watch this FA Cup tie! Woo-hoo! Wayne Rooney starts for Derby! The travelling Northampton fans were in fine voice and the match hadn’t started yet. “They’re here, They’re there, They’re every f***ing where, empty seats, empty seats!” was the chant I had in mind, not many in from the home end sadly…
Kick Off! A poor start to the game with little to entertain the fans that were in attendance, plenty of noise from both sets of fans in the area where they were close to each other. Derby began to get a foothold in the match with little answer from Northampton. No clear cut chances as of yet but on 25 minutes, a chance for Derby’s Chris Martin and OH DEAR… how has he not scored there? The goal was gaping but what a fantastic challenge from Northampton’s Michael Harriman.
“If you don’t f***ing bounce you’re a red!!” Brilliant noise from the Derby fans and their sheer dislike for Nottingham Forest. 28 minutes and Wayne Rooney swings in a corner, headed in the air, the ball dropped down and Andre Wisdom found the net! 35 minutes gone and Derby and Wayne Rooney were dictating the match now, a through ball found it’s way to Duane Holmes who was in… no mistake there! 2-0! Derby continued to shine but the score at half time was 2-0.
Second Half, and a bright start for Northampton, Paul Anderson was away down the left hand side, driving into the Derby box he played the ball across the middle and Nicky Adams was there… 2-1 now!! Limbs in the Northampton end of the ground, game on!! It was all Northampton now and you could probably guess what happened next… 2-2? No it’s 3-1 to Derby… Hard luck Northampton… Derby on the break and a cross towards Jack Marriott was headed at goal and saved by David Cornell with the ball over the line but nevertheless, Scott Malone made sure of the goal if there were any doubts.
77 minutes gone and Tom Lawrence and got onto the loose ball in the Northampton box, brought down and appeals from the Derby fans… Referee…….. has pointed to the spot! He thought about it but has given it, not too sure about that me personally. Wayne Rooney stepped up and he will now be facing his old club Manchester United! 4-1 and that should be that. Northampton were pushing forward and on 84 minutes were awarded a penalty of their own, a cross into the Derby penalty area and Andy Williams was hacked down by Curtis Davies. Penalty! Sam Hoskins stepped up and found the net. 4-2! And that’s how the game would finish.
FT: Derby County 4-2 Northampton Town
Ratings
- Atmosphere: 7/10 – Both sets of fans played their part and put on a good atmosphere, imagine what could have been if the stadium was full…
- The Ground: 7/10 – Lovely ground and definitely fit for Premier League should Derby get back there one day.
- Expense: 9/10 – £23 trip in total, £15 ticket and £8 train fare to see 6 goals and Wayne Rooney!
- Overall Experience: 7/10 – I enjoyed it and was glad I went, I would have like to have seen the ground full but still a good match.
30/40