Nottingham Forest v/s Derby County

Friday 23rd January 2009
It was a Midlands Derby that finished with both the teams sharing the honours.
A fiery Midlands Derby played at Pride Park saw Derby County taking the lead only to be pegged back by Nottingham Forest on 64 minutes.The reply is to take place on 4th february in Nottingham at the City Ground.
Both Derby County and Nottingham Forest came out in their respective last games with decent performances.But inspite of a good performance at Old Trafford in the League Cup semi final second leg,the Derby County manager,Nigel Clough,made four changes to his side that played Manchester United in their last game on Tuesday.Giles Barnes scorer of 2 goals started for Derby and so did Robbie Savage who played in the central midfield.
Whereas,Nottingham Forest who won their last game beating Plymouth made only one change with Joiel Lynch playing in the starting eleven.



Rob Hulse put Derby infront on 35 minutes when he slotted in a cross from Paul Connolly which came to him from a Paul Green dummy.Another dummy but this time on 64 minutes from Nathon Tyson(Nottingham) resulted in a goal as the former West Brom man,Robert Earnshaw put the ball in the back of the net levelling the score.The Forest keeper Paul Smith was on form producing two wonderful saves off Rob Hulse and Luke Varney in the final five minutes.
Derby boss Nigel Clough: "It was a cracking cup tie, but I'm frustrated we didn't defend our lead better.
"Kris Commons had a great chance when he came on and the two headers - we could have walked away with a 2-1 win.
"But he (Forest keeper Paul Smith) made two very good saves at the end. We would rather replay than be out."
Nottingham Forest assistant manager David Kelly: "We put in a super performance in the second half and we thoroughly deserved a draw," said Kelly.
"Earnie has done great of late, he's a real 'fox in the box' at the moment. To come back to your old club, you always want to do well.
"He and (Nathan) Tyson worked really hard, in defence as well as attack."
The result means Derby have to travel to the City Ground,Nottingham to take on Forest.