Rams take sting out of Brentford
Brentford turned up to the iPro Stadium last weekend a very different side to that which had appeared at the back end of last season. The South London side had seen many changes since the two clubs’ last meeting in April. Both sides had changed their head coaches, with the Bees dismissing their summer appointment in the week prior.
Article by Fred Gough
Derby County [2] Brentford [0] - Attendance: 29,467
In stepped former Rams’ Lee Carsley and Paul Williams, neither with first team management experience under their belts before taking the roles. Carsley admitting he wasn’t ready to take the job full time despite given the reins till the end of the 2015-2016 campaign.
Paul Clement shuffled his pack from the away win at MK Dons, George Thorne returned in replacement for regular captain Chris Baird, Jeff Hendrick who had been instrumental in the last match earned himself a recall replacing Jacob Butterfield and Craig Forsyth came in for Stephen Warnock. Darren Bent failed to make the matchday squad due to arriving slightly late due to traffic but Paul Clement wasn’t too angry with the former England striker who had grabbed his first goal of the season last week.
It had been noticeable at Milton Keynes last week, that Derby had started sluggish and needed to get more on the front foot in their matches, not scoring a first half goal all season at home.
However Derby sprang on the opportunities to play their attacking flowing game that carved out the match’s first chance falling to full back Cyrus Christie, whose shot was saved by the Brentford goalkeeper Button.
Danish striker Lasse Vibe attempted to break the resistant Derby defence but strong blocks by Shackell and Thorne kept the chances for the away side to a minimum.
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On the twenty minute mark, Scottish international striker Chris Martin broke the deadlock for the Rams after a surging run and low cross from the Coventry born Irish defender Christie.
Derby sustained their pressure on Brentford forcing the oppositions possession to be deeper than their support would have liked.
Hendrick, Ince and Johnson all attempted to double the Rams’ lead but found efforts failing to nestle in the back of the Bees’ goal.
Georgian midfielder Gogia volleyed in response but left back Forsyth threw his body in the path of the shot to keep the advantage.
A minute before half time saw Paul Clement’s men strike again, Thorne slipped a perfectly timed through ball to his midfield companion Jeff Hendrick, who found Tom Ince in space for the winger / striker to find the net for the third time in three starts.
Half Time: Derby County 2 Brentford 0
Tom Ince started the second half brightly, testing from two whipped free kicks, one being tipped over slightly by David Button and the other whizzing past the far post.
Brentford’s recognised chances were at a premium throughout the game and it was substitutes Canos and Hofmann combining to test Carson in the second half.
Johnny Russell and substitute Andreas Weimann attempted to add to Derby’s score line but in the end the game was destined to end 2-0 to the home side.
Full Time: Derby County 2 Brentford 0
Paul Clement has now tasted a home victory, it comes in a spell between the first two international breaks of the season, four victories from five and unbeaten in all the quintet of games against some stiff Championship sides.
He has worked well at getting the defence as an unit in his first ten league fixtures, as Derby after their last home victory in mid-April leaked 10 goals in the last three matches under Steve McClaren.
The midfield duo of Bradley Johnson and George Thorne is a treat for the Rams fans to marvel over, as both have great quality in their with the ball and without the ball attributes.
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After a quiet spell at the start of the season, it is encouraging to see Tom Ince starting to raise the game that earned him the pursuit of signing permanently from Hull City in the summer.
The next game is a home fixture against Kenny Jackett’s Wolverhampton Wanderers, where Derby showed their Jekyll and Hyde aspects against them last year, romping to a 5-0 win at the iPro Stadium but coming off with a 2-0 defeat at Molineux in the run up to the end of the season where both sides failed to make the Play-offs.
Positivity seems to have returned to the East Midlands side and hopefully the signs are encouraging that they can step up to the supporter’s lament for a place back in the Premier League.
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Teams:
DCFC [4-3-3] – Carson, Christie, Keogh, Shackell (Shotton – 55), Forsyth, Thorne (y/c – 27 (Hanson – 73)), Hendrick – 74, Johnson (Weimann - 80), Ince (y/c - 87), Martin (capt) & Russell (y/c – 42); Substitutes – Warnock, Shotton, Baird, Grant, Butterfield, Hanson & Weimann
Brentford [4-4-2] –Button, Bidwell (capt), Dean, Djuricin, Woods (y/c – 57), Judge, Diagouraga (Swift – 70), Vibe (Hofmann – 63), Gogia (Canos – 46), Tarkowski (y/c – 54) & Yennaris (y/c – 62), ; Substitutes –Swift, Hofmann, Canos, Bonham, Kerschbaumer, O’Connell & Barbet.
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