Cameron Jerome slots the ball home for the Rams first goal. Derby into play-offs and Barnsley relegated
Tension and worry turned into excitement and joy in the sun-drenched Pride Park Stadium this afternoon as the Rams easily beat Barnsley to claim sixth place in this seasons Championship and a semi-final playoff game against Fulham.
Derby spent some time in 5th place as scores changed dramatically during the early afternoon, but the goal for Middlesbrough in the 6th minute of time added on placed Boro 5th and dropped the Rams to sixth place. The goal for Borough ironically scored by a former Ram, Patrick Bamford.
The Rams had an ideal start in the 14th minute to the afternoon as a pin-point pass from Bradley Johnson found Cameron Jerome who controlled the ball and from a tight angle drilled the ball past the Barnsley keeper.
Derby had several more chances in a half where Barnsley to their credit tried to claw the goal back and the game flowed from one end to the other. Despite being relieved to be in front the Rams fans could not relax and the atmosphere remained tense until the half-time break.
Matej Vydra congratulated by Cameron Jerome after scoring his 21st goal of the season and winning the Championship golden boot
An injury to Marcus Olsson had the Rams defensive and offensive line-up had to be re-jigged but did allow Matej Vydra to take to the field and try to improve on his twenty goals already scored this season and take the Championship golden boot for the 2017-18 season.
The Rams took a big step to claiming their place in the play-off’s in the 55th minute when a quick move by the Rams saw Vydra claim the golden boot with a tapped in goal, his 21st of the season.
More substitutions in the heat became a necessity and David Nugent was thrown into the fray. Derby continued to pile the pressure on Barnsley and it was Nugent himself who scored the Rams third goal in the 68th minute
.
Barnsley by this point didn’t have their fate in their own hands and were reliant on other results going their way. The game, however, was still end to end and TOM Lawrence completed a great day for the Rams as he scored in the 71st minute.
Barnsley knew they were on the edge of relegation but found a brief glimmer of hope as the Derby defence were statues as George Moncure slotted the ball past Scot Carson to make the final score Derby County 4- Barnsley 1
Pride Park Stadium
Championship
6/05/2018 1:30 pm
Attendance: 30682
Referee: S Hooper
| Derby County | Barnsley | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerome (14), Vydra (55), Nugent (68), Lawrence (71) | Moncur (80) | ||||||
| Carson | Walton | ||||||
| Forsyth | Freyer | ||||||
| Davies | Lindsay | ||||||
| Keogh | Pinnock | ||||||
| Olsson | Yiadom | ||||||
| Johnson | Hammill | ||||||
| Huddlestone | Gardener | ||||||
| Wisdom | Potts | ||||||
| Lawrence | Mahoney | ||||||
| Weimann | McBurnie | ||||||
| Jerome | Moore | ||||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Roos | Davies | ||||||
| Hanson | Bradshaw | ||||||
| Ledley | Moncur | ||||||
| Nugent | Cavare | ||||||
| Palmer | Mallan | ||||||
| Pearce | Pearson | ||||||
| Vydra | Thiam | ||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 16 | Goal attempts | 14 |
| 5 | On Target | 3 |
| 5 | Corners | 3 |
| 7 | Fouls | 8 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 53 | % | 47 |