IT’S CURTAINS FOR SAD RAMS
Nightmare for Davies as Derby miss out
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1
Smith 43 pen
DERBY 0
CURTIS DAVIES suffered a nightmare final day with a penalty and red-card blunder that condemned Derby to another season in League One.
The former Premier League centre-half conceded the spot-kick that was converted by Michael Smith just before the interval and was sent off for his troubles.
It may well have been the 38-year-old’s last touch as a Rams player with the former Aston Villa and Hull man now out of contract.
But the result, coupled with Peterborough’s win a few miles down the road at Barnsley, meant Paul Warne’s team dropped out of the play-off places when a draw would have been enough.
Warne said: “Understandably Curtis is heartbroken. I haven’t seen his face, he’s been sat with his head in his hands since the end.
“He’s been a brilliant player for this club, put his body on the line and you don’t want this to happen to anyone – but you certainly don’t want it to happen to your captain.
“His future is a decision for me and him, but I feel for him and he’s been brilliant for me since I came.”
Davies’ calamity came on 40 minutes when his under-hit back-pass fell for Callum Paterson.
Keeper Joe Wildsmith blocked that danger but, when Marvin Johnson pounced on the loose ball, Davies bundled him to the ground and was dismissed.
Warne said: “I thought the red was harsh because we had a player on the line and our keeper was the right side of it.”
Rams team-mate Haydon Roberts tried to put penalty taker Smith off his kick, and was booked for throwing a water bottle to his keeper while he waited.
But Smith calmly converted and having already been guaranteed third place, the goal and win had no bearing on Wednesday’s play-off fate.
The Owls were already booked into third place, meaning they face Peterborough in the play-off semis.
Boss Darren Moore said: “People were talking about resting players but the focus was to drive on and keep the mentality. To get 96 points in a season and to break all sorts of club records illustrates the work that has been done.” Derby had started well enough, with home keeper Cameron Dawson saving well from an early long-range shot from David McGoldrick.
But the penalty, and news from the Posh game, heaped the pressure on Derby’s 10 men.
Seconds before the interval, a McGoldrick chip was again well-saved by Dawson.
And on the hour, a rare Derby attack ended with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing squaring for Max Bird – but his shot lacked any power and was cleared off the line by Aden Flint.
Warne added: “Seeing Sheffield Wednesday versus Peterborough on the scoreboard for the play-offs is hard to take. It’s certainly hard for the players. There are a lot of tears in the dressing room.”