Wallace is top of the form
DERBY were given a harsh lesson as they blew their big chance to move into the top six.
Jed Wallace scuppered their hopes of a place in the play-off positions with a 73rd-minute breakaway goal.
Derby boss Frank Lampard came up against old school mate Neil Harris but it was the Millwall man who ended up getting his homework right.
The two played in the same school team together when they were teenagers at the exclusive Brentwood School in Essex.
But it was Harris who finished the night as head boy thanks to a neatly executed sucker punch by his men.
Shane Ferguson sent Wallace racing away with a superbly struck long ball upfield that caught Derby on the hop.
Ashley Cole was left struggling to cover as Wallace homed in on goal and as keeper Kelle Roos advanced, the midfielder smashed a low shot into the bottom of the net.
Victory against a side who haven’t scored in their last three league games and have an awful away record, would have seen Derby leapfrog Bristol City.
Costly
But it was a case of must do better for Lamps and his men as they ended up getting booed off.
The County boss gave Cole the nod to make his first start in English football since his Chelsea days back in May, 2014.
But after a quiet first half, Derby’s liking for playing the ball around at the back nearly proved costly before the break when Tom Huddlestone was caught out by Lee Gregory and ended up getting himself booked for a hasty trip trying to clear up the mess.
A couple of minutes after the re-start, Richard Keogh was first to get to a Jayden Bogle corner but his angled shot drilled into the side netting.
Then in the 51st minute Derby had a real chance when a 50-yard ball from Fikayo Tomori sent Jack Marriott racing clear.
But the striker, just back from an ankle injury, got the ball wrapped up in his feet just as he prepared to shoot.
For all their bluster, Derby still didn’t manage to make Lions keeper Jordan Archer make a meaningful save until stoppage time when he did well to beat away a Tomori header.