Wallace sinks sloppy Rams on the break
DERBY were given a harsh lesson as they blew their big chance to move into the top six.
Jed Wallace scuppered the Rams’ hopes of a place in the play-off positions with a 73rd-minute breakaway goal.
Derby manager Frank Lampard came up against his old school mate Neil Harris but it was the Millwall man who ended up getting his homework right.
The two played in the same team 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 up field which caught Derby on the hop.
Victory against a side who have not scored in their past three league games, and have an awful away record, would have seen Lampard’s team leapfrog Bristol City.
However, it was a case of must do better after Wallace punished them and the hosts ended up getting booed off.
Ashley Cole was left struggling to cover as Wallace homed in on goal and, as goalkeeper Kelle Roos advanced, he drove in a low shot Lampard had given his former Chelsea team-mate Cole his first start in English football since his days at Stamford Bridge back in May 2014.
The first half was a cagey affair with neither side creating much.
You sensed Derby might create problems for themselves by playing the ball around at a stroll at the back.
It nearly proved the case a few minutes before the break when Tom Huddlestone was caught out by Lee Gregory and ended up getting booked for a hasty trip.
Derby had an opening on 51 minutes when a 50-yard ball from Fikayo Tomori sent Jack Marriott racing clear but he wasted the chance.
Marriott was then at it again when he latched on to a cross from Duane Holmes but he could not generate the right amount of power on his header at goal.
For all their bluster, Derby still did not manage to force Lions goalkeeper Jordan Archer into a meaningful save until stoppage time when he did well to beat away a Tomori header destined for the corner.